How to run a Middle/Guard Relay : Tor | Torhoo darknet markets

I recently setup my own tor relay.

If you have the spare resources, I highly recommend you run a tor relay, they're the backbone of the network, and tor is in need of more.

This guide will explain how to run your own, this guide is not on how to run an exit relay.

For this guide, I am using a debian vps, make sure you choose a host that is friendly towards tor, I recommend kyun.host

First install the required packages:

sudo apt install apt-transport-https

Next, create the apt sources list file for the tor repository:

sudo vim /etc/apt/sources.list.d/tor.list

Add the following lines:

deb     [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/tor-archive-keyring.gpg] https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org bookworm main
deb-src [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/tor-archive-keyring.gpg] https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org bookworm main

Then, Import the relevant signature from the repository:

wget -qO- https://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org/A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89.asc | 
gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/tor-archive-keyring.gpg >/dev/null

(You may have to install gpg first, you can do this with sudo apt install gpg Now, update the repository cache:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install tor deb.torproject.org-keyring

Now you need to configure your tor relay, this is where you set specific ports to block, set bandwidth limits, etc. This is my configuration for my relay, (if you want to use mine, replace <relayname> and <contactinfo> with any name and your contact email address, remember it will be public.

Nickname <relayname>
ContactInfo <youremailhere@mail.com> 
ORPort 443
ExitRelay 
SocksPort
CookieAuthFileGroupReadable 1
RelayBandwidthRate 100MBytes 
RelayBandwidthBurst 120 MBytes 
MaxAdvertisedBandwidth 100 MBytes 
AccountingStart day 0:00 
AccountingMax 200 GBytes

In my configuration, the max bandwidth is 100 MB/s, and the max daily traffic is 200 GB. There is more information on these settings here: https://support.torproject.org/relay-operators/bandwidth-shaping/ Now everything is configured, its time to start your relay. To do this, run

sudo systemctl restart tor@default

Next, you should install nyx, which allows you to monitor your relays traffic, as well as other statistics:

sudo apt install nyx

Now run nyx, and you should get a GUI showing your relay statistics.

This is a simplified guide, and does not touch too much on more advanced configurations.

Let me know any questions you have.