Lokinet DNS Fix – Privacy Pro Shop

A less comprehensive version of this guide is available on Youtube. You can also watch it anonymously over Lokinet at Invidious.loki

This guide has been done on Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS, but it should work for any Ubuntu based system, and most likely Debian.

Add Oxen Debian repository to apt:
sudo curl -so /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/oxen.gpg https://deb.oxen.io/pub.gpg

echo "deb https://deb.oxen.io $(lsb_release -sc) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/oxen.list

sudo apt update
Then install Lokinet-GUI panel. This installs several packages, in my case, on Pop!_Os 22.04 LTS it installed 15 packages.
sudo apt install lokinet-gui
Normally DNS is controlled by Network Manager and systemd-resolved services and those always mess up DNS. Here we’ll disable the automatic DNS management, so stuff stays intact in /etc/resolv.conf

Disable and stop the systemd-resolved service:
sudo systemctl disable systemd-resolved

sudo systemctl stop systemd-resolved

Then put the following line in the [main] section of your /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf :

dns=default

Delete the symbolic link /etc/resolv.conf

rm /etc/resolv.conf

Restart NetworkManager

sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager

Then create your own /etc/resolv.conf

vi /etc/resolv.conf
add this line in the empty file

nameserver 127.3.2.1

Save the file. Now your DNS resolver is Lokinet. So, if your name resolution at some point has problems, restarting Lokinet will probably fix the problem. Here’s the command if you need to do it: sudo systemctl restart lokinet If restarting Lokinet doesn’t fix your DNS problem, you can always change the resolver defined in /etc/resolv.conf to another server, such as Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 or Quad9’s 9.9.9.9
You should now be able to get to Lokinet and clearnet (=the regular Internet) sites. Test that with ping:

ping directory.lokiand you should get responses like this back:
PING directory.loki (172.16.0.3) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from c1zkk4e4ug16xz8our1waeims8drhnc558erioqx35pzyg7w8ryo.loki (172.16.0.3): icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=553 ms
64 bytes from c1zkk4e4ug16xz8our1waeims8drhnc558erioqx35pzyg7w8ryo.loki (172.16.0.3): icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=575 ms

and when you ping a clearnet site, such as PrivacyProShop.com you should get responses like this:
PING PrivacyProShop.com (64.52.84.90) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 64.52.84.90.static.skysilk.com (64.52.84.90): icmp_seq=1 ttl=53 time=33.3 ms
64 bytes from 64.52.84.90.static.skysilk.com (64.52.84.90): icmp_seq=2 ttl=53 time=31.6 ms

Notice how much shorter the ping times are on clearnet vs Lokinet. With Lokinet your ping times are usually several hundred milliseconds vs. 30-60 ms over the clearnet.
Then try Lokinet GUI Panel
Start by clicking on the Lokinet GUI IconThe control panel will probably crash. If it does, you will need to edit a file, use a text editor (FYI: real men use vi)

sudo vi /usr/share/applications/lokinet-gui.desktop

find this line:
Exec=/opt/Lokinet-GUI/lokinet-gui %U
and replace %U with --no-sandbox like this:
Exec=/opt/Lokinet-GUI/lokinet-gui --no-sandbox

Then log out of Gnome and log back in and Lokinet GUI should now start
Lokinet is running as a service, so it is running all the time, this GUI panel allows you to see your connection time, version and your Lokinet address. You can also start Lokinet VPN mode using an exit node address. Exit.loki is the default node, but there are other free ones, too. You can find those at https://oxen.directory/exitnodes or you can purchase access to fast commercial nodes at https://PrivacyProShop.com and support this site!

To start, press the “Connect” button below the exit.loki exit node. Exit.loki doesn’t require an Auth Code, so you can leave that blank. After a few seconds of connecting, the button should say “Connected in VPN Mode” . Also, you will notice that exit.loki will change to a long Lokinet address as the system connects.
When you open and close Lokinet exit nodes, Lokinet occasionally crashes. When Lokinet crashes, it will stop all access to the network. To get things back to normal, open a command prompt and restart Lokinet and everything will be good again:

sudo systemctl restart lokinet

This guide is also available as a YouTube video. Watch it on YouTube or anonymously on Invidious.Loki

Download Lokinet Windows Client from Lokinet.org/windows
Install Lokinet in your PC. You need administrative rights to your PC, so don’t try this at your work PC that is managed by IT department.
Run Lokinet by clicking on the Lokinet icon, it will ask for administrator rights. Just click yes if you are on a standalone PC. If you are on a Windows domain, please contact your IT administrator.
Once you have Lokinet running and connected to Lokinet and before you start the VPN mode, open a command prompt and try to ping a Lokinet address. You can try directory.loki or mailsnapp.loki. If you get ping replies your computer can now access Lokinet. You will see that the address shown will be something like 172.16.0.2. If ping doesn’t work, your security software may have blocked Lokinet.
Verify that your DNS functions BEFORE connecting to Lokinet VPN, ping an Internet site, such as privacyproshop.com if you get replies, your DNS should be working fine. If not, check your security software.
Enable Lokinet VPN mode. Exit.loki should be listed, if not, choose one of the free exit nodes from here, and click the “Connect” button below the Auth Code field. Free nodes don’t use an Auth Code. Once Lokinet is connected in VPN Mode, go back to the command prompt and ping a lokinet site to make sure Lokinet addresses still resolve. Ping something like directory.loki – if it doesn’t respond, make sure Lokinet didn’t disconnect. Notice that the exit node address changes from exit.loki to the Lokinet real address, which is xjm61wjuq14m4pm7fjefij5i8jgzqo6ng7mqnp8hosx3jzsy.loki
Ping a different internet address, such as oxen.directory to make sure you are not getting cached responses. If it works, great, if it doesn’t, you’ll get something like “Ping request could not find host oxen.directory. Please check the name and try again”
To fix the problem disconnect from Lokinet VPN mode and go to YogaDNS.com and download & install YogaDNS. It will be installed in the full mode, and in 30 days will revert to the free mode. The free mode works just as well, so no need to buy it.
First Start Wizard will start. Choose the first option “Start with an empty configuration. All queries will be unaltered” Click next, click OK in the dialog that pops up and says “YogaDNS has been started with an empty configuration. You can now add DNS servers and create rules”
Click Configuration Menu–> DNS Servers… and click “Add..” Then type Cloudflare (or whatever you like) in the “User friendly name” field, Choose DNS over TLS in the “Type” field, Type 1.1.1.1 in the “IP address and optional port” field and click OK. Then OK again, and click Yes to the dialog that pops up with the message “You do not have any DNS servers assigned to the resolve rules. Would you like to set server Cloudflare as the default for all queries?”
Click “Rules” button, click “Add…” and create a rule named Lokinet. In the “Hostnames” field enter *.loki and leave both “Action” field at Process and “DNS Server” field at Default. Click OK.
Now both Lokinet and Internet addresses should resolve properly.