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342 lines
18 KiB
Markdown
Executable File
342 lines
18 KiB
Markdown
Executable File
Reticulum Network Stack β <img align="right" src="https://static.pepy.tech/personalized-badge/rns?period=total&units=international_system&left_color=grey&right_color=blue&left_text=Installs"/>
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==========
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<p align="center"><img width="200" src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/markqvist/Reticulum/master/docs/source/graphics/rns_logo_512.png"></p>
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Reticulum is the cryptography-based networking stack for building local and wide-area
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networks with readily available hardware. It can operate even with very high latency
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and extremely low bandwidth. Reticulum allows you to build wide-area networks
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with off-the-shelf tools, and offers end-to-end encryption and connectivity,
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initiator anonymity, autoconfiguring cryptographically backed multi-hop
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transport, efficient addressing, unforgeable delivery acknowledgements and
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more.
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The vision of Reticulum is to allow anyone to be their own network operator,
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and to make it cheap and easy to cover vast areas with a myriad of independent,
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inter-connectable and autonomous networks. Reticulum **is not** *one* network.
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It is **a tool** for building *thousands of networks*. Networks without
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kill-switches, surveillance, censorship and control. Networks that can freely
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interoperate, associate and disassociate with each other, and require no
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central oversight. Networks for human beings. *Networks for the people*.
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Reticulum is a complete networking stack, and does not rely on IP or higher
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layers, but it is possible to use IP as the underlying carrier for Reticulum.
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It is therefore trivial to tunnel Reticulum over the Internet or private IP
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networks.
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Having no dependencies on traditional networking stacks frees up overhead that
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has been used to implement a networking stack built directly on cryptographic
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principles, allowing resilience and stable functionality, even in open and
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trustless networks.
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No kernel modules or drivers are required. Reticulum runs completely in
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userland, and can run on practically any system that runs Python 3.
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## Read The Manual
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The full documentation for Reticulum is available at [markqvist.github.io/Reticulum/manual/](https://markqvist.github.io/Reticulum/manual/).
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You can also [download the Reticulum manual as a PDF](https://github.com/markqvist/Reticulum/raw/master/docs/Reticulum%20Manual.pdf)
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For more info, see [reticulum.network](https://reticulum.network/)
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## Notable Features
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- Coordination-less globally unique addressing and identification
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- Fully self-configuring multi-hop routing
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- Initiator anonymity, communicate without revealing your identity
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- Asymmetric X25519 encryption and Ed25519 signatures as a basis for all communication
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- Forward Secrecy with ephemeral Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman keys on Curve25519
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- Reticulum uses the [Fernet](https://github.com/fernet/spec/blob/master/Spec.md) specification for on-the-wire / over-the-air encryption
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- Keys are ephemeral and derived from an ECDH key exchange on Curve25519
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- AES-128 in CBC mode with PKCS7 padding
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- HMAC using SHA256 for authentication
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- IVs are generated through os.urandom()
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- Unforgeable packet delivery confirmations
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- A variety of supported interface types
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- An intuitive and easy-to-use API
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- Reliable and efficient transfer of arbitrary amounts of data
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- Reticulum can handle a few bytes of data or files of many gigabytes
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- Sequencing, transfer coordination and checksumming are automatic
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- The API is very easy to use, and provides transfer progress
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- Lightweight, flexible and expandable Request/Response mechanism
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- Efficient link establishment
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- Total bandwidth cost of setting up an encrypted link is 3 packets totaling 297 bytes
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- Low cost of keeping links open at only 0.44 bits per second
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## Roadmap
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While Reticulum is already a fully featured and functional networking stack, many improvements and additions are actively being worked on, and planned for the future.
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To learn more about the direction and future of Reticulum, please see the [Development Roadmap](./Roadmap.md).
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## Examples of Reticulum Applications
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If you want to quickly get an idea of what Reticulum can do, take a look at the
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following resources.
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- You can use the [rnsh](https://github.com/acehoss/rnsh) program to establish remote shell sessions over Reticulum.
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- For an off-grid, encrypted and resilient mesh communications platform, see [Nomad Network](https://github.com/markqvist/NomadNet)
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- The Android, Linux and macOS app [Sideband](https://github.com/markqvist/Sideband) has a graphical interface and focuses on ease of use.
