Telegram Publishes MTProto Proxy Source Code to Bypass Restrictions

Telegram has published the source code for its MTProto proxy server on GitHub. Instructions for setting up the proxy are available on Docker Hub. The protocol works exclusively within the Telegram messenger and is not compatible with other services.

How to Set Up Your Own Proxy Server

To create your own proxy server, you’ll need a computer with Docker installed and an internet connection from a provider that does not block access to online resources. Port 443 must be available.

It’s noted that a single proxy server process can support tens of thousands of connections. To improve performance, the developers have set a limit of up to 60,000 connections per CPU core.

Platform Compatibility

Currently, only users of Android devices can connect to MTProto proxies. New MTProto proxies do not work on Telegram and Telegram X clients for iOS, as Apple has been blocking Telegram app updates in the App Store since mid-April.

Background on Telegram Blocking in Russia

On April 16, 2018, Russia’s Roskomnadzor began blocking the Telegram messenger after the service’s operators refused to provide the FSB with encryption keys to decode user messages. On the same day, the regulatory agency started blocking millions of IP addresses belonging to Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, which Telegram used to bypass the restrictions. At the end of May, Roskomnadzor demanded that Apple stop distributing Telegram in Russia via the App Store, threatening to block Apple’s services if the company did not comply.