Devin Norgarb

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Dante in Oracle Cloud ​

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to create a personal, cost-free SOCKS5 anonymous proxy with support for UDP ASSOCIATE (RFC1928) in Oracle Cloud. The chosen solution is Dante (Inferno Nettverk A/S) running on an Ubuntu 20.04 instance in Oracle Cloud Free Tier.

Install Ubuntu Instance ​

We will use an Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Free Tier account to set up a compute instance on Ubuntu.

Before You Begin ​

You must have:

Create a VM instance ​

Use the Create a VM Instance wizard to create the compute instance. The wizard will create the instance, a VCN/subnet, and an SSH key pair.

Start the Create VM Instance wizard ​

  • From the main landing page, select Create a VM instance.
  • The Create compute instance page appears with sections for Placement, Image and shape, Networking, Add SSH keys, and Boot volume.

Name and compartment ​

  • Name: <name-for-the-instance>
  • Create in compartment: <your-compartment-name>
    Enter a value for the name, or leave the system-supplied default.

Placement ​

  • Click Edit.
  • Click Show advanced options.
  • Leave defaults (for example):
    • Availability domain: AD-1
    • Capacity type: On-demand capacity
    • Fault domain: Let Oracle choose

Image and Shape ​

  • Click Edit → Change image → Select the latest Ubuntu image (e.g., Canonical Ubuntu 20.04).
  • Take default values for Shape (e.g., VM.Standard.E2.1.Micro — 1 OCPU, 1 GB RAM).

Networking ​

  • Use the default VCN/subnet created by the wizard.
  • Assign a public IPv4 address: Yes

Add SSH keys ​

  • Select Generate a key pair for me (or provide your own public key).
  • Click Save Private Key and Save Public Key to download the keys.

Boot volume ​

  • Leave default values. Leave all check boxes unchecked.

Create ​

  • Click Create. Provisioning may take several minutes.

You now have an Ubuntu instance ready to run Dante.

Enable Internet Access (VCN Security Lists) ​

The Create VM Instance wizard created a VCN. Add ingress rules to allow TCP 1080 and UDP port range 40000-45000.

Open VCN details ​

  1. Open the navigation menu → Networking → Virtual Cloud Networks.
  2. Select the VCN created with your instance.
  3. Click the public subnet link (your-subnet-name).
  4. Click the Default Security List link.

Add TCP ingress rule for SOCKS5 ​

  • Click Add Ingress Rules.
  • Fill in:
    • Stateless: Checked
    • Source Type: CIDR
    • Source CIDR: 0.0.0.0/0
    • IP Protocol: TCP
    • Source port range: (leave blank)
    • Destination Port Range: 1080
    • Description: Allow SOCKS5 TCP connections
  • Click Add Ingress Rules.

Add UDP ingress rule for UDP ASSOCIATE ​

  • Click Add Ingress Rules.
  • Fill in:
    • Stateless: Checked
    • Source Type: CIDR
    • Source CIDR: 0.0.0.0/0
    • IP Protocol: UDP
    • Source port range: (leave blank)
    • Destination Port Range: 40000-45000
    • Description: Allow SOCKS5 UDP ASSOCIATE
  • Click Add Ingress Rules.

Your VCN is now configured for Dante SOCKS5 server access.

Install and configure Dante SOCKS5 proxy ​

Follow these steps to install Dante and configure SOCKS5 with UDP ASSOCIATE.

Connect to your instance ​

  1. In Oracle Console: Compute → Instances → Click your instance. Note the Public IP Address.
  2. On your local machine open a Terminal / Command Prompt.
  3. Change to the directory where you saved your SSH private key.
  4. Connect:
bash
ssh -i <your-private-key-file> ubuntu@<x.x.x.x>

This logs you into the instance. You can run sudo commands.

