[tor-bugs] #28703 [Core Tor/Tor]: bootstrapping very slow with filtered network

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#28703: bootstrapping very slow with filtered network
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     Reporter:  weasel        |      Owner:  (none)
         Type:  defect        |     Status:  new
     Priority:  Medium        |  Milestone:
    Component:  Core Tor/Tor  |    Version:  Tor: 0.3.4.9
     Severity:  Normal        |   Keywords:
Actual Points:                |  Parent ID:
       Points:                |   Reviewer:
      Sponsor:                |
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 Hi!

 Tor 0.3.4.9, on Debian stretch (Thus linked against libssl
 1.1.0f-3+deb9u2), sometimes bootstraps slowly.

 Network access is filtered, to only allow outgoing TCP connections to
 ports 80 and 443.  All other network connections are DROPped, i.e. from an
 application point of few, connection attempts will just time out.  Tor is
 not told about this network restriction (i.e., no FirewallFirwall
 configuration).

 The times in the following samples are times (in seconds) from process
 launch (with a non-existing data directory) until PROGRESS=100 is reported
 in a getinfo status/bootstrap-phase:


 ''>>150, 12, 135, 137, 131, 143, >>250, >>250, >>250, >>250, 12, 133, 153,
 135, >>250, 132, 153, 192, >>250, 134, 12, 133, 137, >>250, 135, 142,
 >>250, 135, 9, >>250, >>250, 135, 134, 135, 132, 136, 133, 7, 133, 134,
 >>250, 131, 136, 133, 135, 8, 133, >>250, 133, >>250, >>250, 12, >>250, 6,
 >>250, >>250, 144, 132, 133, 139, 134, >>250, 12, >>250, 135, >>250, 135,
 133, 133, 134, 11, 133, 133, >>250, >>250

 (>>x indicates that the bootstrap process was not finished after x seconds
 and the test has been aborted.)

 The chances of bootstrapping in under two minutes (which is for instance
 the timeout that onionbalance uses) are not very good.

 It'd be nice if Tor had a way to deal with this better.

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/28703>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
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