Install Tails On Linux: Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, RHEL, Arch Linux, And So On

Today, the internet is no longer as safe as it once was. You might have heard of several products that aim to provide stringent security measures for your online activity as breaches, exploits, and malicious internet activities are rising. Thus, you have to look for solutions that actually work. And this is where Tails come into the picture. Tails is a Linux distribution OS that is geared towards security. It works to protect your online anonymity and offers obfuscation abilities.

Tails runs in a virtual environment or via a Live CD/USB. You do not have to worry about anything else as long as you have a bootable CD or USB and you will have Tails OS on the go. It being portable also works in its favor. So, what about installing Tails on Linux? Let’s find out in the following article.

Table Of Contents

What Is Tails?

Tails is a Debian-based Linux distribution operating system. It is also known as “The Amnesic Incognito Live System.” The OS focuses on security and privacy and is a free, open-source project. You can get Tails on a USB and get in on any system, Windows, macOS, or Linux. With Tails, you can temporarily secure any system in minutes. It relies on the TOR network to encrypt all internet traffic and anonymize the user.

With Tails, many different professionals and personnel can benefit, be they journalists, activists, whistleblowers, or simply a person living in a censorship state. It allows them to take control of their online presence while managing risks.

How Does Tails Work?

Tails is a Debian-based live OS that utilizes TOR for all incoming and outgoing internet traffic from the machine it is installed on. The primary objective behind Tails is to provide users with much-needed anonymity and security. On Tails, users can browse the internet without worrying about cyber threats like IP leaks, tracking, or logging. Using TOR and encrypted connections, Tails prevents third parties from prying into your online activities.  

Furthermore, the OS is not on a system hard disk, so nothing is stored locally. Everything is on the main memory, which gets reset whenever you log out. Tails is the better OS, especially if you want to use it on a public network. The OS also offers various encryption tools that make it a better choice for most users. The USB running Tails itself is encrypted with LUCKS, while all internet traffic gets encrypted with OpenPGP and messages with OTR.

Features Of Tails

Tails offers several features such as:

• The ability to lock the screen. This prevents anyone from accessing your system when you leave it unattended.
• It offers GNOME 3, which is a Tails pre-installed desktop environment. It comes with an Office Suite and you can install other Debian applications on it. 
• Tails comes with Audacity, which is a multi-track audio editor. 
• It supports various languages such as Greek, English, Spanish, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Catalan, Czech, Welsh, Danish, German, Albanian, Serbian, Swedish, Turkish, etc.
• You can install it with a third-party OS via a USB.

Tails System Requirements

Tails work on the following:

• Any computer that is less than 10 years old
• Older Mac computers running Intel processor

Tails Doesn’t Work On:

• Latest Mac Computers With Apple Processor (M1/M2)
• Smartphones/Tablets
• Raspberry Pi

You might need the following to run Tails:

• A USB with 8 GB storage minimum.
• Rewritable DVD
• A 64-bit x86-64 IBM PC-compatible processor
• 2 GB RAM

How To Install Tails On Linux?

Tails offers a robust system for privacy and can be installed on any system easily. There are several methods to do so, a few being listed below:

Method 1. Install Tails On Linux Using A Bootable USB

The easiest and most reliable method is to use a bootable USB to install Tails on Linux.

Step 1. Start by navigating to the Tails OS website.

Step 2. Then, click on the “Install Tails” menu to view the options.

Step 3. Choose the appropriate file based on the operating system.

Step 4. Then, download the Tails OS ISO image file to your computer.

Step 5. Now, insert a blank USB flash drive (with at least 8 GB storage) into the computer.

Step 6. After that, open the USB writing tool and select the Tails OS ISO image you downloaded previously. 

Step 7. Write the image on the USB you inserted into the computer. 

Step 8. Now, before booting from the USB, you have to ensure that your computer’s BIOS has been configured properly. 

Step 9. Once you have verified the BIOS configuration of your system to prioritize booting from USB, save the setting and restart your computer.

Step 10. Finally, restart your computer. It should now boot from the Tails OS USB drive.