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- [LXMF](https://github.com/markqvist/lxmf) is a distributed, delay and disruption tolerant message transfer protocol built on Reticulum
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## Where can Reticulum be used?
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Over practically any medium that can support at least a half-duplex channel
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with 500 bits per second throughput, and an MTU of 500 bytes. Data radios,
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modems, LoRa radios, serial lines, AX.25 TNCs, amateur radio digital modes,
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WiFi and Ethernet devices, free-space optical links, and similar systems are
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all examples of the types of physical devices Reticulum can use.
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An open-source LoRa-based interface called
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[RNode](https://markqvist.github.io/Reticulum/manual/hardware.html#rnode) has
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been designed specifically for use with Reticulum. It is possible to build
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yourself, or it can be purchased as a complete transceiver that just needs a
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USB connection to the host.
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Reticulum can also be encapsulated over existing IP networks, so there's
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nothing stopping you from using it over wired Ethernet, your local WiFi network
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or the Internet, where it'll work just as well. In fact, one of the strengths
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of Reticulum is how easily it allows you to connect different mediums into a
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self-configuring, resilient and encrypted mesh, using any available mixture of
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available infrastructure.
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As an example, it's possible to set up a Raspberry Pi connected to both a LoRa
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radio, a packet radio TNC and a WiFi network. Once the interfaces are
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configured, Reticulum will take care of the rest, and any device on the WiFi
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network can communicate with nodes on the LoRa and packet radio sides of the
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network, and vice versa.
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## How do I get started?
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The best way to get started with the Reticulum Network Stack depends on what
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you want to do. For full details and examples, have a look at the
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[Getting Started Fast](https://markqvist.github.io/Reticulum/manual/gettingstartedfast.html)
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section of the [Reticulum Manual](https://markqvist.github.io/Reticulum/manual/).
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To simply install Reticulum and related utilities on your system, the easiest way is via pip:
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```bash
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pip install rns
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```
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You can then start any program that uses Reticulum, or start Reticulum as a
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system service with [the rnsd utility](https://markqvist.github.io/Reticulum/manual/using.html#the-rnsd-utility).
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When first started, Reticulum will create a default configuration file,
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providing basic connectivity to other Reticulum peers that might be locally
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reachable. The default config file contains a few examples, and references for
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creating a more complex configuration.
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If you have an old version of `pip` on your system, you may need to upgrade it first with `pip install pip --upgrade`. If you no not already have `pip` installed, you can install it using the package manager of your system with `sudo apt install python3-pip` or similar.
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For more detailed examples on how to expand communication over many mediums such
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as packet radio or LoRa, serial ports, or over fast IP links and the Internet using
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the UDP and TCP interfaces, take a look at the [Supported Interfaces](https://markqvist.github.io/Reticulum/manual/interfaces.html)
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section of the [Reticulum Manual](https://markqvist.github.io/Reticulum/manual/).
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## Included Utilities
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Reticulum includes a range of useful utilities for managing your networks,
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viewing status and information, and other tasks. You can read more about these
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programs in the [Included Utility Programs](https://markqvist.github.io/Reticulum/manual/using.html#included-utility-programs)
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section of the [Reticulum Manual](https://markqvist.github.io/Reticulum/manual/).
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- The system daemon `rnsd` for running Reticulum as an always-available service
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- An interface status utility called `rnstatus`, that displays information about interfaces
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- The path lookup and management tool `rnpath` letting you view and modify path tables
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- A diagnostics tool called `rnprobe` for checking connectivity to destinations
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- A simple file transfer program called `rncp` making it easy to copy files to remote systems
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- The remote command execution program `rnx` let's you run commands and
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programs and retrieve output from remote systems
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All tools, including `rnx` and `rncp`, work reliably and well even over very
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low-bandwidth links like LoRa or Packet Radio.
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## Supported interface types and devices
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Reticulum implements a range of generalised interface types that covers most of
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the communications hardware that Reticulum can run over. If your hardware is
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not supported, it's relatively simple to implement an interface class. I will
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gratefully accept pull requests for custom interfaces if they are generally
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useful.
