How to properly install Parrot's Anonsurf on Kali Linux ?

[Alone in the Dark]

Hello friends of linux.org, how are you? I hope you are all in the best of health.

I am currently using Kali Linux (customized as "Alone-in-the-Dark") with XFCE desktop environment. I want to install the original Anonsurf from Parrot OS on my system to route all my traffic through Tor and change my digital location.

I have already tried the standard apt install but the package was not found in my current repositories. I also have some concerns regarding the boot process, as I have customized my GRUB to be hidden for a faster startup.

Could you please guide me on the safest way to "port" Anonsurf to Kali without breaking my current configurations?

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[PuppyHome]

Could you please guide me on the safest way to "port" Anonsurf to Kali without breaking my current configurations?

Just don't, you WILL break it.

If you really need a pentesting distro with anonsurf just install Parrot Security OS which is BUILT to use anonsurf from the get-go.

 

[osprey]

Hello friends of linux.org, how are you? I hope you are all in the best of health.

I am currently using Kali Linux (customized as "Alone-in-the-Dark") with XFCE desktop environment. I want to install the original Anonsurf from Parrot OS on my system to route all my traffic through Tor and change my digital location.

I have already tried the standard apt install but the package was not found in my current repositories. I also have some concerns regarding the boot process, as I have customized my GRUB to be hidden for a faster startup.

Could you please guide me on the safest way to "port" Anonsurf to Kali without breaking my current configurations?

Thank you in advance for your help!

When installing tor and anonsurf, they are typically installed into their own directories which the user creates for that purpose, and not by the package manager. That is deliberate in order to keep these secure apps to themselves and not integrated into the system filesystem. They are thus easily run from their own directories somewhere in the user's home directory. When there's an upgrade, the whole directory where they reside can be deleted and replaced with the new version. That sort of approach makes it all clean and as secure as possible for those apps. Perhaps have a look here for instructions:

Installing

Tor Browser is available for Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux. This section explains the system requirements and installation steps for each platform.

support.torproject.org

How To Setup And Use Anonsurf On kali Linux - GeeksforGeeks

Your All-in-One Learning Portal: GeeksforGeeks is a comprehensive educational platform that empowers learners across domains-spanning computer science and programming, school education, upskilling, commerce, software tools, competitive exams, and more.

www.geeksforgeeks.org

 

[Alone in the Dark]

Just don't, you WILL break it.

If you really need a pentesting distro with anonsurf just install Parrot Security OS which is BUILT to use anonsurf from the get-go.

Thanks

 

[Alone in the Dark]

When installing tor and anonsurf, they are typically installed into their own directories which the user creates for that purpose, and not by the package manager. That is deliberate in order to keep these secure apps to themselves and not integrated into the system filesystem. They are thus easily run from their own directories somewhere in the user's home directory. When there's an upgrade, the whole directory where they reside can be deleted and replaced with the new version. That sort of approach makes it all clean and as secure as possible for those apps. Perhaps have a look here for instructions:

Installing

Tor Browser is available for Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux. This section explains the system requirements and installation steps for each platform.

support.torproject.org

How To Setup And Use Anonsurf On kali Linux - GeeksforGeeks

Your All-in-One Learning Portal: GeeksforGeeks is a comprehensive educational platform that empowers learners across domains-spanning computer science and programming, school education, upskilling, commerce, software tools, competitive exams, and more.

www.geeksforgeeks.org

"That sounds like a very clean and secure approach. Could you please explain the exact steps to manually install and run Anonsurf and Tor from a standalone directory in the home folder, without using the package manager? I want to make sure I set up the paths and dependencies correctly to keep them isolated from the system filesystem as you mentioned. Thank you!"

 

[osprey]

"That sounds like a very clean and secure approach. Could you please explain the exact steps to manually install and run Anonsurf and Tor from a standalone directory in the home folder, without using the package manager? I want to make sure I set up the paths and dependencies correctly to keep them isolated from the system filesystem as you mentioned. Thank you!"

