Note that these are the installation instructions for running a client on Mac OS X. If you want to run a server (please do), read the "Configuring a server" section at tor-doc.html.
This document was updated $Date$.
The latest beta release of Tor for Macintosh OS X is 0.1.0.11. Download it by clicking the link. You may be able to find experimental versions here, if you're looking for new features and new bugs.
Our Tor installer should make everything pretty simple. Below is a screenshot of the setup page (your version will probably be newer than the version printed in this screenshot):
By default, Tor is configured to run at startup. If you do not want Tor to run on startup, you can disable this by selecting "Customize" in the Installer, and then un-checking the "Tor Startup Script" box. Be sure to leave the other boxes checked.
Once the installer is finished and your computer restarts, Tor will start automatically. Tor comes configured as a client by default. It uses a built-in default configuration file in /Library/Tor/torrc, but most people won't need to change any of the settings. Tor is now installed.
Privoxy is installed as part of the Tor bundle package installer. Privoxy is a filtering web proxy that integrates well with Tor. Once it's installed, it will start automatically when your computer is restarted.
You do not need to configure Privoxy to use Tor. A custom Privoxy configuration for Tor has been installed as part of the installer package.
After installing Tor, you need to configure your applications to use it. The first step is to set up web browsing. Change your browser to HTTP proxy at localhost port 8118. (That's where Privoxy listens.) In Mozilla, this is in Mozilla|Preferences|Advanced|Proxies. In Firefox it's Firefox|Preferences|General|ConnectionSettings. You should set both your Web Proxy (HTTP) and your Secure Web Proxy (HTTPS or SSL) to localhost port 8118, to hide your SSL traffic too.
If you want to use Tor with Safari, you need to change your Network Settings. The process looks something like:
Select your Network Preferences from the Apple | Location menu.
Select the Network Interface you want to enable Tor on. If you use more than one Interface you must change the proxy settings for each individually.
Select and enter 127.0.0.1 and port 8118 for both Web Proxy (HTTP) and your Secure Web Proxy (HTTPS). Leave your Use Passive FTP Mode (PASV) setting as is.
Using privoxy is necessary because browsers leak your DNS requests when they use a SOCKS proxy directly, which is bad for your anonymity. Privoxy also removes certain dangerous headers from your web requests, and blocks obnoxious ad sites like Doubleclick.
To test if it's working, you need to know your normal IP address so you can verify that the address really changes when running Tor. Your local IP address is shown by the ifconfig command. If you are behind a NAT/Firewall you can use one of the sites listed below to check which IP you are using. When that is done, start Tor and Privoxy and visit any of the sites again. If everything works, your IP address should have changed.
showmyip.com and ipid.shat.net are sites that show your current IP so you can see what address and country you're coming from.
If you have a personal firewall that limits your computer's ability to connect to itself, be sure to allow connections from your local applications to local port 8118 and port 9050. If your firewall blocks outgoing connections, punch a hole so it can connect to at least TCP ports 80, 443, and 9001-9033. For more troubleshooting suggestions, see the FAQ.
To Torify another application that supports HTTP, just point
it at Privoxy (that is, localhost port 8118). To use SOCKS
directly (for example, for instant messaging, Jabber, IRC, etc),
point your application directly at Tor (localhost port 9050). For
applications that support neither SOCKS nor HTTP, take a look at connect or
socat.
For more information how to Torify other applications in detail visit
the Torify HOWTO.
If you have suggestions for improving this document, please post them on our bugtracker in the website category. Thanks!
The Tor 0.1.0.x series does not come with an uninstaller; this feature will be added in the 0.1.1.x series. If you want to remove Tor on OSX, here's how:
Change your application proxy settings back to their original values. If you just want to stop using Tor, you can end at this point.
To stop Tor and Privoxy from running on startup, remove the /Library/StartupItems/Tor and /Library/StartupItems/Privoxy directories respectively. If you just want to stop Tor from running, you can end at this point.
To erase all remaining Tor and Privoxy files from your computer, delete the following:
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