rustit/tor_client_minimal repository overview

⁠synology-tor-client-minimal

Minimal Tor client (SOCKS proxy) Docker image designed for Synology NAS.
This container runs a Tor client exposing a SOCKS proxy on port 9150 (SocksPort 0.0.0.0:9150).

⁠📦 Description

This Docker image:

• is based on Alpine Linux
• runs a headless Tor client (no GUI)
• exposes a SOCKS proxy for browsers and applications
• is optimized for Docker usage on Synology NAS

⁠🧩 Versions

• OS: Alpine Linux (latest)
  https://alpinelinux.org⁠

  Alpine Linux is a security-oriented, lightweight Linux distribution based on musl libc and busybox.

• tor: latest

  https://gitlab.com/torproject/tor⁠

• lyrebird: latest

  https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/anti-censorship/pluggable-transports/lyrebird⁠

⁠🚀 Installation & Launch (Synology NAS)

⁠1. Start Docker

Open the Synology NAS admin interface and launch the Docker package.

⁠2. Download the image

Go to the Registry tab and search for:

tor_client_minimal

Double-click the image to download it.

⁠3. Create the container

After the download is complete:

1. Go to the Image tab
2. Select the tor_client_minimal image
3. Click Launch to create the container

⁠4. Container configuration

• Set a container name
• Add port mapping:
  • Local port: 9150
  • Container port: 9150

Click Next.

⁠5. Resource limits (optional)

Adjust CPU and memory limits if needed.
Click Next, then Apply.

⁠6. Start the container

Launch the container.

⁠🌐 Usage

Once the container is running:

1. Configure your browser or application to use a SOCKS proxy
2. Set:
   • IP address: your NAS IP
   • Port: 9150
3. It is recommended to use Tor Browser and adjust the connection settings in its preferences

✅ Your Tor client is now running.

⁠🛡 Notes

• This image runs Tor client only (no Tor Browser included)
• It is intended to proxy traffic from other applications through the Tor network

⁠⚙️ Custom torrc configuration (optional)

By default, the container uses the torrc file bundled inside the image:

/etc/tor/torrc

You can override this configuration by mounting your own torrc file from the host system (Synology NAS) into the container.

⁠Why use a custom torrc?

This allows you to:

• change Tor network behavior
• enable or disable bridges
• configure pluggable transports (e.g. Lyrebird)
• adjust logging, circuits, exit policies, etc.

⁠How it works

Docker allows you to bind-mount a file from the host and replace the one inside the container.

Mount your custom torrc to: /etc/tor/torrc

⁠Example (Synology Docker UI)

When creating or editing the container:

1. Go to Volume settings
2. Add a new mount:
   • File/Folder (host): path to your custom torrc file
     (e.g. /volume1/docker/tor/torrc)
   • Mount path (container): /etc/tor/torrc
3. Make sure the file is readable by the tor user

Restart the container after applying changes.

⁠Example (docker run)

docker run -d \
  -p 9150:9150 \
  -v /path/on/host/torrc:/etc/tor/torrc:ro \
  --name tor_client_minimal \
  tor_client_minimal

⁠⚠️ torrc troubleshooting

If your torrc contains errors, Tor will fail to start and the container will exit. Check container logs for troubleshooting.