[tor-bugs] #21301 [Applications/Tor Browser]: Adjustable parameters for torrc-defaults file path and "Tor files" directory path

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#21301: Adjustable parameters for torrc-defaults file path and "Tor files"
directory path
--+--
 Reporter:  proxybrain|  Owner:  tbb-team
 Type:  enhancement   | Status:  new
 Priority:  Medium|  Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Browser  |Version:
 Severity:  Normal|   Keywords:
Actual Points:|  Parent ID:
   Points:|   Reviewer:
  Sponsor:|
--+--
 I propose that the firefox binary be augmented to support either command-
 line flags and/or to look for environment variables that specify where the
 `torrc-defaults` file is located; and related, where the "Tor files"
 directory should be located/created. If it's not possible to augment the
 binary in this way, perhaps the paths can be configurable via firefox
 profile settings loaded immediately upon launch?

 Presently, the `torrc-defaults` file is always looked for in a hard-coded
 directory relative to the binary. On macOS that's
 `/Contents/MacOS/../Resources/TorBrowser/Tor`. And the "Tor files"
 directory is always located/created in a directory two levels up from the
 firefox profile-directory.

 Those hard-wired settings make it nigh impossible, for example, to use TBB
 in conjunction with geckodriver, which always invokes the binary with a
 `--profile` setting that has a parent path common to all invocations
 (barring OS reboots); thus, multiple running instances will collide over
 their "Tor files" directories. See:
 [https://github.com/mozilla/geckodriver/issues/443 Command-line parameter
 for parent path of profile-directory?].

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Re: [tor-bugs] #21301 [Applications/Tor Browser]: Adjustable parameters for torrc-defaults file path and "Tor files" directory path

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#21301: Adjustable parameters for torrc-defaults file path and "Tor files"
directory path
--+---
 Reporter:  proxybrain|  Owner:  tbb-team
 Type:  enhancement   | Status:  new
 Priority:  Medium|  Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Browser  |Version:  Tor: 0.2.8.11
 Severity:  Normal| Resolution:
 Keywords:  torrc-defaults|  Actual Points:
Parent ID:| Points:
 Reviewer:|Sponsor:
--+---
Changes (by proxybrain):

 * keywords:   => torrc-defaults
 * version:   => Tor: 0.2.8.11


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Re: [tor-bugs] #21301 [Applications/Tor Browser]: Adjustable parameters for torrc-defaults file path and "Tor files" directory path

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#21301: Adjustable parameters for torrc-defaults file path and "Tor files"
directory path
-+-
 Reporter:  proxybrain   |  Owner:  tbb-
 |  team
 Type:  enhancement  | Status:  new
 Priority:  Medium   |  Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Browser |Version:  Tor:
 |  0.2.8.11
 Severity:  Normal   | Resolution:
 Keywords:  torrc-defaults, DataDirectory,   |  Actual Points:
  firefox, profile   |
Parent ID:   | Points:
 Reviewer:   |Sponsor:
-+-
Changes (by proxybrain):

 * keywords:  torrc-defaults => torrc-defaults, DataDirectory, firefox,
 profile


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Re: [tor-bugs] #21301 [Applications/Tor Browser]: Adjustable parameters for torrc-defaults file path and "Tor files" directory path

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#21301: Adjustable parameters for torrc-defaults file path and "Tor files"
directory path
--+--
 Reporter:  proxybrain|  Owner:  tbb-team
 Type:  enhancement   | Status:  new
 Priority:  Medium|  Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Browser  |Version:
 Severity:  Normal| Resolution:
 Keywords:  tbb-usability |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:| Points:
 Reviewer:|Sponsor:
--+--
Changes (by gk):

 * keywords:  torrc-defaults, DataDirectory, firefox, profile => tbb-
   usability
 * version:  Tor: 0.2.8.11 =>


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Re: [tor-bugs] #21301 [Applications/Tor Browser]: Adjustable parameters for torrc-defaults file path and "Tor files" directory path

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#21301: Adjustable parameters for torrc-defaults file path and "Tor files"
directory path
--+---
 Reporter:  proxybrain|  Owner:  tbb-team
 Type:  enhancement   | Status:  needs_information
 Priority:  Medium|  Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Browser  |Version:
 Severity:  Normal| Resolution:
 Keywords:  tbb-usability |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:| Points:
 Reviewer:|Sponsor:
--+---
Changes (by mcs):

 * status:  new => needs_information


Comment:

 There are some preferences available (modify them via about:config or by
 editing prefs.js within the browser profile while Tor Browser is not
 running):
  extensions.torlauncher.tor_path
  extensions.torlauncher.torrc_path
  extensions.torlauncher.tordatadir_path

 See https://gitweb.torproject.org/tor-
 launcher.git/tree/src/defaults/preferences/prefs.js for all of the hiddem
 preferences (and comments that explain how they can be used).

