Creating private and isolated Tor network using raspberry pis

Question

I am thinking about setting up a private Tor network isolated from the Internet. My plan is to connect about 10 raspberry pis to an ethernet switch. I would run a client, a hidden service in two raspberry pis and use the others as Tor nodes (some with exit policy-reject).

I have setup FireFox ESR in one raspberry and configured it to act as the Tor client. I have also set up several Tor nodes and a simple web service. But I have the following questions regarding the next steps.

1. Is there a way for me to force Tor circuits between client and HS or client and a normal webserver (in the same network), without hosting a directory server, HSDirs or Introduction points.

2. What is the best way to complete this setup so that I can use the Tor client to access HS or a normal web service in the same network?

Please note that the network is not connected to the Internet. I would appreciate any pointers or ideas to get this working.

Thank you.

Answer 1

I would suggest you start with chutney enter link description here and see how chutney works by setting up a what you need which is: directory authorities, relays, exit relays and a client. Start with the networks/basic-min template and from there you can build to the type of network you are looking to design. You do need directory authorities and chutney will create them for you. I suggest you look into how chutney works by creating the certificates for each type of relay and use the torrc templates it generates for each type. You can replicate those steps for each pi and you'll have you're very own internal tor networking running. Good luck!