When I go to “Qubes Menu –> Qube Icon –> Templates –> whonix-workstation-18” and then click on “Tor Browser Downloader (AnonDist)”, the Tor Browser doesn’t open.
To try and fix this, I have reinstalled it using “System Maintenance Panel –> Manage Software”, search box “tb-updater”, Action “Reinstall”, “Run”. It successfully reinstalls however, Tor Browser Downloader still doesn’t open up when clicking on the Application in the Template App Menu. How can i debug and fix this?
You can safely update the tor browser from a terminal in whonix-workstaion-18 with the following:
[template workstation sysmaint ~]% update-torbrowser
I’ve also used the optional flags: --onion, to use the onion repos, and --resume, to continue a download that timed out.
opening the tor browser in the template is considered unsafe.
Thank you! Yes, this works as a temporary workaround, and successfully updates my tor browser. But I want “Tor Browser Downloader” GUI to work again on my whonix template. Is there a way to fix the “Tor Browser Downloader” in my template so the GUI Downloader version works again?
Hmm, I was able to open the GUI in my whonix-workstation-18 template, but am already up to date, so I didn’t try downloading. You’ll probably receive more timely replies on the whonix forum…
I have either the same or a similar problem. I think this might be a bug in some way.
If I open the Tor Browser Downloader of the Whonix-Workstation-18 in the GUI, then sometimes only the first small window, the checking window, opens and then vanishes, but the second bigger window, which shows you the “currently installed version” and where you can click on “yes” or “no” to the “Download now?” question, never opens.
My workaround, as I have found out, is to click in the GUI on the Tor Browser Downloader of the Whonix-Workstation-18 a second or a third time, then it works, at least for me.
If I have the time, I will probably look for a real solution in the whonix forum. But in the meantime it works by clicking a second or third time on it.
I’m also having this problem, I guess update-torbrowser is gonna do the job for now.
I’ve noticed however when I try for example to do an action on the “System Maintenance Panel” that requires root access (like “Install Updates”), the following warning is shown :
update-torbrowser (sysmaint) [NOTICE]: Dropping privileges to account 'tb-updater' because running in a Qubes TemplateVM, ok.
/usr/libexec/security-misc/pam-info: WARNING: 14 failed login attempts for account 'sysmaint'.
Login will be blocked after 50 attempts.
You have 36 more attempts before unlock procedure is required.
I assume the number of failed login attempts is equal to the number of times when I try to start “Tor Browser Downloader (AnonDist)”. I wonder if it has to do something with the autologin, here are the results of the Whonix Login Security Check (after clicking “Check System Status”) :
+----------+--------------------------------------+
| Users | Password GUI Autologin |
+----------+--------------------------------------+
| root | Restricted (Absent) Disabled |
| user | Locked (Absent) Disabled |
| sysmaint | Present Enabled |
+----------+--------------------------------------+
I am unable however to change the autologin settings, since when I try clicking on “Manage GUI Autologin”, a terminal window appears and states :
/usr/bin/sudo /usr/sbin/autologinchange
[sudo] password for sysmaint:
INFO: GUI autologin is not applicable to Qubes OS.
! SOLVED !
Your post is helpful, and helped me figure out the problem. I went to my original backup whonix-workstation-18 TemplateVM (which is essentially a Vanilla TemplateVM aside from updates), and did some investigation. In the backup TemplateVM, I used systemcheck app and got this:
INFO: user-sysmaint-split session detection result: SYSMAINT Session.
INFO: Whonix Login Security Check (Colors) :
+----------+--------------------------------------+
| Users | Password GUI Autologin |
+----------+--------------------------------------+
| root | Restricted (Absent) Disabled |
| user | Locked (Absent) Disabled |
| sysmaint | Absent Enabled |
+----------+--------------------------------------+
Notice that the original vanilla TemplateVM has an absent password for sysmaint user. So, then I used the systemcheck app on the old non-working whonix-workstation-18-broken TemplateVM, and got this:
INFO: user-sysmaint-split: Enabled
INFO: user-sysmaint-split session detection result: SYSMAINT Session.
INFO: Whonix Login Security Check (Colors) :
+----------+--------------------------------------+
| Users | Password GUI Autologin |
+----------+--------------------------------------+
| root | Restricted (Absent) Disabled |
| user | Locked (Absent) Disabled |
| sysmaint | Present Enabled |
+----------+--------------------------------------+
Notice the sysmaint password is marked as Present.
So then, in the broken TemplateVM, I used the System Maintenance Panel and clicked on “Manage Passwords --> User Password” and entered my password for the sysmaint user in the [sudo] password for sysmaint: entry. Then, in the “Enter the username whose password you want to change:” box I entered sysmaint. Then in the “Enter the new password for account 'sysmaint':” entry, i just pressed enter twice for a blank password, and then entered “Y” in the “WARNING: You are about to delete the password for account 'sysmaint'. Continue? [Y/N]” entry. After that I got this:
passwd: password changed.
/usr/sbin/pwchange: SUCCESS: Password for account 'sysmaint' has been deleted successfully.
terminal-wrapper-helper [NOTICE]: Command exited with exit code '0'. You may close this window safely.
Then again in my broken TemplateVM, I used the “Systemcheck” app, and it gave me this:
INFO: user-sysmaint-split: Enabled
INFO: user-sysmaint-split session detection result: SYSMAINT Session.
INFO: Whonix Login Security Check (Colors) :
+----------+--------------------------------------+
| Users | Password GUI Autologin |
+----------+--------------------------------------+
| root | Restricted (Absent) Disabled |
| user | Locked (Absent) Disabled |
| sysmaint | Absent Enabled |
+----------+--------------------------------------+
This is identical to the original Vanilla Backup whonix-workstation-18 template. So, then I decided to open up and test the Tor Browser Downloader (AnonDist) app in the broken whonix-workstation-18 TemplateVM, and voilà, Tor Browser Downloader (AnonDist) started working again. It opened up properly and started checking for new downloads. GREAT!
! So the Solution is… !
To remove any user passwords for sysmaint user in your whonix-workstation-18 TemplateVM. Then the Tor Browser Downloader (AnonDist) app will work again.
! This needs to be fixed !
So it seems that there is an issue, that when you have a password set for the sysmaint user, in the whonix-workstation-18 TemplateVM, the Tor Browser Downloader (AnonDist) app is unable to properly launch. I’m assuming this is a bug and needs to be reported, but I don’t know where to do so. What we want is for the Tor Browser Downloader (AnonDist) application to work properly when a password is set for the sysmaint user. Could someone direct me to a link where I can report this issue to the whonix developers?
Finally, I’m Glad I figured it out. Let me know if this solution also works for you after applying the above password-removal fix.
It works on my end too, thanks for the solution.
I’m not sure if you’re intended to change the password for sysmaint and if it’s an issue that concerns either Qubes OS, Whonix or both. However, I believe it is a problem that it doesn’t show any message when you try to open the Tor Browser Downloader after changing the sysmaint password.
Whonix says to post bug reports in their forum, and Qubes OS in a GitHub issue tracker (links to both below).
It works on my end too, thanks for the solution.
Excellent! Glad it works for you as well. Now we know it’s not an isolated incident.
However, I believe it is a problem that it doesn’t show any message when you try to open the Tor Browser Downloader after changing the
sysmaintpassword.
Yes, it definitely is a problem that there is no notification or message about this when running TBD. Agreed.