Install Dante ​

Run:

bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt install dante-server

Check Dante version:

bash
danted -v
## Example:
## Dante v1.4.2.  Copyright (c) 1997 - 2014 Inferno Nettverk A/S, Norway

Identify server interface ​

Check network interfaces to determine the internal/external interface (example uses ens3):

bash
ip a

Example shows ens3 with an IP like 10.0.0.196/24.

Backup and edit configuration ​

Backup default config:

bash
sudo mv /etc/danted.conf /etc/danted.conf.bak
sudo nano /etc/danted.conf

Paste this configuration (adjust interface name if needed):

logoutput: /var/log/socks.log
internal: ens3 port = 1080
external: ens3
clientmethod: none
socksmethod: none
user.privileged: root
user.notprivileged: nobody

client pass {
        from: 0.0.0.0/0 to: 0.0.0.0/0
        log: error connect disconnect
}
client block {
        from: 0.0.0.0/0 to: 0.0.0.0/0
        log: connect error
}
socks pass {
        from: 0.0.0.0/0 to: 0.0.0.0/0
        udp.portrange: 40000-45000
        #command: udpassociate
        log: error connect disconnect
}
socks block {
        from: 0.0.0.0/0 to: 0.0.0.0/0
        log: connect error
}

Save and exit.

Start and enable Dante ​

Start and check status:

bash
sudo systemctl start danted
systemctl status danted

Enable automatic start after reboot:

bash
sudo systemctl enable danted

Configure iptables ​

Allow incoming TCP 1080 and UDP 40000:45000. If you want rules persisted after reboot, install iptables-persistent.

Run as root:

bash
sudo su

## iptables -I INPUT -p tcp -m state --state NEW -m tcp --dport 1080 -j ACCEPT
## iptables -I INPUT -p udp --dport 40000:45000 -j ACCEPT
## iptables-save > /etc/iptables/rules.v4

exit

Dante SOCKS5 Test ​

Test using curl:

bash
curl -x socks5://<your_ip_server>:<your_danted_port> ifconfig.co

Example:

bash
$ curl -x socks5://oracle3.sshvpn.me:1080 ifconfig.co
130.162.32.218

If tests fail, check Dante logs at /var/log/socks.log.

Limit Access ​

The default configuration allows anonymous access. To restrict access, either limit by IP address or enable username/password authentication.

Note

Restricting access is recommended — anonymous public proxies can be abused.

Limit by IP Address ​

Edit /etc/danted.conf and replace the broad client pass with entries for specific allowed IPs. Example allowing a single IP:

client pass {
        from: 201.100.103.1/32 to: 0.0.0.0/0
        log: error connect disconnect
}

To allow multiple single IPs, add multiple client pass blocks:

bash
client pass {
        from: 201.100.103.1/32 to: 0.0.0.0/0
        log: error connect disconnect
}
client pass {
        from: 202.101.100.1/32 to: 0.0.0.0/0
        log: error connect disconnect
}

For IP ranges, adjust the CIDR suffix accordingly. Save and restart:

bash
sudo systemctl restart danted

Limit by Username ​

To require username/password authentication, set socksmethod to username in /etc/danted.conf:

bash
socksmethod: username

Restart Dante:

bash
sudo systemctl restart danted

Dante uses Linux system authentication. Create a restricted user for SOCKS auth:

bash
sudo su

## useradd -r -s /bin/false danteuser
## passwd danteuser

Test authentication with curl:

bash
curl -x socks5://<your_username>:<your_password>@<your_ip_server>:<your_danted_port> ifconfig.co

Example (authenticated):

bash
$ curl -x socks5://danteuser:MHg4Get2@oracle3.sshvpn.me:1080 ifconfig.co
130.162.32.218

Example (without credentials):

bash
$ curl -x socks5://oracle3.sshvpn.me:1080 ifconfig.co
curl: (97) No authentication method was acceptable.

We are done! Hope you find this useful.

Last updated 3 years ago

Curated technical notes — open source on GitHub

Devin Norgarb