ooniprobe 1.0.1

Open Observatory of Network Interference

[](https://travis-ci.org/TheTorProject/ooni-probe) [](https://coveralls.io/r/TheTorProject/ooni-probe)


“The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.”

• John Gilmore; TIME magazine (6 December 1993)

OONI, the Open Observatory of Network Interference, is a global observation network which aims is to collect high quality data using open methodologies, using Free and Open Source Software (FL/OSS) to share observations and data about the various types, methods, and amounts of network tampering in the world.

ooniprobe is the first program that users run to probe their network and to collect data for the OONI project. Are you interested in testing your network for signs of surveillance and censorship? Do you want to collect data to share with others, so that you and others may better understand your network? If so, please read this document and we hope ooniprobe will help you to gather network data that will assist you with your endeavors!

#### Read this before running ooniprobe!

Running ooniprobe is a potentially risky activity. This greatly depends on the jurisdiction in which you are in and which test you are running. It is technically possible for a person observing your internet connection to be aware of the fact that you are running ooniprobe. This means that if running network measurement tests is something considered to be illegal in your country then you could be spotted.

Futhermore, ooniprobe takes no precautions to protect the install target machine from forensics analysis. If the fact that you have installed or used ooni probe is a liability for you, please be aware of this risk.

## Installation

### Debian based systems

` sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://deb.ooni.nu/ooni wheezy main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list' gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-key 0x49B8CDF4 gpg --export 89AB86D4788F3785FE9EDA31F9E2D9B049B8CDF4 | sudo apt-key add - sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install ooniprobe `

### Linux

We believe that ooniprobe runs reasonably well on Debian GNU/Linux wheezy as well as versions of Ubuntu such as natty and later releases. Running ooniprobe without installing it is supported with the following commands:

` git clone https://git.torproject.org/ooni-probe.git cd ooni-probe ./setup-dependencies.sh python setup.py install `

### Setting up development environment

On debian based systems this can be done with: ` sudo apt-get install libgeoip-dev python-virtualenv virtualenvwrapper mkvirtualenv ooniprobe python setup.py install pip install -r requirements-dev.txt `

### Other platforms (with Vagrant)

0. [Install Vagrant](https://www.vagrantup.com/downloads.html) and [Install Virtualbox](https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads)

0.1)

On OSX:

If you don’t have it install homebrew http://mxcl.github.io/homebrew/

` brew install git `

On debian/ubuntu:

` sudo apt-get install git `

1. Open a Terminal and run:

` git clone https://git.torproject.org/ooni-probe.git cd ooni-probe/ vagrant up `

2. Login to the box with:

` vagrant ssh `

ooniprobe will be installed in /ooni.

3. You can run tests with:

` ooniprobe blocking/http_requests -f /ooni/inputs/input-pack/alexa-top-1k.txt `

## Using ooniprobe

Net test is a set of measurements to assess what kind of internet censorship is occurring.

Decks are collections of ooniprobe nettests with some associated inputs.

Collector is a service used to report the results of measurements.

Test helper is a service used by a probe for successfully performing its measurements.

Bouncer is a service used to discover the addresses of test helpers and collectors.

### Configuring ooniprobe

You may edit the configuration for ooniprobe by editing the configuration file found inside of ~/.ooni/ooniprobe.conf.

By default ooniprobe will not include personal identifying information in the test result, nor create a pcap file. This behavior can be personalized.

### Running decks

You will find all the installed decks inside of /usr/share/ooni/decks.

You may then run a deck by using the command line option -i:

As root: ` ooniprobe -i /usr/share/ooni/decks/mlab.deck `

Or as a user: ` ooniprobe -i /usr/share/ooni/decks/mlab_no_root.deck `

Or:

As root: ` ooniprobe -i /usr/share/ooni/decks/complete.deck `

Or as a user: ` ooniprobe -i /usr/share/ooni/decks/complete_no_root.deck `

The above tests will require around 20-30 minutes to complete depending on your network speed.

If you would prefer to run some faster tests you should run: As root: ` ooniprobe -i /usr/share/ooni/decks/fast.deck `

Or as a user: ` ooniprobe -i /usr/share/ooni/decks/fast_no_root.deck `

### Running net tests

You may list all the installed stable net tests with:

` ooniprobe -s `

You may then run a nettest by specifying its name for example:

` ooniprobe manipulation/http_header_field_manipulation `

It is also possible to specify inputs to tests as URLs:

` ooniprobe blocking/http_requests -f httpo://ihiderha53f36lsd.onion/input/37e60e13536f6afe47a830bfb6b371b5cf65da66d7ad65137344679b24fdccd1 `

You can find the result of the test in your current working directory.

By default the report result will be collected by the default ooni collector and the addresses of test helpers will be obtained from the default bouncer.

You may also specify your own collector or bouncer with the options -c and -b.

## (Optional) Install obfsproxy

Install the latest version of obfsproxy for your platform.

[Download Obfsproxy](https://www.torproject.org/projects/obfsproxy.html.en)

## Bridges and obfsproxy bridges

ooniprobe submits reports to oonib report collectors through Tor to a hidden service endpoint. By default, ooniprobe uses the installed system Tor, but can also be configured to launch Tor (see the advanced.start_tor option in ooniprobe.conf), and ooniprobe supports bridges (and obfsproxy bridges, if obfsproxy is installed). The tor.bridges option in ooniprobe.conf sets the path to a file that should contain a set of “bridge” lines (of the same format as used in torrc, and as returned by https://bridges.torproject.org). If obfsproxy bridges are to be used, the path to the obfsproxy binary must be configured. See option advanced.obfsproxy_binary, in ooniprobe.conf.

## Setting capabilities on your virtualenv python binary

If your distributation supports capabilities you can avoid needing to run OONI as root:

` setcap cap_net_admin,cap_net_raw+eip /path/to/your/virtualenv's/python `