---
title: "Self-Hosting on the Dark Web"
slug: self-hosting-on-the-dark-web
url: https://listedarticles.com/articles/self-hosting-on-the-dark-web
canonical_url: https://david.alvarezrosa.com/posts/self-hosting-on-the-dark-web/
content_type: blog_post
language: en
published_at: 2026-06-01T12:00:00.000Z
updated_at: 2026-09-28T06:19:32.717Z
author: "David Álvarez Rosa"
author_url: https://david.alvarezrosa.com/
authored_by: human
publisher: "David Álvarez Rosa"
publisher_url: https://david.alvarezrosa.com/
topics: ["Infrastructure", "Security", "Privacy", "Networking"]
license: all-rights-reserved
word_count: 485
reading_minutes: 2
citation: "David Álvarez Rosa, David Álvarez Rosa. \"Self-Hosting on the Dark Web.\" 1 Jun 2026. https://david.alvarezrosa.com/posts/self-hosting-on-the-dark-web/ (all-rights-reserved)"
# The full text follows. The web page shows an extract and sends readers
# to the source above; quote the citation and link the canonical URL.
---
# Self-Hosting on the Dark Web
> Bringing this site to Tor as a hidden service. This site is now reachable over Tor as a hidden service, at a `.onion` address that resolves only inside the Tor network.1 1 Open it in the Tor Browser. There is no certificate authority, no DNS, and no exposed IP—the address is derived directly from a public key, and the connection is end-to-end encrypted by Tor itself. Tor rela
# Self-Hosting on the Dark Web
Bringing this site to Tor as a hidden service.
This site is now reachable over Tor as a hidden service, at a `.onion`
address that resolves only inside the Tor network.1 1
Open it in the
Tor Browser. There is no certificate authority, no DNS, and no exposed
IP—the address is derived directly from a public key, and the
connection is end-to-end encrypted by Tor itself.
Tor relays and
encrypts your traffic as it passes through thousands of volunteer-run
servers, so that no single party can link who you are to what you are
doing; a hidden service extends that anonymity to the server itself.
It’s built by the nonprofit Tor Project, which advances human rights and freedoms through free software and open networks, so that anyone can use the internet free from tracking, surveillance, and censorship. The network only works because people use it, so consider supporting them or running a relay—your contribution helps millions stay safe and private online every day.
## The hidden service §
Install Tor and point a hidden service at a local port. Edit
`/etc/tor/torrc`
```
HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/blog/
HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:8080
```
The directory must be a dedicated, Tor-owned path—not your web
root.2 2
Tor stores the service’s private key and `hostname` file here
and insists on owning it (`chmod 700`, user `debian-tor`). Point it at
your site files and Tor refuses to start.
Restart Tor and read the
address it generates
```
$ sudo systemctl restart tor@default
$ sudo cat /var/lib/tor/blog/hostname
dhevt6e4rtgbtr3jh53xrpwmgtilkah6nyjujocsspssrsexc7omxhid.onion
```
## Serving the site §
Tor forwards the onion’s port 80 to `127.0.0.1:8080`, so the web server
just needs to listen there. Add an nginx server block for it—no TLS,
no HTTP/2, no QUIC, since Tor speaks plain TCP and provides its own
encryption.
```
server {
listen 127.0.0.1:8080;
server_name dhevt6e4rtgbtr3jh53xrpwmgtilkah6nyjujocsspssrsexc7omxhid.onion;
root /srv/tor.david.alvarezrosa.com;
index index.html;
error_page 404 /404/index.html;
location / {
try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
}
}
```
Reload nginx and the site is live on Tor.
## Building for the onion §
A static site bakes its base URL into absolute links, so a clearnet build would point visitors back to the clearnet domain even when served over Tor. The fix is to build a second copy with the onion as its base URL
```
$ hugo --minify --baseURL="http://dhevt6e4rtgbtr3jh53xrpwmgtilkah6nyjujocsspssrsexc7omxhid.onion/"
```
The deploy pipeline does this automatically: every push builds the site
once per target—clearnet and Tor—and rsyncs each to its own web
root, so the two stay in sync without any manual work.3 3
See First
Steps on a New Server for the underlying machine; the full configuration
lives in my homelab repository, and the site’s own repository holds the
GitHub Actions workflow that builds and deploys the Tor copy.
That’s it. Read this site over Tor at
`dhevt6e4rtgbtr3jh53xrpwmgtilkah6nyjujocsspssrsexc7omxhid.onion`.