Since Freenet is currently in pre-beta stage, there is no formal distribution. You can download the current CVS snapshot which contains all Freenet components available up to now. The package is a single zipped tar archive. If you are on a Windows environment you'll probably need a tool like WinZip to extract the files.
Depending on which component you plan to use, you will need one ore more of the following programs installed and configured on your system:
The following requirements are applicable only if you want to run a productive Freenet server. None of them is needed to use one of the clients or to test/develop with local dummy servers (see section 5.1)
A note on fixed IPs and permanent connections: You can operate a useful node even if you do not have a permanent connection and/or a static IP. But please keep in mind that a node which is not reachable most of the time is useless for Freenet as a whole, so you should operate a node only if you are connected most of the day and if your IP address does not change too often (most cable modem setups meet these criteria, for example). Nodes are actually storing information, and the information stored in your node is not available if you are not connected.
Although Freenet is just in the development stage at the moment, and there is not much content available up to now, you might be interested in simply running a client against the existing nodes in the Internet Doing so is possible without a permanent connection or static IP, but being behind a firewall could pose a problem since you must be able to accept inbound and outbound connections on at least two ports.
First, you should extract the CVS snapshot into a temporary/working directory.
Take care that the directory structure and filenames are preserved.
In the following, I will assume you have extracted the archive to /tmp/Freenet
or c:\temp\Freenet, respectively.
Second, the server and Java clients have to be built.
There are scripts for both Unix/Linux and Windows environments, which invoke the
javac compiler.
In the third step, the .class files have to be installed in their final location.
Finally, you may have to change the .freenetrc file to make adjustments
(see section 4.1 )
Extract the archive to a temporary directory:
cd /tmp
tar xvzf Freenet-2000xxxx.tgzBuild server and Java console client (path to javac must be set correctly):
cd /tmp/Freenet/scripts
./build.shIf you want the GUI client, you'll have to build it separately:
cd ..
export CLASSPATH=/tmp
make GUINow you start the installation script, which moves the .class files
to the target location (e.g. /usr/local/; if you are not root, you may
have to chose another directory) and creates the little scripts and symbolic links
freenet_server and freenet_client.
cd scripts
./install.shSince the GUI client installation is not done by install.sh,
you have to copy the .class files separately.
cd ../client
cp *.class /usr/local/freenet/Freenet/client/Extract the archive to a temporary directory,
e.g. with WinZip,
then build the .class files:
cd c:\temp\freenet\scripts
build.batBuild the GUI client separately, if you want to:
cd c:\Temp\Freenet\client
set CLASSPATH=C:\temp
javac GUIInstall the .class files:
cd c:\Temp\Freenet\scripts
install.batAgain, the GUI client has to be installed separately:
cd c:\Temp\Freenet\client
copy *.class c:\freenet\clientThe servers, also called nodes, are the main part of Freenet.
Freenet can only exist if there are enough people who are running servers,
so we really want to encourage you to run a server if you can.
The server takes its configuration out of the .freenetrc resource file,
which has several parameters to set.
These settings are described in the .freenetrc file.
Additionally, you can override the parameters in the .freenetrc
by specifying them at startup (e.g. freenet_server -listenPort 12345)
You can start the server with freenet_server (or fserve.bat
if you are on Windows).
Under Unix/Linux you have to kill the server manually if you want to stop it.
If it is the only java process you are running, you can use killall java;
otherwise you will have to look up the process ID using ps.
The java client is a simple client written for debugging purposes.
The requested data is stored in a file called result in the working directory.
You must specify the following parameters to insert or request data:
19115)tcp/127.0.0.1:19114)freenet/1.0/my_key)test.txt)10)You can start the client with freenet_client on Unix/Linux platforms.
Windows users will have to invoke java manually.
Since most Windows machines will have Java environments based on Sun's 1.2 JDK
(the "Java 2 Platform") or later, you can use the -cp option to specify
the path to the Freenet classes.
For example, assuming you have unpacked and built everything in a driectory
called c:\temp\freenet, you can invoke the clients with:
java -cp c:\temp\freenet Freenet.client.InsertClient(for inserting keys)
or
java -cp c:\temp\freenet Freenet.client.RequestClient(for requesting keys).
The GUI client is not finished, but you can have a preview now. Unix/Linux users start it with:
java Freenet.client.GUI(from the/usr/local/freenetdirectory.)
