Whonix

Whonix (clearnet link) can be installed on the Talos using KVM. These instructions were tested with Whonix 15.

Both Whonix-Gateway and Whonix-Workstation

Download Whonix from the Whonix KVM download page (clearnet link).

Extract it:

tar -xvf Whonix*.libvirt.xz

Install the Whonix virtual networks:

virsh -c qemu:///system net-define Whonix_external*.xml
virsh -c qemu:///system net-define Whonix_internal*.xml
virsh -c qemu:///system net-autostart external
virsh -c qemu:///system net-start external
virsh -c qemu:///system net-autostart internal
virsh -c qemu:///system net-start internal

Then, create two Debian Buster ppc64el VM's. When installing Debian, do not create a separate root password, name the user user, and for desktop environment either pick XFCE or do not install one. Launch a shell in each VM, and follow the below instructions for each VM.

Import the Whonix signing key (source):

wget https://www.whonix.org/patrick.asc
sudo apt-key --keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/derivative.gpg add ~/patrick.asc

Initialize the console group (source):

sudo addgroup --system console
sudo adduser user console

Whonix-Gateway

Install Tor:

echo "deb https://deb.debian.org/debian buster-backports main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/backports.list
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -t buster-backports install tor

Add the Whonix package repository (source):

echo "deb https://deb.whonix.org buster main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/derivative.list
sudo apt-get update

Note: As of 2021 May 24, there is an sdwdate bug in the Whonix buster suite, which breaks ppc64el support. This was fixed by sdwdate version 3:14.9-1. Until the fix makes its way to the buster suite, you can get the fix early by substituting buster-testers for buster in the derivative.list line above.

Then, run one of the following, depending on whether you want the Whonix-Gateway to use XFCE or CLI-only:

sudo apt-get install non-qubes-whonix-gateway-xfce

sudo apt-get install non-qubes-whonix-gateway-cli

If you get prompted with questions during package installation, you can choose the defaults.

The Whonix packages will install their own sources.list data in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list, which means you should delete the sources.list that Debian came with (in order to avoid warnings from apt-get about duplicated repos):

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list

Shut off the VM.

Set the VM's NIC to use the external Network source.

Add a 2nd NIC to the VM, and set it to use the internal Network source.

Launch the VM again; Whonix-Gateway should be running.

If you get errors about the Tor service failing to start, this is probably an AppArmor issue. You can fix it by running sudo touch /etc/apparmor.d/local/system_tor.anondist. Restart the VM again and Tor should work.

Whonix-Workstation

Add the Whonix package repository (source):

echo "deb https://deb.whonix.org buster main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/derivative.list
sudo apt-get update

Note: As of 2021 May 24, there is an sdwdate bug in the Whonix buster suite, which breaks ppc64el support. This was fixed by sdwdate version 3:14.9-1. Until the fix makes its way to the buster suite, you can get the fix early by substituting buster-testers for buster in the derivative.list line above.

Then, run one of the following, depending on whether you want the Whonix-Workstation to use XFCE or CLI-only:

sudo apt-get install non-qubes-whonix-workstation-xfce

sudo apt-get install non-qubes-whonix-workstation-cli

If you get prompted with questions during package installation, you can choose the defaults.

The Whonix packages will install their own sources.list data in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list, which means you should delete the sources.list that Debian came with (in order to avoid warnings from apt-get about duplicated repos):

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list

Shut off the VM.

Set the VM's NIC to use the internal Network source.

Launch the VM again; Whonix-Workstation should be running.

Known Issues

Checking for virtualization

whonixcheck in both VM's reports this error:

[ERROR] [whonixcheck] Virtualizer Failed to check for virtualization: Permission denied unsupported by Whonix developers! Whonixcheck aborted! (qubes_detected: false)

Using Virtualizer Failed to check for virtualization: Permission denied together with Whonix is recommended against, because it is rarely tested. [1] [2] [3] It could be made possible, but would require more Whonix contributors.
It may already work, but is highly experimental.



This might endanger your anonymity. Do not proceed unless you know what you are doing.

If you wish to ignore this warning and to continue whonixcheck anyway, you can set
    WHONIXCHECK_NO_EXIT_ON_UNSUPPORTED_VIRTUALIZER="1"
in /etc/whonix.d/30_whonixcheck_default.conf.

Recommended action:
- Shut down.
- Read Whonix documentation [4].
- Use Whonix with a supported virtualizer or Physical Isolation [5].

Footnotes:

[1] https://www.whonix.org/wiki/LeakTests
[2] https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Test
[3] https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Protocol-Leak-Protection_and_Fingerprinting-Protection
[4] https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Documentation
[5] https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Physical_Isolation

It is not clear why this error shows up, or whether anything bad will happen if it's ignored. The only mention of this error that I can find in upstream documentation is this forum thread, which doesn't have any solution.