Ubuntu Manpage: onionbalance - a Tor onion service load balancer

NAME

       onionbalance - a Tor onion service load balancer

ONIONBALANCE-CONFIG TOOL

   Description
       The  onionbalance-config  tool  is the fastest way to generate the necessary keys and config files to get
       your onion service up and running.

          $ onionbalance-config

       When called without any arguments, the config generator will run in an interactive mode  and  prompt  for
       user input.

       The  master  directory  should  be  stored  on the management server while the other instance directories
       should be transferred to the respective backend servers.

   Files
       master/config.yaml
              This is the configuration file that is used my the Onionbalance management server.

       master/<ONION_ADDRESS>.key
              The private key which will become the public address and identity for your onion  service.  It  is
              essential that you keep this key secure.

       master/torrc-server
              A  sample Tor configuration file which can be used with the Tor instance running on the management
              server (v2-only).

       srv/torrc-instance
              A sample Tor config file which contains the Tor HiddenService* options needed for your backend Tor
              instance (v2-only).

       srv/<ONION_ADDRESS>/private_key
              Directory  containing  the  private key for your backend onion service instance.  This key is less
              critical as it can be rotated if lost or compromised (v2-only).

   See Also
       Full documentation for the Onionbalance software is available at https://onionbalance.readthedocs.org/

DESCRIPTION

       You can start the Onionbalance management server once all of your backend  onion  service  instances  are
       running.

       You  will  need  to create a configuration file which list the backend onion services and the location of
       your hidden service keys.

          $ onionbalance -c config.yaml

       or

          $ sudo service onionbalance start

       The management server must be left running to publish new descriptors for your onion service: in about 10
       minutes you should have a fully functional onionbalance setup.

       NOTE:
          Multiple  Onionbalance  management  servers can be run simultaneously with the same master private key
          and configuration file to provide redundancy.

CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT

The Onionbalance management server is primarily configured using a YAML configuration file.

# Onion Load Balancer Config File
# ---
# Each hidden service key line should be followed be followed by a list of 0
# or more instances which contain the onion address of the load balancing
# hidden service

REFRESH_INTERVAL: 600 # How often to poll for updated descriptors
services:
- key: /path/to/private_key # 7s4hxwwifcslrus2.onion
instances:
- address: o6ff73vmigi4oxka # web1
- address: nkz23ai6qesuwqhc # web2
- key: /path/to/private_key.enc # dpkdeys3apjtqydk.onion
instances:
- address: htbzowpp5cn7wj2u # irc1
- address: huey7aiod8dja8a3 # irc2

The services section of the configuration file contains a list of master onion services that Onionbalance
is responsible for.

Each key option specifies the location of the 1024 bit private RSA key for the onion service. This master
private key determines the address that users will use to access your onion service. This private key
must be kept secure.

The location of the private key is evaluated as an absolute path, or relative to the configuration file
location.

You can use existing Tor onion service private key with Onionbalance to keep your onion address.

Each backend Tor onion service instance is listed by its unique onion address in the instances list.

NOTE:
You can replace backend instance keys if they get lost or compromised. Simply start a new backend
onion service under a new key and replace the address in the config file.

If you have used the onionbalance-config tool you can simply use the generated config file from
master/config.yaml.

NOTE:
By default onionbalance will search for a config.yaml file in the current working directory.

Configuration Options
The Onionbalance command line options can also be specified in the Onionbalance configuration file.
Options specified on the command line take precedence over the related configuration file options:

TOR_CONTROL_SOCKET:
The location of the Tor unix domain control socket. Onionbalance will attempt to connect to this
control socket first before falling back to using a control port connection. (default:
/var/run/tor/control)

TOR_ADDRESS:
The address where the Tor control port is listening. (default: 127.0.0.1)

TOR_PORT:
The Tor control port. (default: 9051)

TOR_CONTROL_PASSWORD:
The password for authenticating to a Tor control port which is using the HashedControlPassword
authentication method. This is not needed when the Tor control port is using the more common
CookieAuthentication method. (default: None)

Other options:

LOG_LOCATION
The path where Onionbalance should write its log file.

LOG_LEVEL
Specify the minimum verbosity of log messages to output. All log messages equal or higher the the
specified log level are output. The available log levels are the same as the --verbosity command
line option.

REFRESH_INTERVAL
How often to check for updated backend onion service descriptors. This value can be decreased if
your backend instance are under heavy loaded causing them to rotate introduction points quickly.
(default: 600 seconds).

PUBLISH_CHECK_INTERVAL
How often should to check if new descriptors need to be published for the master onion service
(default: 360 seconds).

INITIAL_DELAY
How long to wait between starting Onionbalance and publishing the master descriptor. If you have
more than 20 backend instances you may need to wait longer for all instance descriptors to
download before starting (default: 45 seconds).

DISTINCT_DESCRIPTORS
Distinct descriptors are used if you have more than 10 backend instances. At the cost of
scalability, this can be disabled to appear more like a standard onion service. (default: True)

STATUS_SOCKET_LOCATION
The Onionbalance service creates a Unix domain socket which provides real-time information about
the currently loaded service and descriptors. This option can be used to change the location of
this domain socket. (default: /var/run/onionbalance/control)

The following options typically do not need to be modified by the end user:

REPLICAS
How many set of HSDirs to upload too (default: 2).

MAX_INTRO_POINTS
How many introduction points to include in a descriptor (default: 10)

DESCRIPTOR_VALIDITY_PERIOD
How long a onion service descriptor remains valid (default: 86400 seconds)

DESCRIPTOR_OVERLAP_PERIOD
How long to overlap onion service descriptors when changing descriptor IDs (default: 3600 seconds)

DESCRIPTOR_UPLOAD_PERIOD
How often to publish a descriptor, even when the introduction points don't change (default: 3600
seconds)

Environment Variables
ONIONBALANCE_CONFIG
Override the location for the Onionbalance configuration file.

The loaded configuration file takes precedence over environment variables. Configuration file options
will override environment variable which have the same name.

ONIONBALANCE_LOG_LOCATION
See the config file option.

ONIONBALANCE_LOG_LEVEL
See the config file option

ONIONBALANCE_STATUS_SOCKET_LOCATION
See the config file option

ONIONBALANCE_TOR_CONTROL_SOCKET
See the config file option

FILES

       /etc/onionbalance/config.yaml
              The configuration file, which contains services entries.

       config.yaml
              Fallback location for torrc, if /etc/onionbalance/config.yaml is not found.

AUTHOR