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bimon

Member

Registered: 2019-09-09

Posts: 172  

An easy method to get Whonix based on Devuan instead of Debian?

Hello,

Please let me know, may be a manual exists about how to switch Whonix to Devuan base and still keep all or most security enhancements of the Whonix project and eliminate systemD from it at the same time?

It has so many security features I am missing:
https://www.whonix.org/#features
including hardened kernel, but unfortunately it uses systemD which is a very serious unacceptable flaw.

May be just installing a few packages mentioned on:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200705173 … bian_Hosts
can do the thing? Though I am not sure about the hardened kernel from Whonix, is there an easy method to borrow its kernel with all its hacks and tunes to Devuan?

Last edited by bimon (2020-07-05 17:33:14)

aitor

Member

From: basque country

Registered: 2016-12-03

Posts: 230  

Website

Re: An easy method to get Whonix based on Devuan instead of Debian?

Only VM images are available, and the filesystem is splitted into a couple of wmdk files. A possible workaround would be to attach the image to a virtual machine using refracta-snapshot afterwards in order to generate a bootable iso image which could be upgraded from debian to devuan; or, if you prefer so, to upgraded the hosted system before the remastering.

On the other hand, Whonix seems to recommend the use of the stock kernel of debian buster in the hosting side, the same used in devuan beowulf. Regarding the posibility of borrowing the hardened kernel from Whonix, it's inspired by Kernel Self Protection Project (KSPP) and a debian package already exists for that:

https://github.com/Whonix/security-misc

Despite of some features depend on systemd (which might affect only to the capabilities of systemd itself, i don't know), i can't see any dependency related with it in the control file.

Last edited by aitor (2020-07-07 14:35:30)

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If you work systematically, things will come by itself (Lev D. Landau)

bimon

Member

Registered: 2019-09-09

Posts: 172  

Re: An easy method to get Whonix based on Devuan instead of Debian?

https://phabricator.whonix.org/T998

There's no manual.

Too much work. For an idea how much see:

https://forums.whonix.org/t/porting-who … linux/9369

Also discussion on systemd:
https://forums.whonix.org/t/fixing-the- … model/9172

Related, discussion on which operating system Whonix is based on:
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Operating_System

May be he does not know that Devuan is almost the same Debian without systemD.