Whonix Linux Installer - Development Discussion

Development
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Fedora 39 not in VirtualBox Fedora Repository

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Changes in git:

  • skip --onion test for Fedora on CI because I could not figure out how to start Tor in the Fedora CI image to unbreak the CI
  • install virtualbox-guest-additinos-iso if using Debian fasttrack repository
159

Changes in git:

  • Minor, misc improved error messages.
  • Do not show CPU model by default in virtualization test for better privacy.
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New version uploaded.

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Link format was changed by me for sake of code simplification in dm-prepare-release (which was neccessary to be able handle all the various flavors, platforms such as ISO).

example, old, new:

  • https://download.whonix.org/ova/17.1.0.2/Whonix-CLI-17.1.0.2.sha512sums
  • https://download.whonix.org/ova/17.1.1.3/Whonix-CLI-17.1.1.3.ova.sha512sums
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Fixed in git and developers repository. Will merged to other repositories when the next stable gets released.

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Caught these errors.

VBoxManage: error: Machine settings file '/home/user/VirtualBox VMs/Whonix-Gateway-CLI/Whonix-Gateway-CLI.vbox' already exists

VBoxManage: error: Machine settings file '/home/user/VirtualBox VMs/Whonix-Workstation-CLI/Whonix-Workstation-CLI.vbox' already exists

This cannot be caught by:

vboxmanage showvminfo Whonix-Workstation-CLI

This is because the VMs aren’t registered in the VirtualBox settings folder but the VMs did exist in the VirtualBox VMs folder.

Full error example:

VBoxManage: error: Could not find a registered machine named 'Whonix-Workstation-CLI'
VBoxManage: error: Details: code VBOX_E_OBJECT_NOT_FOUND (0x80bb0001), component VirtualBoxWrap, interface IVirtualBox, callee nsISupports
VBoxManage: error: Context: "FindMachine(Bstr(VMNameOrUuid).raw(), machine.asOutParam())" at line 3138 of file VBoxManageInfo.cpp
zsh: exit 1     vboxmanage showvminfo Whonix-Workstation-CLI

Dunno how that happened.

Workaround is to manually deleted the Whonix VM folder - Danger - data loss, VMs will be deleted:

rm -r "/home/user/VirtualBox VMs/Whonix-Gateway-CLI"

rm -r "/home/user/VirtualBox VMs/Whonix-Workstation-CLI"

TODO: after vboxmanage showvminfo check if these folders exist. If yes, error out.

164

Small optimization suggestion on the wiki for newbie users

1. Download.

$ curl --tlsv1.3 --output whonix-xfce-installer-cli --url https://www.whonix.org/dist-installer-cli

2. Chance permissions to run the script

$ chmod +x

3. Run the installer.

$ ./whonix-xfce-installer-cli

Not a huge deal, but a small thing I noticed that might sightly impact UX for some less technical users

1 Like
165

Hitting a snag on my end with the linux install script on fedora

$ ./whonix-cli-installer-cli
whonix-cli-installer-cli: [NOTICE]: Command executing: $ sudo -- echo test
[sudo] password for user: 
test
whonix-cli-installer-cli: [NOTICE]: Saving user log to: '/home/rob/dist-installer-cli-download/logs/2/user.log'
whonix-cli-installer-cli: [NOTICE]: Saving debug log to: '/home/rob/dist-installer-cli-download/logs/2/debug.log'
whonix-cli-installer-cli: [NOTICE]: Installer: 'Whonix CLI for VirtualBox Installer'
whonix-cli-installer-cli: [NOTICE]: If you wish to cancel installation, press Ctrl+C.
whonix-cli-installer-cli: [NOTICE]: The license will be shown in 5 seconds.
whonix-cli-installer-cli: [NOTICE]: (Use -n or --non-interactive for non-interactive mode.)
./whonix-cli-installer-cli: line 2397: dialog_box: unbound variable
whonix-cli-installer-cli: [NOTICE]: Executed script, function, command executed: './whonix-cli-installer-cli' 'check_license' 'case "${dialog_box}" in '
whonix-cli-installer-cli: [ERROR]: Installer exited with code: '1'
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166

adding -n as a flag to the script fixed it…but interesting the dialog did not appear in my terminal

kitty + zsh + fedora

maybe we should fail this a little more gracefully?

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167

Hm. It’s either 2 steps (download + bash ./whonix-xfce-installer-cli) or 3 steps (download + chmod + ./whonix-xfce-installer-cli). Not sure 3 steps is better than 2.

168

Fixed in git.

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169

Function check_vm_exists_virtualbox is too complex and needs refactoring.

  • Should not call check_vm_running_virtualbox.
  • Should not call check_guest_boot.

This can be done from other places.

170

Yeah two steps is better, but on my system chmod was required to run the script after download

1 Like
171 
bash ./whonix-xfce-installer-cli

Didn’t work for you? I would be surprised by that. That would actually be an interesting feature of your distribution.

172

Done.

Done.

This could use some review.

173

Quote Kicksecure 17.1.1.5 - for VirtualBox - Point Release! - News - Kicksecure Forums

New version uploaded just now.

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1 Like