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Rhombus with Tor

Anonymize your IP address with Tor when using Rhombus Desktop

The only privacy protocol that’s not enabled by default on Rhombus Desktop is the ability to hide your IP address using the Tor network.

While it could eventually be enabled by default or through the Settings page, Tor currently needs to be activated manually to route your Rhombus Desktop connection through its network. Don’t worry, it’s not complicated at all and will only take you a few minutes.

There are currently 3 ways of using Rhombus Desktop through Tor network. Choose the one that fits you best:

a) Using the Tor Browser

The easiest way to enable the Tor network on Rhombus Desktop is probably by using the same connection being used by the Tor Browser. To do that, follow these steps:

  1. Download, install and launch the Tor Browser
  2. Connect to the Tor network by clicking on Connect or configure your connection parameters by clicking on Configure
  3. Once connected, leave the Tor Browser running in the background
  4. Open a terminal and go to the folder you’ve installed your Rhombus Desktop executable file
  5. Launch Rhombus Desktop with the -proxy=127.0.0.1:9150 argument
OS (package) Launch parameter
Win Windows “Rhombus Desktop.exe” -proxy=127.0.0.1:9150
Apple MacOS ./Rhombus\ Desktop.app/Contents/MacOS/Rhombus\ Desktop -proxy=127.0.0.1:9150
Linux Linux ./Rhombus\ Desktop -proxy=127.0.0.1:9150
Linux Linux (DEB) rhombus-desktop -proxy=127.0.0.1:9150

b) Using the Tor Daemon

The Tor Browser method is quite easy, but if you don’t want to run the Tor Browser alongside Rhombus Desktop, you can only run the Tor daemon instead. This Tor daemon will run seamlessly in the background and won’t bother you with a browser that you need to keep open.

Windows

  1. Download and install the Tor Browser
  2. Open the Windows File Explorer and navigate to the directory in which you’ve installed the Tor Browser (i.e. C:\Tor Browser\)
  3. Go into the Browser\TorBrowser\Tor directory
  4. Hold down the Shift key and right-click on the Tor folder → Open command window here
  5. In the terminal that pops up, type tor.exe –service install
  6. Tor should now be running as a Windows service. To verify, hold down the {{fa>windows}} key and press R key to open up the Run window. Then, type services.msc and then press OK
  7. You should see Tor running as a service somewhere in the list
  8. Go to the folder where your Rhombus Desktop executable is located
  9. Hold down the Shift key and right-click on the Tor folder → Open command window here
  10. Launch Rhombus Desktop and route its connection through Tor by typing “Rhombus Desktop.exe” -proxy=127.0.0.1:9050

macOS

  1. Open a terminal
  2. Install Brew by typing /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"
  3. Go through the installation process
  4. Install the Tor daemon: brew install tor
  5. Enable Tor as a Brew service: brew services start tor
  6. Navigate (using cd) to the folder where your Rhombus Desktop application icon is located (i.e. cd /home/USER/Applications/)
  7. Launch Rhombus Desktop by routing its connection through the Tor network: ./Rhombus\ Desktop.app/Contents/MacOS/Rhombus\ Desktop -proxy=127.0.0.1:9050

Linux

  1. Open a terminal
  2. Install the Tor daemon: sudo apt install tor (for Debian/Ubuntu-based distributions)
  3. Make sure Tor launches on startup: sudo systemctl enable tor
  4. Navigate (using cd) to the folder where your Rhombus Desktop application icon is located (i.e. cd ~/Rhombus/)
  5. Launch Rhombus Desktop by routing its connection through the Tor network: ./Rhombus\ Desktop -proxy=127.0.0.1:9050 (if you’ve installed Rhombus using the DEB package, then simply type this command: rhombus-desktop -proxy=127.0.0.1:9050 from any folder)

c) Tor as a Hidden Service

You can also run Tor as a hidden service and connect your Rhombus Desktop to it. By running Tor as a hidden service, you allow other Tor users to use your node as an entry or exit point. This helps the Tor network being more decentralized, thus increasing its anonymity.

Please refer to dedicated guide on running Tor as Hidden Service

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