sudo apt install dante-server<\/pre>\nAfter installed the server package, it will automatically create a systemd service and run it silently in the background.<\/p>\n
To check the service status, use command:<\/p>\n
systemctl status danted.service<\/pre>\nFor Debian, run systemctl enable --now danted.service<\/code> to enable and start the service if it’s not running.<\/p>\nIf the service is enabled but failed to run, don’t worry, follow step 2 to edit the configuration file.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dante-service-700x492.webp\")
<\/p>\n
Step 2: Configure Dante Server<\/h3>\n
Dante by default loads \/etc\/danted.conf<\/code> file for server configurations. The file by default has all configuration disabled, causing the service failed to run.<\/p>\nTo edit the config file, you may probably firstly make a backup (or delete the file if you want) by running command:<\/p>\n
sudo mv \/etc\/danted.conf \/etc\/danted.conf.backup<\/pre>\nNext, run the command below to edit the file:<\/p>\n
sudo nano \/etc\/danted.conf<\/pre>\nThe command will automatically create the file with empty content if you deleted the original file or used the mv<\/code> command to backup.<\/p>\nWhen file opens, add the following content and edit accordingly.<\/p>\n
logoutput: \/var\/log\/danted.log\r\nerrorlog: \/var\/log\/danted.errlog\r\nuser.privileged: root\r\nuser.unprivileged: nobody\r\n\r\n# The listening network interface or address.\r\ninternal: 0.0.0.0 port=1080\r\ninternal: :: port = 1080\r\n\r\n# The proxying network interface or address.\r\nexternal: eth0\r\n\r\n# socks-rules determine what is proxied through the external interface.\r\nsocksmethod: username\r\n\r\n# client-rules determine who can connect to the internal interface.\r\nclientmethod: none\r\n\r\nclient pass {\r\n from: 0.0.0.0\/0 to: 0.0.0.0\/0\r\n log: error connect disconnect\r\n}\r\n\r\nsocks pass {\r\n from: 0.0.0.0\/0 to: 0.0.0.0\/0\r\n log: error connect disconnect\r\n}<\/pre>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dante-confedit-700x569.webp\")
<\/p>\n
Here are more about the rules:<\/p>\n
\nlogoutput: \/var\/log\/danted.log<\/code> – set the access log location (optional).<\/li>\nerrorlog: \/var\/log\/danted.errlog<\/code> – set the error log location (optional).<\/li>\nuser.privileged: root<\/code> – run the background service as root, it will drop privilege afterwards.<\/li>\nuser.unprivileged: nobody<\/code> – run normal proxy operation with user nobody<\/code>.<\/li>\ninternal: 0.0.0.0 port=1080<\/code> – listen on all IPv4 interfaces on port 1080. If want, you may change the IP and port number accordingly.<\/li>\ninternal: :: port = 1080<\/code> – listen on IPv6 (optional).<\/li>\nexternal: eth0<\/code> – replace eth0<\/b> with your server network interface name. Run ip route get 1.1.1.1 | awk '{print $5; exit}'<\/code> command in server to tell.<\/li>\nclientmethod: none<\/code> – means any IP in the client pass {}<\/code> can start TCP connection.<\/li>\nsocksmethod: username<\/code> – you need to given username and password to authentication, even with clientmethod: none<\/code>. Use socksmethod: none<\/code> (though not secure) so any IP in socks pass {}<\/code> section can access without authentication.<\/li>\nclient pass { from: 0.0.0.0\/0 to: 0.0.0.0\/0 ...}<\/code> – the first gate (TCP connection) when client trying to access dante server. It means allowing access from any IP to any network interface in server. You may use from: 23.168.111.125\/32 to: 0.0.0.0\/0<\/code>, so only certain IP (23.168.111.125 in the case is your PUBLIC IP) can access.<\/li>\nsocks pass { from: 0.0.0.0\/0 to: 0.0.0.0\/0 ...}<\/code> – control what allowed clients may do. With socksmethod: username<\/code> it needs password authentication. Also, you may replace IP accordingly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThe rules above are for TCP connections. You may add more client pass {}<\/code> and socks pass {}<\/code> sections with following rules:<\/p>\n\nfrom: ::\/0 to: ::\/0<\/code> – allow accessing from any IPv6 address.<\/li>\ncommand: udpreply<\/code> – allow UDP associate.<\/li>\nudp.portrange: 40000-45000<\/code> – set UDP port range.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nSo, it can be look like:<\/p>\n
