Tor Browser Launcher

Tor Browser Launcher is intended to make the Tor Browser Bundle (TBB) easier to maintain and use for GNU/Linux users. You install torbrowser-launcher from your distribution's package manager and it handles everything else, including:

• Downloading the most recent version of TBB for you, in your language and for your architecture
• Automatically updating (while preserving your bookmarks and preferences)
• Verifying the TBB's GnuPG signature
• Adding a "Tor Browser" application launcher to your desktop environment's menu

If you use Ubuntu, you can install it now from my PPA (see "Installing in Ubuntu" below). Soon it will be in Debian. To install it in any other distribution, follow the "Quick Start" instructions.

Quick Start

First, clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/micahflee/torbrowser-launcher.git
cd torbrowser-launcher

Then install dependencies, build a package, and install:

Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, etc.

sudo apt-get install build-essential python-all python-stdeb python-gtk2 python-psutil python-twisted python-lzma wmctrl gnupg fakeroot
./build_deb.sh
sudo dpkg -i deb_dist/torbrowser-launcher_*.deb

Optionally you can install python-pygame if you want to play a modem sound while Tor Browser is launching.

Red Hat, Fedora, CentOS, etc.

sudo yum install python-psutil python-twisted wmctrl gnupg fakeroot
./build_rpm.sh
sudo yum install dist/torbrowser-launcher-*.rpm

Optionally you can install pygame if you want to play a modem sound while Tor Browser is launching.

Installing in Ubuntu

I've created a PPA where I'm maintaining torbrowser-launcher binaries. You can install in an Ubuntu-based distribution like this:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:micahflee/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install torbrowser-launcher

Enabling AppArmor Profiles

AppArmor is a Linux kernel hardening technology that lets you confine specific programs to only use specific resources. For example, if you visit a website that exploits a bug in the Tor Browser to get arbitrary code execution, the attacker won't be able to access files in ~/.gnupg. Here's how you turn on the AppArmor profiles for Tor Browser Launcher and for the programs bundled in the TBB.

sudo apt-get install apparmor-utils
sudo aa-enforce /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.torbrowser-launcher
sudo aa-enforce /etc/apparmor.d/torbrowser.start-tor-browser
sudo aa-enforce /etc/apparmor.d/torbrowser.Browser.firefox
sudo aa-enforce /etc/apparmor.d/torbrowser.Tor.tor