.onion

.onion

Introduced	2004
TLD type	Pseudo-domain-style host suffix
Status	Not in root, but used by Tor clients, servers, and proxies
Registry	Tor
Intended use	To designate a hidden service reachable via Tor
Actual use	Used by Tor users for services in which both the provider and the user are anonymous and difficult to trace
Registration restrictions	Addresses are "registered" automatically by Tor client when a hidden service is set up
Structure	Names are opaque strings such as jv6g2ucbhrjcnwgi.onion, generated from public keys
Documents	Tor design document
Dispute policies	N/A
Website	www.torproject.org

.onion is a pseudo-top-level domain host suffix (similar in concept to such endings as .bitnet and .uucp used in earlier times) designating an anonymous hidden service reachable via the Tor network. Such addresses are not actual DNS names, and the .onion TLD is not in the Internet DNS root, but with the appropriate proxy software installed, Internet programs such as Web browsers can access sites with .onion addresses by sending the request through the network of Tor servers. The purpose of using such a system is to make both the information provider and the person accessing the information more difficult to trace, whether by one another, by an intermediate network host, or by an outsider.

Addresses in the .onion pseudo-TLD are opaque, non-mnemonic, 16-character alpha-semi-numeric hashes which are automatically generated based on a public key when a hidden service is configured. These 16-character hashes can be made up of any letter of the alphabet, and decimal digits beginning with 2 and ending with 7, thus representing an 80-bit number in base32.

The "onion" name refers to onion routing, the technique used by Tor to achieve a degree of anonymity.

WWW to .onion proxies

Proxies into the Tor network allow accessing dynamically routed services from non-Tor browsers.

tor2web

Allows access using a non-Tor browser by changing the domain suffix .onion of any hidden service host to .tor2web.org. The protocol prefix http:// can also be changed into https:// to use an encrypted connection to the tor2web proxy server in order to provide additional privacy.

For example http://eqt5g4fuenphqinx.onion/ would become https://eqt5g4fuenphqinx.tor2web.org/

Using a proxy server of this kind removes the security of using Tor by having it installed on the computer.

onion.to

Another service for accessing .onion sites. Shows a disclaimer the first time it is used. The same security caveats apply as they do with other non-anonymizing proxies.

For example http://eqt5g4fuenphqinx.onion/ would become https://eqt5g4fuenphqinx.onion.to/

onion.sh

A new .onion proxy also running tor2web software. Website is under construction however the proxy is working. The website works in the same way as onion.to but does not have a disclaimer/landing page. Requires SSL (https://) to be used. Note again the typical loss of anonymity when not connecting to Tor via the Tor browser bundle.

Example http://eqt5g4fuenphqinx.onion/ would become https://eqt5g4fuenphqinx.onion.sh/

.exit

.exit is a pseudo-top-level domain used by Tor users to indicate on the fly to the Tor software the preferred exit node that should be used while connecting to a service such as a web server, without having to edit the configuration file for Tor (torrc)

The syntax used with this domain is hostname + .exitnode + .exit, so that a user wanting to connect to http://www.torproject.org/ through node tor26 would have to enter the URL http://www.torproject.org.tor26.exit.

Example uses for this include accessing a site available only to addresses of a certain country or checking if a certain node is working.

Users can also type exitnode.exit alone to access the IP address of exitnode.

The .exit notation is disabled by default as of version 0.2.2.1-alpha.

See also

• .i2p
• core.onion
• .bit

External links

• Tor: Hidden Service Configuration Instructions
• Tor Rendezvous Specification
• Article explaining Tor Hidden Services