As the number of my onion sites increases, I can't connect to my onions and the internet on my workstation

Support
1

Hello,

I am creating multiple onion services using Whonix Gateway and Workstation.

For this, I have the following configurations in the `/usr/local/etc/torrc.d/50_user.conf` file in the gateway using `sudoedit`, and these configurations work flawlessly for my multiple onion sites.

HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/hidden_service/

HiddenServicePort 80 10.152.152.11:80

HiddenServiceVersion 3

HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/hidden_service2/

HiddenServicePort 80 10.152.152.11:80

HiddenServiceVersion 3

…

..

.

HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/hidden_service(x)/

HiddenServicePort 80 10.152.152.11:80

HiddenServiceVersion 3

However, as the number of my onion sites increases, the loading speed of my sites slows down, and after a certain number of onion sites, when I try to access any site via the Tor browser on my workstation, I get the “The connection has timed out” error message and I cannot access any sites, including my onion sites. I understand that this is because I am trying to use a large number of hidden services (between 200-300). I do not experience any of these problems when I configure it for a single or multiple sites in the torrc file.

If anyone can help me solve this problem, thank you in advance.

1 Like
2

Probably an upstream Tor bug or limitation. You might get better feedback posting on Tor’s forums.

2 Likes
3

Tor Generic Bug Reproduction required.

1 Like
4

Hello Patrick,

I followed the instructions in the article you provided. I installed debian-trixie and vanguards on my virtual machine.

And I changed “ control_socket = “ to “ control_socket = `/run/tor/control` “ using the `sudoedit /etc/tor/vanguards.conf` command on both the gateway and trixie.

And I restarted vanguards.

But right now all my onion sites have started giving me the “The connection has timed out” error.

Is there anything else I need to do?

1 Like
5

Skip vanguards steps depending on whether the vanguards wiki page states that it is currently used by Whonix or not.

1 Like
6

Okay, I read that Vanguards is installed within the Whonix gateway.

Also, I read in the link below that instead of `control_socket =`, as you mentioned, I should write `control_socket = /run/tor/control`.

https://github.com/mikeperry-tor/vanguards/issues/47

Also, my Vanguards configuration is currently as follows:

control_ip = 127.0.0.1

control_port = 9051

control_socket = /run/tor/control

I activated Vanguards using the commands “sudo systemctl enable vanguards” and “sudo systemctl restart vanguards”.

And the output for the systemctl status vanguards command is as follows

â—Ź vanguards.service - Additional protections for Tor onion services
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/vanguards.service; enabled; preset: en>
Drop-In: /usr/lib/systemd/system/vanguards.service.d
└─30_anon-gw-anonymizer-config.conf
Active: active (running) since Sat 2025-12-13 15:05:06 UTC; 19min ago
Docs: man:vanguards(1)
Main PID: 5381 (vanguards)
Tasks: 3 (limit: 1098)
Memory: 61.3M
CPU: 6.822s
CGroup: /system.slice/vanguards.service
└─5381 /usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/vanguards

It appears active and enabled.

Then I restarted Tor with the command “sudo systemctl restart tor”. However, I’m still getting the “The connection has timed out” error on my Onion sites. If I configure my `sudoedit /usr/local/etc/torrc.d/50_user.conf` file for 50-60 sites, it works; if I configure it for 300-400 sites, it doesn’t work.

7

Quote Vanguards - Tor Anonymity Improvement

Update: Due to upstream bugs discussed in Connections drop on Tor 0.4.8.9 unfortunately vanguards has been disabled by default.

In any case, for Vanguards issues must be redirected upstream as well, in case you wish to use it despite that.

8

I found out that my Tor version on my gateway is 0.4.8.13-2, and I learned via the following link that Vanguards has a bug for Tor versions above 0.4.7.16-1:

Therefore, I downgraded my Tor to version 0.4.7.16-1.

(As described here - Tor Documentation for Whonix Users )

And I restarted Tor and Vanguards on my gateway. I had no problems hosting 50-60 Onion services, but when I increased this number above 400, my problem didn’t improve. I still get the “The connection has timed out” error when trying to access any site on my workstation (clearnet or Onion sites).