Shadowsocks Setup On Ubuntu 24.04: A Detailed Guide

by Sebastian Müller 52 views

Hey guys! Today, we're diving deep into setting up Shadowsocks on Ubuntu 24.04. If you're looking to bypass internet censorship, secure your connection, or just explore a fantastic alternative to traditional VPNs, you've come to the right place. This guide will walk you through each step, making the process smooth and easy. So, let's get started!

What is Shadowsocks and Why Use It?

First off, let's understand what Shadowsocks actually is. Shadowsocks is a lightweight, open-source proxy tool designed to bypass internet censorship. Unlike traditional VPNs that encrypt all your traffic, Shadowsocks selectively proxies traffic, making it appear as regular HTTPS traffic. This makes it much harder to detect and block, especially in countries with strict internet censorship. Shadowsocks is a high-performance, cross-platform secured socks5 proxy. It will help you surf the internet privately and securely.

Benefits of Using Shadowsocks

  1. Bypassing Censorship: Shadowsocks is excellent at circumventing internet restrictions. Its traffic obfuscation techniques make it difficult for censors to identify and block your connection.
  2. Improved Speed: Because Shadowsocks selectively proxies traffic, you often get faster speeds compared to VPNs that encrypt and route all your data.
  3. Lightweight and Efficient: Shadowsocks is designed to be lightweight, meaning it consumes fewer resources on your server and client devices. This makes it ideal for low-powered devices like routers and embedded systems.
  4. Easy to Set Up: With a little guidance, setting up Shadowsocks is straightforward. This guide will provide you with all the necessary steps.

Key Differences Between Shadowsocks and VPNs

While both Shadowsocks and VPNs help you achieve online privacy and security, they operate differently. VPNs encrypt all your internet traffic and route it through a server in a location of your choice. This can sometimes lead to slower speeds due to the encryption overhead and the distance your data has to travel. VPNs are great for general-purpose privacy and security.

Shadowsocks, on the other hand, acts more like a smart proxy. It selectively proxies traffic, often only routing traffic that needs to bypass censorship. This selective routing can result in faster speeds and makes it harder to detect than a VPN. Shadowsocks is particularly effective for bypassing internet censorship.

Prerequisites

Before we dive into the setup, make sure you have the following:

  • An Ubuntu 24.04 Server: You'll need a server running Ubuntu 24.04. This could be a VPS (Virtual Private Server) from providers like DigitalOcean, Vultr, or AWS.
  • SSH Access: Ensure you can SSH into your server. This is how we'll be configuring Shadowsocks.
  • A Shadowsocks Configuration String: You should have a configuration string that looks something like ss://your_encryption_method:your_password@your_server_ip:your_port#your_optional_remarks. This string contains all the necessary information to connect to your Shadowsocks server.

Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up Shadowsocks on Ubuntu 24.04

Alright, let's get into the nitty-gritty. Follow these steps to get Shadowsocks up and running on your Ubuntu 24.04 server.

Step 1: Connect to Your Ubuntu Server via SSH

First things first, you need to connect to your server using SSH. Open your terminal and use the following command:

ssh your_username@your_server_ip

Replace your_username with your server's username (usually root) and your_server_ip with your server's IP address. You might be prompted to enter your password. Once you're in, you're ready to move on to the next step.

Step 2: Install Shadowsocks-libev

Next, we'll install Shadowsocks-libev, which is the most popular implementation of Shadowsocks. Run the following commands to update your package list and install Shadowsocks-libev:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install shadowsocks-libev -y

The -y flag automatically confirms the installation, so you don't have to type y every time you're prompted. This saves a bit of time and keeps the process flowing smoothly.

Step 3: Configure Shadowsocks

Now, let's configure Shadowsocks. We'll create a configuration file that tells Shadowsocks how to operate. Create the configuration file using your favorite text editor. Here, we'll use nano:

sudo nano /etc/shadowsocks-libev/config.json

Paste the following JSON structure into the file. You'll need to modify it with your specific configuration details.

