Proper way to shutdown whonix and other questions

Support
#1

Could someone please answer the following questions:

  1. What is the proper way to shutdown both the whonix gateway and workstation. There are 3 options a) Save the machine state b) Send the shutdown signal and c) Power off the machine.
  2. I have tried all 3 but every time that I come back to the whonix workstation I always have to update the browser, is that normal or am I doing something wrong?
  3. Do I have to update whonix every time that I use it through the sudo apt-get update and then sudo apt-get upgrade and then reboot it? Which one do I update first or does it matter?
  4. Every time that I sign into the workstation, I save my bookmarks but when I sign in again, the bookmarks are gone, is there a way for me to keep them?

Thank you very much in advance for taking the time to answer my questions.

#2

Which virtualizer are you using?

Bookmarks persist by default. That is up to Tor Browser.

Using live mode? Well, don’t use live mode if you want things to persist.

#3

I am using Oracle VM Virtual Box 6.1.

#4

documentation:
Shut Down Whonix ™

No, not normal at all.

How often should any Linux be updated?

I’d say it’s a general security question.

Normally doesn’t matter. Unless it’s a release upgrade. But if you ever follow release upgrade instructions it’s mentioned. And it hasn’t been security relevant ever.

Sign in where?

#5

I meant that when I start the workstation and gateway.

#6

Thank you for your support. I greatly appreciate it.

#7

So I followed the documentation to power off the workstation and also the gateway and when I restarted it, I had to update the TOR Browser again. Can someone please tell me why this happens and how do I fix it? Thank you in advance.

#8

Try to find out if this is a Tor Browser issue or general disk persistence issue.

Create any file with any content (such as “test”) in the home folder. Reboot. Is there file still there or is it gone?

What do you select in grub boot menu? Don’t select anything. Keep the default. Do not choose live.

#9

I created a test file in the Home Folder and when I rebooted the file was still there but when I powered off the workstation and gateway and restarted them, the test folder was no longer there. I am using the default boot menu. Thanks for your help.

#10

So it’s a general disk persistence issue, not a Tor Browser issue.

Whonix is based on Kicksecure.

Try this:

Kicksecure ™ in VirtualBox - Troubleshooting - Kicksecure ™ does not Start?