Search code examples
rcurlproxysockstor

How to use Tor socks5 in R getURL

I want to use Tor in getURL function in R. Tor is working (checked in firefox), socks5 at port 9050. But when I set this in R, I get the following error

html <- getURL("http://www.google.com", followlocation = T, .encoding="UTF-8", .opts = list(proxy = "127.0.0.1:9050", timeout=15))

Error in curlPerform(curl = curl, .opts = opts, .encoding = .encoding) : '\n\nTor is not an HTTP Proxy\n\n\n

Tor is not an HTTP Proxy

\n

\nIt appears you have configured your web browser to use Tor as an HTTP proxy.\nThis is not correct: Tor is a SOCKS proxy, not an HTTP proxy.\nPlease configure your client accordingly.

I've tried replace proxy with socks, socks5 but it didn't work.

Solution

  • There are curl bindings for R, after which you can use curl to call the Tor SOCKS5 proxy server.

    The call from the shell (which you can translate to the R binding) is:

    curl --socks5-hostname 127.0.0.1:9050 google.com

    Tor will do the DNS also for A records.