#+date:        [2025-12-06 Sat 14:13:00]
#+title:       Self-Hosting Guide: Tor Websites
#+description: How to host a website on Tor with an onion address.
#+slug: self-hosting-tor
#+filetags:    :linux:self-hosting:

* Installation

First, install the Tor package. I'm using Ubuntu, so I'll be using =apt= to
install Tor.

#+begin_src sh
sudo apt install tor
#+end_src

* Configuration

** Tor
Next, let's configure the service we'll be serving via Tor. For this, edit the
file below and add the lines below to the end of the file.

#+begin_src sh
sudo nano /etc/tor/torrc
#+end_src

The following lines you add to the file will define the directory to use and the
internet protocol (IP) address and port we will be using.

#+begin_src text
HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/hidden_service/
HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:5000
#+end_src

Next, you will need to =cat= the contents of the file below to find the onion
address provided to you.

#+begin_src sh
sudo cat /var/lib/tor/hidden_service/hostname
#+end_src

** Nginx

With this onion address handy, create a file in your Nginx configuration
directory. Mine is =conf.d=, but yours may be =sites-available=. If that's the
case, don't forget to create a symbolic link from the file you created in
=sites-available= to =sites-enabled=.

#+begin_src sh
sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/tor-website.conf
#+end_src

Within this Nginx configuration file, I will be using the file below. I have
left comments to explain each part.

#+begin_src conf
server {
	# The IP address and port Nginx will listen on
	listen 127.0.0.1:80;
	# The onion address to listen for
	server_name sv3g2dlyvwyk2nvi3eeh55fcrpdvjlclhi6wwsx57cste6lwdjanzyyd.onion;
	# The directory where your website files are
	root /var/www/tor-website/;

	# By default, try to serve the files. Return 404 if a file is not found.
	location / {
		try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
	}

	# Put any other configurations here at the end, such as redirects
	# ...
}
#+end_src

Finally, we can restart the services and check to see if it's working.

#+begin_src sh
sudo systemctl restart nginx.service
sudo systemctl restart tor.service
#+end_src

At this point, you should be able to view your Onion address in Tor.

[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251206-self-hosting-tor/onion.webp]]
#+caption: Onion Address in Tor

** Onion-Location

Lastly, let's advertise the =Onion-Location= on our clearnet website so that
users on Tor can automatically switch to the Onion address if they want to.

#+begin_src sh
sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/regular_website.conf
#+end_src

#+begin_src conf
server {
	server_name example.com;
	add_header Onion-Location http://YourOnionAddress.onion$request_uri;
}
#+end_src

Once complete, restart Nginx.

#+begin_src sh
sudo systemctl restart nginx.service
#+end_src

You should now see a big purple button in Tor titled =.onion available= when
visiting the clearnet web page.

[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251206-self-hosting-tor/clearnet.webp]]
#+caption: Onion-Location Button

If everything worked, you're all done! You now have a website served via an
onion address on Tor and an Onion-Location header advertising your new onion
address.