Dante Socks5 proxy server doesn't start

Question

I have installed Dante Proxy server by using following methods from the website. But the Server doesn't start and shows the following error. I have tried the steps from other websites also. I searched StackOverflow and saw the same issue in one question. but it has been solved yet. Anyone can solve it or suggest me any other alternative for SOCKS5 proxy server

Job for danted.service failed because the control process exited with error code. See "systemctl status danted.service" and "journalctl -xe" for details.

Error shown in systemctl status danted.service & journalctl -xe

steven@steven-VirtualBox:~$ systemctl status danted.service
● danted.service - LSB: SOCKS (v4 and v5) proxy daemon (danted)
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/danted; bad; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Sun 2019-03-10 18:12:42 IST; 2min 59s ago
     Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
  Process: 3400 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/danted start (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

Mar 10 18:12:41 steven-VirtualBox systemd[1]: Starting LSB: SOCKS (v4 and v5) proxy daemon (danted)...
Mar 10 18:12:42 steven-VirtualBox danted[3405]: error: /etc/danted.conf: problem on line 11 near token "eth0": could not resolve hostname "eth0
Mar 10 18:12:42 steven-VirtualBox systemd[1]: danted.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=1
Mar 10 18:12:42 steven-VirtualBox danted[3400]: Starting Dante SOCKS daemon:
Mar 10 18:12:42 steven-VirtualBox systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: SOCKS (v4 and v5) proxy daemon (danted).
Mar 10 18:12:42 steven-VirtualBox systemd[1]: danted.service: Unit entered failed state.
Mar 10 18:12:42 steven-VirtualBox systemd[1]: danted.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
steven@steven-VirtualBox:~$ journalctl -xe
-- The result is failed.
Mar 10 18:11:40 steven-VirtualBox systemd[1]: danted.service: Unit entered failed state.
Mar 10 18:11:40 steven-VirtualBox systemd[1]: danted.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Mar 10 18:12:40 steven-VirtualBox sudo[3397]:   steven : TTY=pts/18 ; PWD=/home/steven ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/systemctl restart danted
Mar 10 18:12:41 steven-VirtualBox sudo[3397]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0)
Mar 10 18:12:41 steven-VirtualBox systemd[1]: Stopped LSB: SOCKS (v4 and v5) proxy daemon (danted).
-- Subject: Unit danted.service has finished shutting down
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit danted.service has finished shutting down.
Mar 10 18:12:41 steven-VirtualBox systemd[1]: Starting LSB: SOCKS (v4 and v5) proxy daemon (danted)...
-- Subject: Unit danted.service has begun start-up
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit danted.service has begun starting up.
Mar 10 18:12:42 steven-VirtualBox danted[3405]: error: /etc/danted.conf: problem on line 11 near token "eth0": could not resolve hostname "eth0
Mar 10 18:12:42 steven-VirtualBox danted[3405]: alert: mother[1/1]: shutting down
Mar 10 18:12:42 steven-VirtualBox systemd[1]: danted.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=1
Mar 10 18:12:42 steven-VirtualBox danted[3400]: Starting Dante SOCKS daemon:
Mar 10 18:12:42 steven-VirtualBox sudo[3397]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
Mar 10 18:12:42 steven-VirtualBox systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: SOCKS (v4 and v5) proxy daemon (danted).
-- Subject: Unit danted.service has failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit danted.service has failed.
-- 
-- The result is failed.
Mar 10 18:12:42 steven-VirtualBox systemd[1]: danted.service: Unit entered failed state.
Mar 10 18:12:42 steven-VirtualBox systemd[1]: danted.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Mar 10 18:12:50 steven-VirtualBox sudo[3407]:   steven : TTY=pts/18 ; PWD=/home/steven ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/systemctl status danted
Mar 10 18:12:50 steven-VirtualBox sudo[3407]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0)
Mar 10 18:14:38 steven-VirtualBox sudo[3407]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root

Answer 1

Find the interface of your device from Terminal with netstat -rn and look at the Iface column. Install netstat with sudo apt install net-tools if you don't have it. Change the settings of external: eth0 to external: xxxx where of course xxxx being your Iface value, in the file /etc/danted.conf.

If you're just starting out and there's not yet saved rules in danted.conf you can simply delete the file with sudo rm /etc/danted.conf and then create a new with sudo nano /etc/danted.conf. If using firewall it is mandatory that you open the port 1080 with sudo ufw allow 1080. In the new empty file danted.conf, paste in

logoutput: syslog
user.privileged: root
user.unprivileged: nobody
# The listening network interface or address.
internal: 0.0.0.0 port=1080

# The proxying network interface or address.
external: xxxx #Replace xxxx with the device's Iface

# socks-rules determine what is proxied through the external interface.
socksmethod: username

# client-rules determine who can connect to the internal interface.
clientmethod: none

client pass {
    from: 0.0.0.0/0 to: 0.0.0.0/0
}

socks pass {
    from: 0.0.0.0/0 to: 0.0.0.0/0
}

Save the file and run

sudo systemctl restart danted.service
sudo systemctl status danted.service

Answer 2

This line is the telltale:

Mar 10 18:12:42 steven-VirtualBox danted[3405]: error: /etc/danted.conf: problem on line 11 near token "eth0": could not resolve hostname "eth0

It looks like there is no interface called eth0.

I had the same issue, found out what the actual interface is called using ifconfig and swapped out eth0 for that.

Answer 3

I had the same issue and came across your question. I fixed it by adding a systemd dependency of network-online.target to the danted.service, based on reading this https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/NetworkTarget/

Here's how:

sudo systemctl edit danted.service

add this:

    [Unit]
    After=network-online.target
    Wants=network-online.target

save & exit, run this for good measure

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable danted.service