All traffic originating from [[Whonix-Workstation|{{project_name_workstation_long}}]] and [[Whonix-Gateway|{{project_name_gateway_long}}]] is routed to the [[Tor]] software.
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* Traffic from {{project_name_gateway_short}} also routed over Tor: Starting from {{project_name_short}} version 0.2.1, traffic from {{project_name_gateway_short}} is also routed over Tor. This approach conceals the use of {{project_name_short}} from entities monitoring the network. * Gateway's own traffic not essential for anonymity: To preserve the anonymity of a user's {{project_name_workstation_short}} activities, it is not essential to route {{project_name_gateway_short}}'s own traffic through Tor. (Note: The gateway is mainly a tool that helps route traffic; it does not typically contain personal activity data.) * DNS configuration on {{project_name_gateway_short}} has limited impact: Altering DNS settings on {{project_name_gateway_short}} in /etc/resolv.conf only impacts DNS requests made by {{project_name_gateway_short}}'s applications that utilize the system's default DNS resolver. (DNS is like the internet's phonebook - it translates website names to IP addresses.) By default, no applications on {{project_name_gateway_short}} that generate network traffic use this default resolver. All default applications on {{project_name_gateway_short}} that produce network traffic (like apt, [https://www.kicksecure.com/wiki/Systemcheck systemcheck], [[sdwdate]]) are explicitly configured, or forced by uwt wrappers, to use their dedicated Tor SocksPort (refer to [[Stream Isolation]]). * {{project_name_workstation_short}} DNS requests handled via Tor: {{project_name_workstation_short}}'s default applications are configured to use dedicated Tor SocksPorts (see [[Stream Isolation]]), avoiding the system's default DNS resolver. Any applications in {{project_name_workstation_short}} not set up for stream isolation - such as nslookup - will use the default DNS server configured in {{project_name_workstation_short}} (through /etc/network/interfaces), which points to {{project_name_gateway_short}}. These DNS requests are then redirected to Tor's DnsPort by the {{project_name_gateway_short}} firewall. (This ensures DNS lookups still go through Tor even if they use the default method.) Changes in {{project_name_gateway_short}}'s /etc/resolv.conf do not influence {{project_name_workstation_short}}'s DNS queries. * Tor process traffic allowed direct internet access: Traffic produced by the Tor process, which by Debian's default operates under the account debian-tor and originates from {{project_name_gateway_short}}, can access the internet directly. This is permitted because the Linux user account debian-tor is exempted in the [[{{project_name_gateway_short}}_Firewall|{{project_name_gateway_short}} Firewall]] and allowed to use the "regular" internet. (This is necessary for Tor to establish its connections.) * Tor mostly uses TCP traffic: As of Tor version 0.4.5.6 (with no changes announced at the time of writing), the Tor software predominantly relies on TCP traffic. (TCP is a common protocol used for stable internet connections.) For further details, see [[Tor#UDP|Tor wiki page, chapter UDP]]. For DNS, please refer to the next footnote. * Tor's DNS independence and exceptions: Tor does not depend on, nor use, a functional (system) DNS for most of its operations. IP addresses of Tor directory authorities are hardcoded in the Tor software by Tor developers. (That means Tor knows important addresses in advance and doesn't need to look them up.) Exceptions include: ** Proxy with domain name: Proxy settings that use proxies with domain names instead of IP addresses. ** Pluggable transport domain resolution: Some Tor pluggable transports, such as meek lite, which resolve domains set in url= and front= to IP addresses, or snowflake's -front.