{
    "server":"your_server_ip",
    "server_port":your_server_port,
    "local_address":"127.0.0.1",
    "local_port":1080,
    "password":"your_password",
    "timeout":300,
    "method":"your_encryption_method"
}

Let's break down each of these parameters:

  • "server": Your server's IP address.
  • "server_port": The port Shadowsocks will listen on.
  • "local_address": Usually 127.0.0.1, which means Shadowsocks will listen on the localhost.
  • "local_port": The local port on your machine that Shadowsocks will use. Common ports are 1080 or 1081.
  • "password": Your Shadowsocks password. Keep this secure!
  • "timeout": Timeout in seconds.
  • "method": The encryption method. Common methods include aes-256-cfb, aes-128-gcm, and chacha20-ietf-poly1305. Encryption methods are a crucial part of your setup.

Replace the placeholders with your actual details. For example, if your server IP is 123.45.67.89, your port is 20, your password is your_secure_password, and your encryption method is chacha20-ietf-poly1305, your configuration file might look like this:

{
    "server":"123.45.67.89",
    "server_port":20,
    "local_address":"127.0.0.1",
    "local_port":1080,
    "password":"your_secure_password",
    "timeout":300,
    "method":"chacha20-ietf-poly1305"
}

After you've entered your details, save the file and exit the editor. In nano, you can do this by pressing Ctrl + X, then Y to confirm, and Enter to save.

Step 4: Start and Enable Shadowsocks

With the configuration file in place, we can now start Shadowsocks. Run the following command to start the Shadowsocks service:

sudo systemctl start shadowsocks-libev

To make sure Shadowsocks starts automatically on boot, enable the service:

sudo systemctl enable shadowsocks-libev

Step 5: Verify Shadowsocks is Running

It's always a good idea to verify that Shadowsocks is running correctly. You can check the service status with this command:

sudo systemctl status shadowsocks-libev

If everything is working as expected, you should see a message indicating that the service is active and running. If there are any errors, review the steps above and check your configuration file for mistakes.

Step 6: Configure Your Client

Now that the server is set up, you need to configure your client device to use the Shadowsocks proxy. Shadowsocks clients are available for various platforms, including Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.

  1. Download and Install a Shadowsocks Client: Choose a client that's compatible with your operating system. Some popular clients include Shadowsocks for Windows, ShadowsocksX-NG for macOS, and Shadowsocks for Android.
  2. Enter Your Configuration Details: Open the Shadowsocks client and enter the configuration details you used in the server configuration file. This includes the server IP, port, password, and encryption method.
  3. Enable the Proxy: Activate the Shadowsocks proxy in your client. This will route your traffic through the Shadowsocks server.

For example, in the Shadowsocks client for Windows, you'll typically see fields for:

  • Server IP: Your server's IP address.
  • Server Port: The port you specified in the configuration file.
  • Password: Your Shadowsocks password.
  • Encryption Method: The encryption method you chose (e.g., chacha20-ietf-poly1305).

Enter these details, save the configuration, and enable the proxy. Your client should now be connected to your Shadowsocks server.

Step 7: Test Your Connection

To ensure everything is working correctly, you can test your connection. A simple way to do this is to visit a website that shows your IP address, such as https://www.whatismyip.com. If your IP address matches your server's IP, congratulations! You've successfully set up Shadowsocks.

Using the Configuration String

The user mentioned having a configuration string like this:

ss://[email protected]:20#%F0%9F%9A%80%20TYT%20%28T_241886739%29%20%5BShadowsocks%5D

This string is a convenient way to share Shadowsocks configurations. It contains all the necessary information encoded in a single string. Let's break it down:

  • ss://: This indicates that it's a Shadowsocks configuration string.
  • PASSWORDHERE==: This is the base64 encoded password and encryption method. You'll need to decode this to get the actual password and method.
  • @ss.sps1.sbs:20: This is the server address (ss.sps1.sbs) and port (20).
  • #%F0%9F%9A%80%20TYT%20%28T_241886739%29%20%5BShadowsocks%5D: This is an optional remark or identifier.

Decoding the Password and Encryption Method

To decode the password and encryption method, you can use a base64 decoding tool. Many online tools are available, or you can use a command-line tool like openssl:

echo