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Currently, the following interfaces are supported:
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- Any Ethernet device
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- LoRa using [RNode](https://unsigned.io/rnode/)
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- Packet Radio TNCs (with or without AX.25)
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- KISS-compatible hardware and software modems
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- Any device with a serial port
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- TCP over IP networks
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- UDP over IP networks
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- External programs via stdio or pipes
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- Custom hardware via stdio or pipes
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## Performance
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Reticulum targets a *very* wide usable performance envelope, but prioritises
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functionality and performance on low-bandwidth mediums. The goal is to
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provide a dynamic performance envelope from 250 bits per second, to 1 gigabit
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per second on normal hardware.
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Currently, the usable performance envelope is approximately 500 bits per second
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to 20 megabits per second, with physical mediums faster than that not being
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saturated. Performance beyond the current level is intended for future
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upgrades, but not highly prioritised at this point in time.
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## Current Status
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Reticulum should currently be considered beta software. All core protocol
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features are implemented and functioning, but additions will probably occur as
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real-world use is explored. There will be bugs. The API and wire-format can be
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considered relatively stable at the moment, but could change if warranted.
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## Dependencies
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The installation of the default `rns` package requires the dependencies listed
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below. Almost all systems and distributions have readily available packages for
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these dependencies, and when the `rns` package is installed with `pip`, they
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will be downloaded and installed as well.
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- [PyCA/cryptography](https://github.com/pyca/cryptography)
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- [pyserial](https://github.com/pyserial/pyserial)
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On more unusual systems, and in some rare cases, it might not be possible to
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install or even compile one or more of the above modules. In such situations,
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you can use the `rnspure` package instead, which require no external
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dependencies for installation. Please note that the contents of the `rns` and
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`rnspure` packages are *identical*. The only difference is that the `rnspure`
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package lists no dependencies required for installation.
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No matter how Reticulum is installed and started, it will load external
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dependencies only if they are *needed* and *available*. If for example you want
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to use Reticulum on a system that cannot support
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[pyserial](https://github.com/pyserial/pyserial), it is perfectly possible to
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do so using the `rnspure` package, but Reticulum will not be able to use
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serial-based interfaces. All other available modules will still be loaded when
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needed.
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**Please Note!** If you use the `rnspure` package to run Reticulum on systems
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that do not support [PyCA/cryptography](https://github.com/pyca/cryptography),
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it is important that you read and understand the [Cryptographic
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Primitives](#cryptographic-primitives) section of this document.
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## Public Testnet
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If you just want to get started experimenting without building any physical
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networks, you are welcome to join the Unsigned.io RNS Testnet. The testnet is
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just that, an informal network for testing and experimenting. It will be up
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most of the time, and anyone can join, but it also means that there's no
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guarantees for service availability.
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The testnet runs the very latest version of Reticulum (often even a short while
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before it is publicly released). Sometimes experimental versions of Reticulum
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might be deployed to nodes on the testnet, which means strange behaviour might
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occur. If none of that scares you, you can join the testnet via either TCP or
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I2P. Just add one of the following interfaces to your Reticulum configuration
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file:
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```
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# TCP/IP interface to the RNS Dublin Hub
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[[RNS Testnet Dublin]]
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type = TCPClientInterface
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enabled = yes
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target_host = dublin.connect.reticulum.network
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target_port = 4965
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# TCP/IP interface to the BetweenTheBorders Hub (community-provided)
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[[RNS Testnet BetweenTheBorders]]
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type = TCPClientInterface
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enabled = yes
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target_host = betweentheborders.com
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target_port = 4242
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# Interface to Testnet I2P Hub
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[[RNS Testnet I2P Hub]]
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type = I2PInterface
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enabled = yes
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peers = pmlm3l5rpympihoy2o5ago43kluei2jjjzsalcuiuylbve3mwi2a.b32.i2p
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```
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The testnet also contains a number of [Nomad Network](https://github.com/markqvist/nomadnet) nodes, and LXMF propagation nodes.
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## Support Reticulum
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You can help support the continued development of open, free and private communications systems by donating via one of the following channels:
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- Monero:
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```
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84FpY1QbxHcgdseePYNmhTHcrgMX4nFfBYtz2GKYToqHVVhJp8Eaw1Z1EedRnKD19b3B8NiLCGVxzKV17UMmmeEsCrPyA5w
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```
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- Ethereum
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```
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0x81F7B979fEa6134bA9FD5c701b3501A2e61E897a
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```
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- Bitcoin
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```
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3CPmacGm34qYvR6XWLVEJmi2aNe3PZqUuq
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```
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- Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/markqvist
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Are certain features in the development roadmap are important to you or your
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organisation? Make them a reality quickly by sponsoring their implementation.