client pass {\r\n from: 0.0.0.0\/0 to: 0.0.0.0\/0\r\n}\r\nclient pass {\r\n from: ::\/0 to: ::\/0\r\n}\r\n\r\nsocks pass {\r\n from: 0.0.0.0\/0 to: 0.0.0.0\/0\r\n command: connect udpassociate\r\n log: connect disconnect ioop\r\n}\r\nsocks pass {\r\n from: ::\/0 to: ::\/0\r\n command: connect udpassociate\r\n log: connect disconnect ioop\r\n}\r\n\r\n# Log UDP replies from remote hosts back to clients\r\nsocks pass {\r\n from: 0.0.0.0\/0 to: 0.0.0.0\/0\r\n command: udpreply\r\n log: connect disconnect ioop\r\n}\r\nsocks pass {\r\n from: ::\/0 to: ::\/0\r\n command: udpreply\r\n log: connect disconnect ioop\r\n}<\/pre>\nAfter edited the file, press Ctrl+S<\/b> to save, and Ctrl+X<\/code> to exit.<\/p>\nStep 3: Create User for Authentication<\/h3>\n
For authentication purpose, you need to create a user in the server side by running the command below:<\/p>\n
sudo useradd -M -s \/usr\/sbin\/nologin USER_NAME_HERE<\/pre>\nThen set a password for the user:<\/p>\n
sudo passwd USER_NAME_HERE<\/pre>\nReplace USER_NAME_HERE with whatever name that you want. Then, you may use the username and password to authenticate during the connection.<\/p>\n
Step 4: Create Log Files and Change ownership<\/h3>\n
If you enabled logs, then you also need to edit the ownership of log files.<\/p>\n
First, run command to create the log files:<\/p>\n
touch \/var\/log\/danted.log<\/pre>\ntouch \/var\/log\/danted.errlog<\/pre>\nThen, change the owner to noboby<\/code> and nogroup<\/code>:<\/p>\nchown nobody:nogroup \/var\/log\/danted.log<\/pre>\nchown nobody:nogroup \/var\/log\/danted.errlog<\/pre>\nStep 5: Configure Firewall<\/h3>\n
If you have firewall enabled in the Ubuntu server (run sudo ufw status<\/code>), then run the commands below to open the ports for dante proxy server:<\/p>\nsudo ufw allow 1080\/tcp<\/pre>\nHere replace 1080<\/code> according to which port you use, and also run the command below if you have UDP association enabled:<\/p>\nsudo ufw allow 40000:45000\/udp<\/pre>\nStep 6: Apply Changes<\/h3>\n
Finally, restart the dante service to apply change:<\/p>\n
sudo systemctl restart danted<\/pre>\nAnd, do run the command below to check the service status:<\/p>\n
sudo systemctl status danted --no-pager<\/pre>\nAny mis-configuration in \/etc\/danted.conf<\/code> may cause the service start failure.<\/p>\nStep 7: Try connecting to Dante server<\/h3>\n
After properly set up the server, you may try running the command below in a local Linux computer to start connection:<\/p>\n
curl -v -x socks5:\/\/USER_NAME:PASSWORD@SERVER_IP:1080 http:\/\/www.google.com\/<\/pre>\nIt should output something looks like:\r\n* Trying xx.xxx.xxx.xxx:1080...\r\n* Host www.google.com:80 was resolved.\r\n* IPv6: 2001:4860:482a:7700::, 2001:4860:4826:7700::, 2001:4860:482b:7700::, 2001:4860:4827:7700::, 2001:4860:4829:7700::, 2001:4860:482d:7700::, 2001:4860:4828:7700::, 2001:4860:482c:7700::\r\n* IPv4: 142.251.153.119, 142.251.156.119, 142.251.150.119, 142.251.157.119, 142.251.152.119, 142.251.154.119, 142.251.151.119, 142.251.155.119\r\n* Opened SOCKS connection from 192.168.0.104 port 49060 to www.google.com port 80 (via 23.106.152.194 port 1138)\r\n* Established connection to 23.106.152.194 (23.106.152.194 port 1138) from 192.168.0.104 port 49060 \r\n* using HTTP\/1.x\r\n...<\/pre>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dante-curlconnect-700x478.webp\")
<\/p>\n
For a graphical socks5 client, I use proxifier, which however is NOT a free software. You may try the free open-source ProxyBridge<\/a> that works in Linux, Windows, and macOS.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is a step by step guide shows how to install and set up Dante socks5 proxy server in Ubuntu 26.04 LTS. Dante is a free open-source software allowing to route network traffic between clients and servers. With it, you may bypass network restrictions, e.g., visit network resources that’re not available via direct access. You […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2171],"class_list":["post-51480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-howtos","tag-socks5"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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