Do I need to configure a GeoIP database when using the ExitNodes directive?

Question

I’m using Tor 0.2.8.9 on Mac Sierra. I’m running a Tor daemon like so

tor --CookieAuthentication 0 --HashedControlPassword "" --ControlPort 9050 --SocksPort 50003

The only changes I’ve made to the /opt/local/etc/tor/torrc, default configuration are

MaxCircuitDirtiness 60
ExitNodes {us} 
StrictNodes 1

I thought specifying “ExitNodes {us}” would guarantee I’m using ExitNodes in the US only, but then someone was saying I need to configure a GeoIP database, which I thought was already included in Tor. Indeed, I noticed when looking at the Tor log, some of the circuits were not using US-based IPs. For instance I saw this in my log

Dec 31 16:47:26.000 [notice] We tried for 15 seconds to connect to '[scrubbed]' using exit $BA63C123BBBAFA2806854A89ABF97300A463A090~dpsitor3 at 107.182.131.117. Retrying on a new circuit.

The given IP is in Germany according to whatismyipaddress.com . What other configurations do I need to make to get the ExitNodes directive to work properly?

Answer 1

This is weird, I am the operator of that Tor Exit relay. The relay is indeed hosted in the United States, perhaps the geoip is wrong. You can confirm this by running a traceroute to the IP and following the hops. It ends in Dallas, Texas.