Creating A Custom Container (Optional)

This explains manual container creation. You should only use it if the automated process doesn't satisfy your needs.

Container setup

Click here to watch the steps for "Container setup" as ASCII Cast

Boot your system from the Split Linux pendrive. Split will detect the partition you just created, ask for its password and mount it.

  1. Switch to the second terminal (Ctrl+Alt+F2) and log in as root. (Currently, the first terminal displays Tor debug output which renders it unfit for interactive use. This will be changed in a future release.)
  2. Ensure that horde is mounted (mount | grep split-horde) and that you're connected to the Internet (ping -c1 splitlinux.org).
  3. Create a container. You can replace name and amend the last row of parameters to install a different distro as offered at images.linuxcontainers.org.
    $ lxc-create --config /usr/share/splitlinux/config/splitlinux-default.conf \
             --name v --template download -- \
             --release current --dist voidlinux --arch amd64 --variant musl
  4. Remove superfluous includes from newly created container configuration (sed 's#^lxc.*lxc/config.*##g' /var/lib/lxc/v/config).
  5. Set a unique IP address for the container (sed -i 's#100#122#g' /var/lib/lxc/v/config).
  6. Start the container (lxc-start v) and step into it (lxc-attach v).
  7. In the container create a user. Its name must match the container name! (useradd --create-home v).
  8. Set a password for that user (passwd v).

Our example names the container v as in Void Linux. Using single letters for container- and user names is generally a great way to save time typing.

Container package installation

Click here to watch the steps for "Container package installation" as ASCII Cast

  1. Make the container use Void's Tor mirror for packages (echo 'repository=http://lysator7eknrfl47rlyxvgeamrv7ucefgrrlhk7rouv3sna25asetwid.onion/pub/voidlinux/current/musl' > /etc/xbps.d/00-repository-main.conf).
  2. Fetch the package index (SOCKS_PROXY="socks5://172.18.0.2:9050" xbps-install -Su).
  3. Install a basic graphical environment (SOCKS_PROXY="socks5://172.18.0.2:9050" xbps-install -S dwm st xorg-minimal xorg-fonts monero curl torsocks).
  4. Configure dwm to start as graphical environment (echo 'exec dwm' >> /home/v/.xinitrc).
  5. Exit the container (exit) and verify that you're back in the host system (hostname).
  6. Reboot (reboot).

Notes

  • A window manager or a desktop environment (like dwm) is highly recommended if you want a graphical interface.
  • If xorg-minimal is not installed, dwm will fail to start complaining about DISPLAY not being set.
  • If xorg-fonts is not installed, dwm will fail to start complaining that monospace:10 is missing.
  • torsocks is essential as it allows pretty much any application to route through Tor.

When you now log in using the container name as user name (eg v) you should end up within the container's graphical environment.

Continue at Configuration: Internet for Applications to learn how to connect your applications through Tor.