Signal

Table of contents

  1. Overview
  2. Install Signal
  3. How to use it
  4. For the Future: Update Signal
  5. Remove Signal

Overview

Signal is a privacy-focused messaging application that offers end-to-end encryption for secure text messages, voice calls, and video calls.

signal.png

The application’s configuration is not persistent and resets with every Tails reboot.
As a result, after each reboot you need to link Signal to your account.
Although possible, the process for setting up a persistent configuration isn’t covered in this instruction.

Install Signal

  • Make sure Flatpak has been installed. See Flatpak.

  • Open a Terminal window: choose Applications ▸ Utilities ▸ Terminal

  • Clone Run-on-Tails GitHub repository: 
    $ cd ~/Downloads
$ git clone https://github.com/dutu/run-on-tails.git
  • Install Signal: 
    $ torsocks flatpak install flathub org.signal.Signal
  • Configure persistence: 
    $ chmod +x ./run-on-tails/signal/config-persistence.sh 
$ ./run-on-tails/signal/config-persistence.sh
    • Wait for the message Signal application setup completed successfully.

How to use it

  • After Tails starts, before launching Signal, wait for the desktop message “Additional software installed successfully”.

Signal application requires Flatpak package. Flatpak is installed as additional software automatically every time you start Tails. It may take a couple of minutes until software installation completes.

  • Choose Applications ▸ Other ▸ Signal

For the Future: Update Signal

  • Open a Terminal window: choose Applications ▸ Utilities ▸ Terminal

  • Update the application:

    $ torsocks flatpak update org.signal.Signal

Remove Signal

  • Open a Terminal window: choose Applications ▸ Utilities ▸ Terminal

  • Remove the application, and unused runtimes and SDK extensions: 
    $ torsocks flatpak uninstall org.signal.Signal
$ torsocks flatpak uninstall --unused
  • Remove menu entry and utility files: 
    $ dotfiles_dir="/live/persistence/TailsData_unlocked/dotfiles"
$ rm $dotfiles_dir/.local/share/applications/org.signal.Signal
$ rm /home/amnesia/.local/share/applications/org.signal.Signal
$ persistence_dir="/home/amnesia/Persistent"
$ rm -fr $persistence_dir/org.signal.Signal