Method 2. Install Tails On Linux using the command line and GnuPG

Step 1. First, verify the Tails signing key, which is the OpenPGP key used to cryptographically sign the Tails USB Image.

Step 1.1 – For this, you have to use the official certification made by Debian developers on Tails. 

Step 1.2 – Import the Tails signing key in your GnuPG keyring by using the following command:

wget https://tails.net/tails-signing.key
gpg --import < tails-signing.key

Step 2. Now, install the Debian keyring that contains the OpenPGP keys of all Debian developers:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install debian-keyring

Step 3. Then, import the OpenPGP key of Chris Lamb from the Debian keyring into your keyring:

gpg --keyring=/usr/share/keyrings/debian-keyring.gpg --export [email protected] | gpg --import

Step 4. After that, verify the certifications made on the Tails signing key:

gpg --keyid-format 0xlong --check-sigs A490D0F4D311A4153E2BB7CADBB802B258ACD84F

Step 4.1 – Look at the output of this command, it should be something like this:

sig!2        0x1E953E27D4311E58 2020-03-19  Chris Lamb <[email protected]>

NOTE: Here, sig!2 means that Chris Lamb verified and certified the Tails signing key with his key and a level 2 check.

Step 4.2 – Now, certify the Tails signing key with your own key:

gpg --lsign-key A490D0F4D311A4153E2BB7CADBB802B258ACD84F

Step 5. After the verification of the key, download the USB image:

wget --continue https://download.tails.net/tails/stable/tails-amd64-6.5/tails-amd64-6.5.img

Step 6. You need to then verify your download and get the signature of the USB image.

wget https://tails.net/torrents/files/tails-amd64-6.5.img.sig

Step 6.1 – Once more, verify that the USB image is signed by the Tails signing key:

TZ=UTC gpg --no-options --keyid-format long --verify tails-amd64-6.5.img.sig tails-amd64-6.5.img

Step 6.2 – Check the output:

gpg: Signature made Mon Jul 15 15:41:00 2024 UTC
gpg:                using EDDSA key ADA2EDA956C296A70A6D7FF4FE2C600D5BB759B5
gpg: Good signature from "Tails developers (offline long-term identity key) <[email protected]>" [full]
gpg:                 aka "Tails developers <[email protected]>" [full]

Step 7. Now, install Tails using dd but ensure the USB you want to install Tails on is unplugged.

ls -1 /dev/sd?

Step 7.1 – You will now see a list of available storage devices.

Step 7.2 – Now, plug in the USB you want to install Tails on and once more run the command:

Step 8. Restart the computer and access the Boot menu. Choose the USB device and load it.

Your computer should start on Tails.

Method 3. Install Tails On Linux Using Etcher (GUI-based)

Step 1. First, install Etcher:

For Debian/Ubuntu-based distributions:

Step 1.1 – Download the latest AppImage from the official Etcher website.

Step 1.2 – Then, make the file executable:

chmod +x balenaEtcher-*.AppImage

Step 1.3 – Run it from the terminal:

./balenaEtcher-*.AppImage

For Fedora:

The steps are similar for Fedora as above. So download and run the AppImage similarly to Ubuntu.

For Arch Linux:

Step 1.1 – Use AUR to install Etcher:

yay -S balena-etcher

Step 2. Now, create a bootable Tails USB

Step 3 Launch Etcher.

Step 4 Then, select the Tails ISO image.

Step 5 Now, choose the USB for installation.

Step 6 Finally, click on Flash, and wait for the process to finish.

Step 7. Use the USB to load Tails.

Method 4. Using GNOME Disks To Install Tails On Linux

Step 1. Start by installing GNOME Disks on your system:

For Debian/Ubuntu-based distributions:

sudo apt install gnome-disk-utility

For Fedora:

sudo dnf install gnome-disk-utility

For Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S gnome-disk-utility

Step 2. Launch GNOME Disks on your system.

Step 3. Now, insert your USB and locate it in GNOME Disks.

Step 4. Choose the “Restore Disk Image” option.

Step 5. After that, select the Tails ISO file and your USB.

Step 6. Wait for the process to finish.