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en:howto:signal_on_tails

HOWTO: INSTALLING AND RUNNING SIGNAL ON TAILS

A more modern howto is available here (via Tor Onion Service here)

(heavily based on: bisco.org )

Tested with:

  • Tails versions 4, 5 and 6
  • Signal version 7.4.0

1.) Install Tails on USB-Stick

See howto: Tails and run it.

2.) Configure Tails

Tails configuration

Reboot

When logging in after the reboot, unlock persistence volume and set an Administration Password.

3.) Install Flatpak

The approach used to run Signal on Tails is using flatpak. Flatpak is a utility for software deployment and package management for Linux (Tails is a Linux). WARNING: since you download (and update) Signal from flatpak source you now depend on Flatpaks integrity!!!

Open Terminal:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install flatpak

Tails then asks if you want to add flatpak to your additional software. Choose: “Install every Time”.

4.) Configure Flatpak

Put these commands into a script (a simple text file) in persistent folder i.e. /home/amnesia/Persistent/flatpak-setup.sh. You can do so by opening it from the Terminal with a text editor:

gnome-text-editor /home/amnesia/Persistent/flatpak-setup.sh

Content of the file:

#!/bin/sh

mkdir -p /home/amnesia/Persistent/flatpak
mkdir -p /home/amnesia/.local/share

if ! file /home/amnesia/.local/share/flatpak | grep -q 'symbolic link'; then
        rm -rf --one-file-system /home/amnesia/.local/share/flatpak
        ln -s /home/amnesia/Persistent/flatpak /home/amnesia/.local/share/flatpak
fi

mkdir -p /home/amnesia/Persistent/app
mkdir -p /home/amnesia/.var
ln -s /home/amnesia/Persistent/app /home/amnesia/.var/app
  • Make script executable

chmod +x /home/amnesia/Persistent/flatpak-setup.sh

  • Add script to autostart

Create a file: /live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/dotfiles/.config/autostart/FlatpakSetup.desktop. To do so, first create the directory, then open the file with a text editor:

mkdir -p /live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/dotfiles/.config/autostart/
gnome-text-editor /live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/dotfiles/.config/autostart/FlatpakSetup.desktop

Content of the file:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=FlatpakSetup
GenericName=Setup Flatpak on Tails
Comment=This script runs the flatpak-setup.sh script on start of the user session
Exec=/live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/Persistent/flatpak-setup.sh
Terminal=false
Type=Application

Reboot

When logging in after the reboot, unlock persistence volume and set an Administration Password.

5.) Install Signal with Flatpak

Open Terminal:

torify flatpak remote-add --user --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
torify flatpak install flathub org.signal.Signal

(This will take quite a couple of minutes.)

6.) Configure Signal

Put these commands into a script (a simple text file) in /home/amnesia/Persistent/signal.sh. To do so, open the file in a text editor:

gnome-text-editor /home/amnesia/Persistent/signal.sh

Content of the file:

#!/bin/sh

export HTTP_PROXY=socks://127.0.0.1:9050
export HTTPS_PROXY=socks://127.0.0.1:9050
flatpak run org.signal.Signal
  • Make script executable

chmod +x /home/amnesia/Persistent/signal.sh

  • Add script to applications

Create a file: /live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/dotfiles/.local/share/applications/Signal.desktop. To do so, first create the directory, then open the file with a text editor:

mkdir -p /live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/dotfiles/.local/share/applications
gnome-text-editor /live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/dotfiles/.local/share/applications/Signal.desktop

Content of the file:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Signal
GenericName=Signal Desktop Messenger
Exec=/home/amnesia/Persistent/signal.sh
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Icon=/home/amnesia/.local/share/flatpak/app/org.signal.Signal/current/active/files/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/apps/org.signal.Signal.png

Reboot and unlock persistence volume. (You need to unlock persistence volume every time you want to use Signal)

Signal now shows as part of the Gnome applications with a nice Signal icon (hit “windows” button and search for “Signal”).

It's possible to start Signal like this as well:

cd /home/amnesia/Persistent && ./signal.sh

7.) Update of Signal

IMPORTANT: to check for updates and update Signal you have to manually run:

torify flatpak update

en/howto/signal_on_tails.txt · Last modified: 2024/05/30 14:02 by marymalone

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