The modern way of Installing Tor Browser Bundle in Linux

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The modern way of Installing Tor Browser Bundle in Linux

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In the past, installing Tor Browser Bundle in Linux distributions has been a hustle. From installation complexities to permission issues, different users of Linux distros have reported multiple problems with the installation of the traffic-anonymizing Tor Network client.

To install Tor Browser Bundle, you first had to download the archive containing the binary executable and its dependencies [from https://www.torproject.org/download/, e.g., https://www.torproject.org/dist/torbrowser/11.5.2/tor-browser-linux64-x.x.x_en-US.tar.xz]. Next, you had to “Unarchive/Extract the binary executable and its dependencies“, and Finally you had to “Register the application as a Desktop Application” before Running it.

Put as above and having guidelines as hyperlinked above, it seems simplistic, but behind the scenes lies many unspoken issues. The aim of this article is to RESOLVE the issues around the installation of Tor Browser Bundle, by explaining an actual simplistic way to avoid installation hassles.

Step 1: Check for availability of the Tor Browser Bundle package

Unlike in the past, there now exists an install-able package for the Tor Browser Bundle. To check its existence in the list of packages, run;

apt-get update
apt show torbrowser-launcher

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Step 2: Install the “torbrowser-launcher”

To install Tor Browser Bundle, in the promised simplistic way, you need a helper, the “torbrowser-launcher“. To install it;

sudo apt-get install torbrowser-launcher

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Step 3: Launching the  “torbrowser-launcher” Launcher

Navigate to Applications and search for “tor“. You should be presented with two applications, one being the “Tor Browser” and the next being the “Tor Browser Launcher Settings“.

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At the very first instance you can use either of the two options to install the Tor Browser Bundle, as they both trigger its Download! If you need to adjust any settings -“Tor server” or “Mirror” – for the download, do so in “Tor Browser Launcher Settings“.

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Step 4: Launching Tor Browser Bundle (or Tor Browser)

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After the download is triggered, it completes and the bundle is installed and configured automatically in the following directory;

~/.local/share/torbrowser/tbb/x86_64

You can prove the installation was successful by launching the “Tor Browser Launcher Settings“. Note that now, the button that was previously named “Install Tor Browser” is now named “Reinstall Tor Browser“.

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At this point, all is done. Now search for “tor” in your Applications [or in ‘Applications’ > ‘Usual Application’ > ‘Internet’]. There still are two options. Click on “Tor Browser” to power-up the privacy browser and connect to the Tor Network. Alternatively, launch Tor Browser on Terminal using the command;

torbrowser-launcher

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After completing these processes, you might land onto a very common Tor Browser Bundle error, “The Tor Browser Bundle should not be run as root. Exiting.“! This exception occurs when you launch Tor Browser as a ROOT user, an action that is by default denied. If this happens, no worries, you are sorted, just follow instructions in this very detailed article: “Fix error Tor Browser Bundle should not be run as root“!

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The modern way of Installing Tor Browser Bundle in Linux
Linux | thetqweb