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** This file is part of Vidalia, and is subject to the license terms in the
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** LICENSE file, found in the top level directory of this distribution. If
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** you did not receive the LICENSE file with this file, you may obtain it
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** from the Vidalia source package distributed by the Vidalia Project at
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** http://www.torproject.org/projects/vidalia.html. No part of Vidalia,
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** including this file, may be copied, modified, propagated, or distributed
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** except according to the terms described in the LICENSE file.
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<h1>Configuring Vidalia and Tor</h1>
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Vidalia allows you to configure some of the most commonly modified aspects
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of Vidalia and Tor. It also lets you set up and manage a <a
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href="server.html">Tor relay</a> so you can help the Tor network grow.
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<h3>General Settings</h3>
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Settings on the <i>General</i> page are the most commonly modified settings.
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<li><b>Tor Executable</b>: This is the Tor executable that Vidalia will run when
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you select <i>Start</i> from the tray menu. If you have multiple versions of
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Tor installed, you can tell Vidalia which version you would like to run by
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clicking the <i>Browse</i> button and navigating to the particular Tor
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installation you want.
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<li><b>Startup Options</b>: This setting allows you to have Vidalia
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automatically start Tor when Vidalia starts. You can also configure Vidalia
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to run when your system starts (<i>Windows only</i>).
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<h3>Network Settings</h3>
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The <i>Network</i> settings page lets you change how Tor connects to the Tor
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<li><b>I use a proxy to access the Internet</b>: If your Internet connection
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requires an HTTP proxy, you can configure Tor to send all of its directory
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requests and Tor relay connections through your proxy. You must specify at
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least the hostname or address of your proxy, and the port on which your
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proxy is listening for connections. If your proxy requires authentication,
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you can also enter the <i>Username</i> and <i>Password</i> you use to
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connect to your proxy. Otherwise, you can leave those fields blank.
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<li><b>My firewall only lets me connect to certain ports</b>: If you are behind
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a restrictive firewall or proxy that limits the ports you are able to
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connect to, you can configure Tor to connect directly only to relays
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listening on the ports allowed by your firewall or proxy. Simply enter a
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list of ports permitted by your firewall or proxy, separated by
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commas. (<i>Example: 80,443,8080</i>)
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<li><b>My ISP blocks connections to the Tor network</b>: If your ISP (Internet
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Service Provider) blocks connections to the Tor network, Tor can attempt to
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avoid being filtered by encrypting its directory connections and connecting
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to the Tor network through relays called <i>bridges</i> (Tor 0.2.0.3-alpha
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or newer only). You can add bridge relays by specifying either their address
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and port number, or their address, port number, and fingerprint.<br/>
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Below are examples of valid bridge address formats:
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128.213.48.13:8080 1054 13B1 DBDA F867 B226 74D2 52DF 3D9F A367 1F73
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128.213.48.13:8080 105413B1DBDAF867B22674D252DF3D9FA3671F73
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Even if you do not know any bridge relay addresses, checking this checkbox
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may still be helpful. Tor will encrypt its directory requests, which can
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defeat blocking mechanisms that try to filter Tor's requests for information
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about other relays. If connections to normal Tor relays are also blocked,
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then you will need to learn a bridge relay address somehow and add it
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here. See the help topic on <a href="bridges.html#finding">finding bridge
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relays</a> for more information on how to learn new bridge relay addresses
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<h3>Relay Settings</h3>
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<i> See <a href="server.html">this help topic</a> for detailed information
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about setting up and managing a Tor relay. </i>
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<a name="appearance"/>
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<h3>Appearance Settings</h3>
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The settings on the <i>Appearance</i> page allow you to customize the look
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<li><b>Language</b>: Vidalia's interface has been translated into many languages
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by helpful volunteers. When Vidalia is first run, it will try to guess which
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language your computer is currently using. If Vidalia guesses incorrectly,
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or if you prefer a different language, you can choose another language from
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the dropdown box. You will need to restart Vidalia after changing the
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displayed language for the changes to take effect.
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<li><b>Style</b>: In most cases, Vidalia will default to using your platform's
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default interface style. If you dislike the default, you can choose
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whichever interface style you prefer from the dropdown box.
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<h3>Advanced Settings</h3>
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The settings on the <i>Advanced</i> page should generally only be modified
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by more experienced users.
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<li><b>Control Address & Port</b>: The <i>Control Port</i> is the port which
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Vidalia uses to talk to Tor. This doesn't need to be changed unless you
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have a conflict with another service on your machine, or if you are using
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Vidalia to control and monitor a Tor process running on another machine.
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<li><b>Control Port Authentication</b>: Control port authentication is used to
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limit the applications on your machine that can connect to and reconfigure
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your Tor installation. The available authentication methods are:
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<b>None</b> -- No authentication is required. Use of this option is
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<b>strongly</b> discouraged. Any application or user on your computer can
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reconfigure your Tor installation.
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<b>Password</b> <i>(Default)</i> -- If this method is selected, you can
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specify a password that Tor will require each time a user or application
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connects to Tor's control port. If Vidalia starts Tor for you, you can have
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Vidalia randomly generate a new password each time it starts Tor by checking
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the <i>Randomly Generate</i> checkbox.
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<b>Cookie</b> -- If cookie authentication is selected, Tor will write a file
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(or, <i>cookie</i>) containing random bytes to its data directory when it
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starts. Any user or application that tries to connect to Tor's control port
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must be able to provide the contents of this cookie.
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<li><b>Tor Configuration File</b> <i>(optional)</i>: You can use this option to
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have Vidalia start Tor using a specific <i>torrc</i>, Tor's configuration
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file. If you leave this field blank, Tor will uses its own default torrc
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<li><b>Tor Data Directory</b> <i>(optional)</i>: You can specify the directory
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in which Tor will store its saved data, such as cached Tor relay
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information, Tor relay keys, and configuration files. If you leave this
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field blank, Tor will use its own default data directory location.
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<li><b>Permissions</b> <i>(optional, not available on Windows)</i>: If you enter
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a value for <b>Run as User</b>, Tor will <i>setuid</i> to this user when it
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starts. If you enter a value for <b>Run as Group</b>, Tor will
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<i>setgid</i> to this group when it starts.
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<h3>Hidden Service Settings</h3>
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Hidden services allow you to provide any kind of TCP-based service, e.g. an
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HTTP service, to others without revealing your IP address.
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