I’m new to Linux in general and would like to run Whonix on an Ubuntu host. I need to use VirtualBox so I can simultaneously use a VPN on my host. My problem is that I don’t have a ton of RAM or CPUs to spare so I was thinking of combining the Whonix-Gateway CLI with the Whonix-Workstation GUI. I don’t know how to use the CLI and after reading the common commands I’m still confused on exactly what I should focus on just to be able to get the Gateway working and keep it up to date.
You can do this, but what you might try instead is simply reducing the amount of available RAM in Whonix-Gateway to 512 MB. This will automatically disable the GUI. If in the future you want the GUI back, simply increase the RAM to a sufficient value (768 MB if you’re really tight on memory, more if you can afford it), and the GUI will come back.
The gateway will “work” as long as it’s powered on. Whonix-Workstation is designed to be unable to reach the Internet without the gateway’s help, and it can automatically connect to the gateway as long as the gateway is running.
You can upgrade software on Whonix-Gateway 17 the same way you’d upgrade it on Debian or Ubuntu via the command line - use sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade. Or, if you want a shortcut, use upgrade-nonroot. Both of these commands are mentioned in the “OS Updates” entry of the common commands page you linked to.
In Whonix 18 (which isn’t released quite yet), user-sysmaint-split will be installed in the gateway. In that instance, the procedure for updating software on the gateway will be the same as for updating software on the workstation - boot into PERSISTENT Mode | SYSMAINT Session | system maintenance tasks, log in as account sysmaint, and then run software update commands. For more information, see sysmaint - System Maintenance User.
(Note: Whonix is based on Kicksecure, and Kicksecure’s documentation for user-sysmaint-split applies to Whonix as well.)
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