The instructions for installing the apps in their own directories are described in the links in post #3. Perhaps have read and follow those moves, and if you have any trouble at any point, let readers here know. The instructions use the command line so familiarity with the command line will help.

For anonsurf you will need the packages: git and fakeroot, installed, so install those packages before trying to install anonsurf if not already installed. The commands needed are clear in the instructions and can be pasted from the instructions into the terminal so one doesn't have to copy them by writing each alphanumeric character individually. Note where it says root permissions is needed. One gets root permissions though using sudo, or transferring the terminal permissions to root. There is a README file in the anonsurf download, so it's wise to read that.

For Tor, it's more straight forward because one just has to download the tarball from the Tor site. No git involved there. Then, again, follow the instructions at the website. It all works.

Note that both apps can be started from the command line whilst in their respective directories. To get desktop icons for them is more fiddly and unnecessary in terms of the functionality of the apps. Only the command line is used here.

 

[Alone in the Dark]

The instructions for installing the apps in their own directories are described in the links in post #3. Perhaps have read and follow those moves, and if you have any trouble at any point, let readers here know. The instructions use the command line so familiarity with the command line will help.

For anonsurf you will need the packages: git and fakeroot, installed, so install those packages before trying to install anonsurf if not already installed. The commands needed are clear in the instructions and can be pasted from the instructions into the terminal so one doesn't have to copy them by writing each alphanumeric character individually. Note where it says root permissions is needed. One gets root permissions though using sudo, or transferring the terminal permissions to root. There is a README file in the anonsurf download, so it's wise to read that.

For Tor, it's more straight forward because one just has to download the tarball from the Tor site. No git involved there. Then, again, follow the instructions at the website. It all works.

Note that both apps can be started from the command line whilst in their respective directories. To get desktop icons for them is more fiddly and unnecessary in terms of the functionality of the apps. Only the command line is used here.

"Thank you for the detailed explanation. I have already downloaded the files, and I can see a directory named kali-anonsurf and a source folder kali-anonsurf-deb-src in my home directory. Could you please guide me on how to use git and fakeroot to properly set up Anonsurf within its own directory as you suggested? Also, since Tor should be a standalone tarball, where is the best place to link it so Anonsurf can find it without system-wide installation?"

 

[osprey]

"Thank you for the detailed explanation. I have already downloaded the files, and I can see a directory named kali-anonsurf and a source folder kali-anonsurf-deb-src in my home directory. Could you please guide me on how to use git and fakeroot to properly set up Anonsurf within its own directory as you suggested? Also, since Tor should be a standalone tarball, where is the best place to link it so Anonsurf can find it without system-wide installation?"

As I understand it, you need to install git, fakeroot and tor before you install anonsurf. So, before running the installer shell in the anonsurf download, do the other installations, but note the following.

For using git, use the commands in the linked instructions. That's it.

This is an important detail that hasn't been addressed so far! Kali apparently wants the tor installation done from it's own repo, and not directly from the tor website. The reason for this is that anonsurf expects tor to be in certain directories which the Kali installation will set up, and also that Kali will use systemd which wouldn't be necessary for an independent setting up of tor. So the best approach will be to install tor through Kali with something like apt install tor. Usually it's wise to update the system before running that. After those installation, running the anonsurf installer shell is supposed to work.

Kali will thus integrate tor in the system, but its overall protections should not lessen the security of setting up tor in a more independent way. Doing things the Kali way will save a lot of small fiddly adjustments.

 

[PuppyHome]

Still it's a bad idea to do this. Did it twice and both times was a disaster. Sure you could install it in a stand alone directory but once it is running what will the installed applications do with making connections it is not designed to do run? Especially applications like proxy servers (Burpsuite, OWASP to name a few.)
TOR is by no means safe in terms of not to be compromised and give your REAL IP as a present when not used correctly. Adding anonsurf on KALI specifically is overall a bad idea, because if the devs would want anonsurf to run on their distro they would have done so and they didn't. Kali is designed for use as is, period.

