Tails is a Linux distribution where privacy, anonymity, and security are aimed. The full name of the Tails is Amnesic Incognito Lice System. Tails is Debian based distributions which means most of the packages and package management system is derived from Debian. In this tutorial, we will learn how to boot or start Tails with different configurations and security metrics.
Download Tails ISO or USB Image
Tails OS is mainly provided in two formats named ISO and USB images. ISO can be written into a CD or mounted into a virtual machine to boot. ISO also can be written into USB flash drive too. USB image only is written into a USB flash drive. ISO can be downloaded from the following link directly. While writing this post the current version was Tails 3.13.2.
https://tails.boum.org/install/download-iso/index.en.html
OR we can use BitTorrent protocol to download from the following BitTorrent file.
https://tails.boum.org/torrents/files/tails-amd64-3.13.2.iso.torrent
USB Image can be downloaded from the following link.
https://tails.as1101.net/tails/stable/tails-amd64-3.13.2/tails-amd64-3.13.2.img
After the download is completed we can use a tool named Rufus in order to write downloaded images to the USB, CD.
Start Tails
Tails can be started in different ways. We can use tails in physical computers or in Virtual Machines. In this example, we will use Tails as a VM. We will mount the downloaded ISO image and set hardware resources like below.
- 2GB RAM
- 8 Processor
- 60 GB Hard Disk Drive
- CDROM
- Network Adapter
Tails Boot Screen
When we boot system whether real or virtual we will see the following screen. This screen is very simple where we can boot Tails which is the default option. This will be started automatically in 10 seconds if we do not input anything. Another option is Troubleshoot Mode.
During boot pocess, we will see the following screen. This may take some time to boot because all operating system will be loaded from USB flash disk or etc.
Tails Boot Configuration
Before using the Tails OS we have provided some boot or start configuration about the Tails. Following configuration, the screen can be used to set these configurations.
Languageis the operations system language.Keyboard Layoutis the keyboard type and character layout.Formatsis the number, percentage, date localization format.
We can see that there is also an Additional Settings pane where we can provide more detail about the configuration.
Tails Keyboard Configuration
We can set the Keyboard Layout of the Tails by click to the Keyboard Layout part like below. This will open a screen where we can select the Keyboard layout or we can simply enter the keyboard layout name like below which is turk as I am using the Turkish keyboard layout. There is also some alternative layout about the same language like Turkish F, Turkish Alt-Q, etc.
Tails Password Configuration
As stated previously there is also an Additional Settings part where we can set the following configuration about the Tails.
Administrator Passwordis used to unlock the screen-lock or install some software etc.MAC Address Spoofingis a technical detail which will prevent man in the middle attacks over the network. This option is enabled by default which means we are protected against this type of attack.
When we click to the Administrator Password configuration we will see the following screen. We can set the password from the text boxes and typing two times. Then we will click to the Add button from the right upper corner.
Disable Administrator Password
We have previously set the Administrator password for the Tails OS. We can disable it if we do not need from the boot configuration. Just click on the Administrator Password on the Additional Settings will pop-up a box where we can click the Disable button which will clear the password configuration.
Tails OS Desktop
After completing boot configuration the Tails OS will start. We can see that Tails OS where Gnome is the default desktop environment. There is documentation about the usage of the Tails. By default, the Onion Circuits which is free VPN services is started.
When we click to the Onion Circuit which is known as TOR we will see the intermediate hops used for anonymity and privacy.
KeePassX Secure Password Vault/Store
A password is a very important part of security and privacy. We should store them securely. KeePassX is a tool used to store passwords securely and encrypted. First, we will create a database to store the password securely which will be encrypted.
The following screen will create a new database. We will provide a password or master-password which must be very secure because all of our other passwords will be encrypted with this password.
Ok, we have a password database. Now we will store a password to this database. We will right click to the password list pane and click to the Add New Entry.
Add New Password
We will add some data about our password.
Titlewill be seen on the list which describes or names the password. In this case, we will store our Facebook password.Usernameis the username that is related to the account and password. In this case, we will useismailas a username.Passwordto store passwords. We can click to the eye icon in order to see the password in cleartext.Repeatwill store the password again to prevent errors.
If we do not have any preset password we can generate a very secure one with the Gen button which is side by side with Repeat box. Here we can provide the length of the password, character types and special rules.
After the entry is added we will see a screen like below where the added account will be listed.