 Do these preferences meet your needs? I would rather not add support for
 more environment variables due to the complexity that it will introduce.

 And please use a custom torrc if possible rather than modifying torrc-
 defaults.

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Re: [tor-bugs] #21301 [Applications/Tor Browser]: Adjustable parameters for torrc-defaults file path and "Tor files" directory path

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#21301: Adjustable parameters for torrc-defaults file path and "Tor files"
directory path
--+---
 Reporter:  proxybrain|  Owner:  tbb-team
 Type:  enhancement   | Status:  needs_information
 Priority:  Medium|  Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Browser  |Version:
 Severity:  Normal| Resolution:
 Keywords:  tbb-usability |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:| Points:
 Reviewer:|Sponsor:
--+---

Comment (by proxybrain):

 Thank you for the helpful suggestions. I was able to use the preferences
 and custom `torrc` (vs. `torrc-defaults`) you suggested to achieve my
 desired configurations. One point of difficulty that took awhile to debug
 was owed to `extensions.torlauncher.tordatadir_path` and
 `extensions.torlauncher.torrc_path` having maximum supported lengths, with
 respect to the tor executable (or so it seems). It was not clear to me why
 I was experiencing repeat failed launches of TBB, until I lucked out in
 noticing a tor log entry re: the path-length. Once I got that sorted out,
 all worked as desired.

 Here's a closely related question:

 Let `firefox` be the TBB executable and `/some/path` be an empty
 directory; these commands produce rather different output in `/some/path`:

 `firefox --profile=/some/path`

 `firefox -CreateProfile "some_name /some/path"`

 How can I generate the same output that results from the first command –
 let's call it the `TBB default profile` – but without starting the TBB
 application ''per se''?

 The `-CreateProfile` option is going the right direction, since it exits
 after writing to disk, but doesn't output the `TBB default profile`.

 My use case: when the TBB executable is invoked by Selenium (+gecko-
 driver) and when Selenium is not supplied with a custom profile, then a
 profile is created for the driven instance that is entirely different from
 the `TBB default profile`, one which does not function properly. Why
 that's the case, I'm not sure. It's possible, of course, to manually
 generate the `TBB default profile` by way of a TBB launch that's aborted
 after the expected files are written to disk. Then one can copy around
 those files and pass them – plus `user.js` – to Selenium as a custom
 profile for the TBB instance/s Selenium will launch. However, that initial
 profile generation adds a bit of a wild hair to the automation process;
 for example, one has to manually keep a manifest of what's in the `TBB
 default profile`, which could change across releases. So, all considered,
 the automation process would be much simpler if it were possible to invoke
 the TBB executable such that it writes the `TBB default profile` to disk,
 at a specified path, and then exits.

 I will be happy to turn this inquiry (feature request?) into a separate
 ticket, but I felt it made sense to ask here first since it's closely
 related to customization of TBB profiles per the preferences you
 recommended.

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Re: [tor-bugs] #21301 [Applications/Tor Browser]: Adjustable parameters for torrc-defaults file path and "Tor files" directory path

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#21301: Adjustable parameters for torrc-defaults file path and "Tor files"
directory path
--+
 Reporter:  proxybrain|  Owner:  tbb-team
 Type:  enhancement   | Status:  closed
 Priority:  Medium|  Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Browser  |Version:
 Severity:  Normal| Resolution:  worksforme
 Keywords:  tbb-usability |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:| Points:
 Reviewer:|Sponsor:
--+
Changes (by mcs):

 * status:  needs_information => closed
 * resolution:   => worksforme


Comment:

 Replying to [comment:5 proxybrain]:
 > ...
 > So, all considered, the automation process would be much simpler if it
 were possible to invoke the TBB executable such that it writes the `TBB
 default profile` to disk, at a specified path, and then exits.

 I am sorry for the delayed response (I just found this ticket again by
 chance). Since we fixed #13252, new profiles are created with the correct
 files and settings on OSX. This is not yet true on Windows or Linux
 although we hope to fix that someday (see #18367 and #18369).

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