Start here: setting up Cloak
This guide will help you setup Cloak and use it as a Pluggable Transport in Tor Browser to acess the Tor Network.
Note
Cloak has only been tested with the configuration provided below. Others may work but are not officially supported.
System Requirements
Our setup is designed to run 2 virtual machines with 8 vCPUs and 8GB of RAM each. However, 4 vCPUs and 8GB of RAM per machine should be more than enough. Your host machine should be able to handle this.
Supported Operating System
Cloak is currently only supported by 64-bit Linux Distributions, such as Ubuntu or Debian. The minimum required Linux Kernel Version is 4.15.
Note
Specifically, Cloak was developed and tested under Ubuntu Bionic 18.04.5 LTS (4.15.0-112-generic).
Virtualization Requirements
Our setup requires Virtualization to be enabled on the host machine. Specific instructions on how to enable Virtualization can be found in the following links:
Linux: link Windows: link MacOS: link
Note
If you are running Cloak inside a Virtual Machine, you need to ensure Nested Virtualization is enabled. We have not tested Cloak using this feature. However, you can find instructions on how to enable it here for VMWare and Virtualbox.
Software Requirements
Our setup expects a host machine with Vagrant and Virtualbox installed.
Configuring Vagrant
To use your Vagrantfile please install the following plugin:
vagrant plugin install vagrant-disksize
Starting the Virtual Machines
1. Start by downloading the configuration package from our server using this link.
Note
SHA256 Checksum Hash of cloak_test_setup.tar.gz:
9627c2b915a5cd5425900466a286513374f741c02a9debff322fec1bc4b8ca8a
2. Extract the file to your working directory using:
tar -xf cloak_test_setup.tar.gz
3. You should see two files: cloak.box and a Vagrantfile .
4. Add our custom box to your local vagrant repository using:
vagrant box add cloak cloak.box
5. After the box has been added, you can now create the machines using vagrant up (make sure you are in the same directory as the previously downloaded Vagrantfile).
The Vagrantfile comprises provisioning routines which will fetch and configure all the required software. This takes some time, so go and grab a coffee while you wait.
Using the Virtual Machines
Once the machines are created and booted up, reload them using:
vagrant reload
Then use the following commands to connect to them:
vagrant ssh cloakclient
vagrant ssh cloakbridge
Open your Virtualbox GUI and open each VM’s Graphical Environment. This will be necessary for future steps.
Testing Cloak with Tor Browser
Using the scripts
On the cloakbridge machine execute the following commands:
cd cloak/scripts
python bridge.py
You should see an output indicating the start of a Flask API.
Now, on the cloakclient machine, do the following commands:
cd cloak/scripts
python client.py
You should see things happening. This will take care of the necessary procedures to execute Cloak.
Log in to meet.jit.si
Due to changes on Jitsi’s side, you need to log in to their service to be able to create a video chat room. This is a one-time configuration as the credentials are saved.
You should see a Chrome Browser Tab started and a prompt asking you to Log In. Click it and use your chosen service to login in to the service.
Using Tor Browser with Cloak
After login, you are now ready to use and test Cloak. Follow these steps:
1. Hit CTRL+C on the cloakclient running script to reset the configurations. You should see all the windows closing.
2. Once again, execute python client.py on the cloakclient machine. After a few seconds, you should see a Chrome Window starting up. When the webpage is loaded, the script should automatically click on the Join button.
3. After it clicked to join, if you see the prompt to Log in again, just click on Login once more. If you did this before, it is normal that this prompt does not show up and you simply join the room.
4. Next, the script will automate the bridge joining the room and starting the video call.
4. You can now switch to the Tor Browser window, click on Connect and confirm you are connected to the Tor Network. You can now browse freely! Enjoy!
Note
The Login prompt might appear from time to time. You just need to click it to add the Session Token to the Browser’s storage.