Windows users type java -cp c:\temp\freenet Freenet.client.GUI
Liberator is a Freenet client written in Perl.
In the distribution, you can find it in the directory contrib/Liberator.
Its parameters are more or less the same as the Java client.
You can start Liberator by typing perl liberator.pl in the Liberator directory.
FCRC is a Freenet->HTTP gateway.
It can be found in the distribution in contrib/FCRC.
Just drop fcrc.pl in your cgi-bin directory and you have your gateway ready.
You might have to make some adjustments in the fcrc.pl program to account for the
way your web server is set up.
Now that installation is done, you are ready to enter the Internet of the 21st century! In the following section, I will give you examples which show you how you can actually participate. If something does not work, check the troubleshooting section.
The local setup is intended for all the people who are not enjoying the advantages
of a permanent connection to the Internet, or at least a flatrate, but are interested
in testing/developing Freenet anyway.
There is a script test5.sh contained in the distribution which will start 5
servers on the local machine.
Note that in test5.sh, the Freenet servers are invoked with the parameters
informRead no -informWrite no.
These parameters tell the Freenet servers not to report their existance to
http://freenet.sourceforge.net/inform.php, the place where many permanent servers
are listed during this testing phase of Freenet.
To make sure your local Freenet servers know each other, you should copy the nodes.config
file to your working directory before starting the servers.
When the local servers are running, you can check if everything is working.
Create a file test.txt in your working directory.
We will now insert that file into Node #1:
freenet_client insert 6666 tcp/localhost:10001 my_test_key test.txt 3If everything worked fine, you should see an output like Data insert -> tcp/127.0.0.1:10001.
Now we are testing whether we can get the data back from our Freenet node #3:
freenet_client request 6666 tcp/localhost:10003 my_test_key 3Look at your working directory: You should now have a file called result which contains the requested data.
Something did not work? Check out the troubleshooting section.
You can, of course, use Freenet when you have connection to the Internet
(in fact, that is what Freenet has been designed for :-))
In this section, I am assuming you have set up a a node locally on port 19114 and registered it
(-informURL http://freenet.sourceforge.net/inform.php -informWrite yes -informRead yes).
We will now insert data into your local Freenet node.
Create a file test.txt in your local directory.
Now we can insert that file:
freenet_client insert 6666 tcp/localhost:19114 my_test_key test.txt 3If you got an output like Data insert -> tcp/127.0.0.1:10001, then everything is fine.
Though, chances are good your output reads more like Key collision, insert again under different key.
Quite obviously, you have tried to insert a key which already exists in Freenet.
If that happens, you should use another key, maybe something like Freenet/{your name goes here}/test_key_1.)
If you did succeed in inserting your data, we will now test whether it can be obtained from other nodes.
First we must determine the address of an existing Freenet server.
There are two possible ways to do that.
First, you could check the output of your local node and maybe you will see there
the addresses of the nodes your node has been talking to.
The other possibility is to look at the inform.php page with a web browser.
There is a big disadvantage in the second method: When you open http://freenet.sourceforge.net/inform.php in your browser, your node will be unregistered.
This problem can be solved only if you shut down your local node (killall java) and start it again.
Let's assume now you have found out the address and port of another Freenet server:
freenet_client request 6666 tcp/{remote_node_address}:{remote_node_port} my_test_key 3If everything is ok, you should get an output just like Conduit finished.
Then you can find a file named result in your working directory
which contains the received data.
If you cannot reach the remote node, you should select another node
(the information in inform.php is not always up to date).
If you get an output like Request timed out, you should increase the hops-to-live.
Maybe it is also a good idea to check your input for typos.
If all that does not solve the problem, you should read the troubleshooting section.
Trying desperately, but Freenet is not willing to work? Running into an error without having the slightest idea why? Don't worry, this is not unusual when evaluating a project in pre-alpha state. But chances are very good that your problem has been solved before. In this section, I will give you some hints on how to retrieve a solution for your problem.
First, READ THE FAQ!. There are some common problems already covered in it. If that does not help, you should have a look at the freenet-chat and freenet-dev mailing list archives. For your convenience, I have webzipped the archives at http://www.i-drive.com/evilchris. I am sure that most of the possible problems have already been discussed in these lists. If you have read all the mailing list, and you are still clueless, you can also post your question to freenet-chat. But please keep in mind that many people on the list are spending much time in the development of Freenet, and there are few resources to operate the mailing list in a hotline-style fashion. So please only ask if everything else fails.