Tor

Disclaimer: This guide and the provided code are for educational purposes only, designed to teach how containerized networking and ephemeral data storage work.

Before starting, ensure you have a Docker network called dmz created:

docker network create dmz

Chapter 1: The Basics - Hosting a Static Site (Nginx)

1. Create the Directory Structure

mkdir tor && cd "$_"
mkdir html

2. Configure Tor

Create the Tor configuration file.

nano torrc

Add the following configuration. This tells Tor to forward traffic on port 80 to our Nginx container:

SocksPort 0
HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/hidden_service/
HiddenServicePort 80 tor_web_01:80

3. Create the Web Page

Create a basic test page to verify the Tor connection.

nano html/index.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>TOR Test Page</title>
    <style>
        body { margin: 0; background: #111; color: #ddd; font-family: "Courier New", monospace; text-align: center; }
        .container { width: 700px; max-width: 90%; margin: 80px auto; padding: 35px; border: 2px solid #777; background: #1b1b1b; }
        h1 { color: #fff; font-size: 36px; letter-spacing: 4px; }
        .line { border-top: 1px dashed #777; margin: 25px 0; }
        .status { color: #00ff66; font-size: 20px; }
        footer { margin-top: 40px; color: #777; font-size: 12px; }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <div class="container">
        <h1>TOR TEST SERVER</h1>
        <div class="line"></div>
        <p class="status">[ ONLINE ]</p>
        <p>If you can see this page through the <strong>Tor Browser</strong>, the onion service is working correctly.</p>
        <div class="line"></div>
        <p>SYSTEM STATUS<br>Web Server: ONLINE<br>Tor Service: ONLINE</p>
        <footer>&copy; 1996–2026 — Tor Network Test Page<br>Built for educational purposes.</footer>
    </div>
</body>
</html>

4. Create the Docker Compose File

nano docker-compose.yml

services:
  tor_web_01:
    image: nginx:alpine
    container_name: tor_web_01
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - ./html:/usr/share/nginx/html:ro
    networks:
      - dmz

  tor_hidden_service:
    image: alpine:latest
    container_name: tor_hidden_service
    command: >
      sh -c "apk update && apk add --no-cache tor && 
      chown -R root:root /var/lib/tor/hidden_service && 
      chmod 700 /var/lib/tor/hidden_service && 
      tor -f /etc/tor/torrc"
    volumes:
      - ./torrc:/etc/tor/torrc:ro
      - ./data:/var/lib/tor/hidden_service
    restart: unless-stopped
    depends_on:
      - tor_web_01
    networks:
      - dmz

networks:
  dmz:
    external: true

5. Launch the Service

docker compose up -d

Wait 5 to 10 seconds for Tor to generate the cryptographic keys, then run this command to find the new .onion address:

cat ./data/hostname

Chapter 2: Advanced Use-Case - Ephemeral 90s Privacy Chat

Now that we know how to host a basic site, let's build something interactive: a private, live-chat arcade party room.

How does a privacy chat work?
Instead of saving messages to a database (like SQLite or MySQL), we will store them in the server's RAM. This is called Ephemeral Storage. If the Docker container is restarted or stopped, the chat history vanishes instantly and permanently.

1. Download the template

We have prepared a ready to use template to get started quickly. Download the zip below

• tor.zip

Deploy the container using --build flag:

docker compose down
docker compose up -d --build