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## Cryptographic Primitives
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Reticulum uses a simple suite of efficient, strong and modern cryptographic
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primitives, with widely available implementations that can be used both on
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general-purpose CPUs and on microcontrollers. The necessary primitives are:
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- Ed25519 for signatures
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- X22519 for ECDH key exchanges
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- HKDF for key derivation
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- Modified Fernet for encrypted tokens
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- AES-128 in CBC mode
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- HMAC for message authentication
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- No Fernet version and timestamp fields
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- SHA-256
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- SHA-512
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In the default installation configuration, the `X25519`, `Ed25519` and
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`AES-128-CBC` primitives are provided by [OpenSSL](https://www.openssl.org/)
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(via the [PyCA/cryptography](https://github.com/pyca/cryptography) package).
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The hashing functions `SHA-256` and `SHA-512` are provided by the standard
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Python [hashlib](https://docs.python.org/3/library/hashlib.html). The `HKDF`,
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`HMAC`, `Fernet` primitives, and the `PKCS7` padding function are always
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provided by the following internal implementations:
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- [HKDF.py](RNS/Cryptography/HKDF.py)
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- [HMAC.py](RNS/Cryptography/HMAC.py)
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- [Fernet.py](RNS/Cryptography/Fernet.py)
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- [PKCS7.py](RNS/Cryptography/PKCS7.py)
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Reticulum also includes a complete implementation of all necessary primitives
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in pure Python. If OpenSSL & PyCA are not available on the system when
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Reticulum is started, Reticulum will instead use the internal pure-python
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primitives. A trivial consequence of this is performance, with the OpenSSL
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backend being *much* faster. The most important consequence however, is the
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potential loss of security by using primitives that has not seen the same
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amount of scrutiny, testing and review as those from OpenSSL.
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If you want to use the internal pure-python primitives, it is **highly
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advisable** that you have a good understanding of the risks that this pose, and
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make an informed decision on whether those risks are acceptable to you.
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Reticulum is relatively young software, and should be considered as such. While
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it has been built with cryptography best-practices very foremost in mind, it
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_has not_ been externally security audited, and there could very well be
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privacy or security breaking bugs. If you want to help out, or help sponsor an
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audit, please do get in touch.
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## Acknowledgements & Credits
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Reticulum can only exist because of the mountain of Open Source work it was
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built on top of, the contributions of everyone involved, and everyone that has
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supported the project through the years. To everyone who has helped, thank you
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so much.
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A number of other modules and projects are either part of, or used by
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Reticulum. Sincere thanks to the authors and contributors of the following
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projects:
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- [PyCA/cryptography](https://github.com/pyca/cryptography), *BSD License*
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- [Pure-25519](https://github.com/warner/python-pure25519) by [Brian Warner](https://github.com/warner), *MIT License*
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- [Pysha2](https://github.com/thomdixon/pysha2) by [Thom Dixon](https://github.com/thomdixon), *MIT License*
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- [Python-AES](https://github.com/orgurar/python-aes) by [Or Gur Arie](https://github.com/orgurar), *MIT License*
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- [Curve25519.py](https://gist.github.com/nickovs/cc3c22d15f239a2640c185035c06f8a3#file-curve25519-py) by [Nicko van Someren](https://gist.github.com/nickovs), *Public Domain*
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- [I2Plib](https://github.com/l-n-s/i2plib) by [Viktor Villainov](https://github.com/l-n-s)
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- [PySerial](https://github.com/pyserial/pyserial) by Chris Liechti, *BSD License*
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- [Configobj](https://github.com/DiffSK/configobj) by Michael Foord, Nicola Larosa, Rob Dennis & Eli Courtwright, *BSD License*
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- [Six](https://github.com/benjaminp/six) by [Benjamin Peterson](https://github.com/benjaminp), *MIT License*
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- [ifaddr](https://github.com/pydron/ifaddr) by [Pydron](https://github.com/pydron), *MIT License*
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- [Umsgpack.py](https://github.com/vsergeev/u-msgpack-python) by [Ivan A. Sergeev](https://github.com/vsergeev)
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- [Python](https://www.python.org)
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