Wickr Logo

Introduction[edit]

Wickr Me can be installed in Debian and provides various functionality in addition to end-to-end encrypted messaging: ^[1]

With Wickr Me, you can instantly connect with your friends 1:1 or in groups - now with fully encrypted voice calling, voice memos - new additions to the trusted end-to-end secure sharing of files, images, and videos. Take full control over who has access to your content and how long it remains accessible.

The application touts various privacy and security benefits, including: ^[1]

no access to messages or contact lists
users' address books remain private and not stored on Wickr servers
each message being encrypted with a new key
no phone number or email address registration required
nil storage of meta-data
communication in private groups of up to 10 users
partial open source code ^[2]
an expiration time can be set on messaging content
incorporation of perfect forward and backward secrecy for user content

To learn more, refer to the parent website ^[archive].

Community Support Only!:
	`Community Support Only` means Whonix ™ developers are unlikely to provide free support for wiki chapters or pages with this tag. See Community Support for further information, including implications and possible alternatives.

Warning[edit]

Wickr Me is considered a security risk and installation is discouraged as per software installation best practices:

Unsigned software: It is not possible to follow the security advice of always verifying software signatures, since installation is through snap which does not yet verify software signatures. ^[3]
Installation procedure: The third party package manager snap is required, which is generally discouraged. ^[4]
Proprietary software: Only the Wickr Me encryption protocol is open source. The rest of the client application source code and other elements remain proprietary and unavailable for public scrutiny. ^[5] Avoid non-freedom software.

If proceeding despite the risk, it is recommended to use a separate Whonix-Workstation ™ for greater safety.

Installation[edit]

Non-Qubes-Whonix ™ only. Efforts to persistently install Wickr Me in Qubes-Whonix ™ via bind-dirs ^[archive] or with snap proxy settings have proven unsuccessful. This means it needs to be installed in a TemplateBasedVM on every occasion it is required. Efforts to improve this situation are most welcome, see: Wickr Me vs Qubes-Whonix Persistence ^[archive].

1. Open a terminal.

Open a terminal.

If you are using Qubes-Whonix ™, complete the following steps.

Qubes App Launcher (blue/grey "Q") → Whonix-Workstation ™ App Qube (commonly named anon-whonix) → Xfce Terminal

If you are using a graphical Whonix ™ with XFCE, run.

Start Menu → Xfce Terminal

2. Install dependencies.

Update the package lists.

sudo apt update

sudo apt update

Install dependencies.

sudo apt install snapd

sudo apt install snapd

3. Reboot.

A reboot is required so snap can add itself to the PATH environment variable. ^[6]

4. Install Wickr Me.

snap install wickrme

snap install wickrme

The installation process is now complete.

Start Wickr Me[edit]

To launch Wickr Me, run.

wickrme

wickrme

Figure: Wicker Me in Whonix ™

Troubleshooting[edit]

error: snap "wickrme" not found[edit]

As a workaround, try to install any other snap package first.

snap install vlc

snap install vlc

Then try to install Wickr Me again. ^[7]

read: connection refused[edit]

The following error occasionally appears when trying to install Wickr Me (snap install wickrme): ^[8]

error: cannot install "wickrme": Post
       https://api.snapcraft.io/v2/snaps/refresh: dial tcp: lookup
       api.snapcraft.io on [::1]:53: read udp [::1]:60220->[::1]:53: read:
       connection refused

It is suspected the server sometimes bans certain Tor relays from connecting. Try changing the Tor circuit, then repeat the command.

realpath: No such file or directory[edit]

Sometimes running:

wickrme

wickrme

Results in the terminal displaying this message:

realpath: '': No such file or directory
realpath: '': No such file or directory
realpath: '': No such file or directory
realpath: '': No such file or directory
Could not create NETLINK socket: Operation not permitted (1)
Failed to initialize udev, possibly due to an invalid system configuration. Various device-related browser features may be broken.

With Wickr Me still starting and showing an error during sign in that it could not connect to the Wickr Me Network (attempting to reconnect). This might be caused during the original installation of Wickr Me through snap install wickrme. Try reinstalling Wickr Me with the --devmode flag enabled and it should fix the issue. To do that, follow the steps below.

1. Remove Wickr Me.

snap remove wickrme

snap remove wickrme

The command needs to be run twice. The first run will disable the "wickrme" package, while the second invocation will remove "wickrme".

snap remove wickrme

snap remove wickrme

2. Verify Wickr Me is no longer installed.

Run.

snap list

snap list

It should no longer show wickrme.

3. Reinstall Wicker Me.

Use the following command.

snap install --devmode wickrme

snap install --devmode wickrme

4. Relaunch Wicker Me.

Start "wickrme" again.

wickrme

wickrme

Forum Discussion[edit]

Wickr problem, help ^[archive]

Footnotes[edit]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 https://snapcraft.io/wickrme ^[archive]
↑ The encryption protocol Wickr-Crypto-C source code is available on GitHub ^[archive].
↑ For better security and stability, wickr.com could provide Debian downloads, or better yet an apt repository for Debian.
↑ https://forums.whonix.org/t/snap-store-snaps-snapcraft-io-a-new-software-source/7631 ^[archive]
↑ By comparison, the Signal protocol, client application and server are fully open source ^[archive].
↑
Otherwise, following installation it can be launched from the absolute path:
```
/snap/bin/wickrme
```
/snap/bin/wickrme

↑ A bug report was drafted, but could not be submitted to https://bugs.launchpad.net/snapcraft ^[archive] because of the following error:

Timeout error

Sorry, something just went wrong in Launchpad.

We’ve recorded what happened, and we’ll fix it as soon as possible. Apologies for the inconvenience.

Trying again in a couple of minutes might work.

snap install wickrme reports 'snap "wickrme" not found' even though 'snap find wickrme' had found it

Actual Result:

Debian buster based.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install snapd

snap find wickrme
Name     Version  Publisher  Notes  Summary
wickrme  5.48.9   tleavy     -      E2E Encrypted Anonymous Messaging

snap install wickrme
error: snap "wickrme" not found

Expected result:

wickrme gets installed or shows a better error message than 'snap "wickrme" not found' if not available for this system.

System information:

lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	Debian
Description:	Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)
Release:	10
Codename:	buster

dpkg --print-architecture
amd64

uname -a
Linux host 4.19.94-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64 #1 SMP Sun Jan 12 05:45:26 UTC 2020 x86_64 GNU/Linux

↑ https://forums.whonix.org/t/wickr-problem-help/7552 ^[archive]

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