Parrot Security OS (and Home version) have intentionally integrated anonsurf and you can bet your last buck they made sure it's safe to use under all circumstances that could occur. I'd trust that 100x more than installing AND using this instead of using it in a pentesting distro as specific as Kali.

IF you really must make sure that you get the native installed proxychains involved.

https://dranolia.medium.com/understanding-proxychains4-conf-anonsurf-in-kali-linux-46471260e499

 

[Brickwizard]

Anonsurf was ported to Kali by our developer last year it is available from GitHub and comes packaged with Pandora if you have installed it.. DO NOT run as service anonsurf $COMMAND. Run as anonsurf $COMMAND

GitHub - Und3rf10w/kali-anonsurf: A port of ParrotSec's stealth and anonsurf modules to Kali Linux

 

[Alone in the Dark]

As I understand it, you need to install git, fakeroot and tor before you install anonsurf. So, before running the installer shell in the anonsurf download, do the other installations, but note the following.

For using git, use the commands in the linked instructions. That's it.

This is an important detail that hasn't been addressed so far! Kali apparently wants the tor installation done from it's own repo, and not directly from the tor website. The reason for this is that anonsurf expects tor to be in certain directories which the Kali installation will set up, and also that Kali will use systemd which wouldn't be necessary for an independent setting up of tor. So the best approach will be to install tor through Kali with something like apt install tor. Usually it's wise to update the system before running that. After those installation, running the anonsurf installer shell is supposed to work.

Kali will thus integrate tor in the system, but its overall protections should not lessen the security of setting up tor in a more independent way. Doing things the Kali way will save a lot of small fiddly adjustments.

"Thanks osprey for the detailed breakdown. Honestly, seeing all those steps for git, fakeroot, and tor repositories made me realize how messy it could get on Kali. I’ve decided to take the easier and safer route by switching to ParrotOS Home. It already has everything integrated natively, so I won’t have to worry about these manual configurations. Thanks for the help!"

 

[Alone in the Dark]

Still it's a bad idea to do this. Did it twice and both times was a disaster. Sure you could install it in a stand alone directory but once it is running what will the installed applications do with making connections it is not designed to do run? Especially applications like proxy servers (Burpsuite, OWASP to name a few.)
TOR is by no means safe in terms of not to be compromised and give your REAL IP as a present when not used correctly. Adding anonsurf on KALI specifically is overall a bad idea, because if the devs would want anonsurf to run on their distro they would have done so and they didn't. Kali is designed for use as is, period.

Parrot Security OS (and Home version) have intentionally integrated anonsurf and you can bet your last buck they made sure it's safe to use under all circumstances that could occur. I'd trust that 100x more than installing AND using this instead of using it in a pentesting distro as specific as Kali.

IF you really must make sure that you get the native installed proxychains involved.

https://dranolia.medium.com/understanding-proxychains4-conf-anonsurf-in-kali-linux-46471260e499

"Thanks PuppyHome, I totally get your point. I don't want to mess up my system or deal with a 'disaster' like you said. I've decided to stop trying with Kali and just switch to Parrot Home since it’s more stable for what I need. Appreciate the help!"

 

[Alone in the Dark]

Anonsurf was ported to Kali by our developer last year it is available from GitHub and comes packaged with Pandora if you have installed it.. DO NOT run as service anonsurf $COMMAND. Run as anonsurf $COMMAND

GitHub - Und3rf10w/kali-anonsurf: A port of ParrotSec's stealth and anonsurf modules to Kali Linux

"Thanks for the advice Brickwizard. You’re right, it’s much better to use a system where Anonsurf is already built-in and safe. I’m moving to ParrotOS Home Edition now to get that clean and native experience you mentioned. Thanks again!"