nntpchan/doc/feeds.md

feeds.ini

Peering

In order to actually be distributed, you need another person to sync posts with, otherwise what's the point right?

Peering over the regular internet with TLS

Requirements:

• Each Side's server must have a domain name
• Each Side must have each other's certificates (.crt files) in the certs folder
• Each Side's srnd.ini crypto section must have entry tls-hostname = domain.tld where domain.tld is the domain name of the server it is on
• Each Side's srnd.ini nntp section must have entry require_tls = 1

If Alice owns nntp.alice.net and Bob owns nntp.bob.com and are both using port 1199 the configs for each side are as follows:

# alice's srnd.ini crypto section
...
[crypto]
tls-hostname = nntp.alice.net
tls-trust-dir = certs
tls-keyname = overchan-alice


# alice's feeds.ini
[feed-bob]
host = nntp.bob.com
port = 1199

[bob]
overchan.* = 1
ctl = 1



# bob's srnd.ini crypto section
...
[crypto]
tls-hostname = nntp.bob.com
tls-trust-dir = certs
tls-keyname = overchan-bob



# bob's feeds.ini
[feed-alice]
host = nntp.alice.net
port = 1199

[alice]
overchan.* = 1
ctl = 1

Each side's certs directory contains 2 files:

• overchan-alice-nntp.alice.net.crt (alice's certificate)
• overchan-bob-nntp.bob.com.crt (bob's certificate)

Alice keeps overchan-alice-nntp.alice.net.key secret and never shares it

Bob keeps overchan-bob-nntp.bob.com.key secret and never shares it

Peering Authentication with passwords

adding / removing credentials via the command line:

# add an nntp login via command line
srndv2 tool nntp add-login user-name-here pass-word-here

# remove an nntp login via command line
srndv2 tool nntp del-login user-name-here

Example feeds.ini:

# section pair in feeds.ini
# connects to nntp.something.tld:1199 and authenticates with a username and password
# sync = 1 makes you download all applicable posts from the remote server on startup

[feed-authenticated]
host = nntp.something.tld
port = 1199
username = user-user-here
password = pass-word-here
sync = 1

[authenticated]
overchan.* = 1
ctl = 1

Peering over Tor

Install Tor

apt-get install tor

Make a tor hidden service point from outside port 119 to port 1199 Add to /etc/tor/torrc:

HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/nntp_feed
HiddenServicePort 119 127.0.0.1:1199

restart/reload tor then

cat /var/lib/tor/nntp_feed/hostname

This is your in feed address

If you use an onion with tls, srnd.ini crypto section should have the entry tls-hostname = youroniongoeshere.onion. If you don't use tls NEVER disclose the onion address to anyone not trusted.

Then to peer with someone over tor add this to you feeds.ini

[feed-ourpeer.onion]
host=PeersOnionAddress.onion
port=119
proxy-type=socks4a
proxy-host=127.0.0.1
proxy-port=9050

[ourpeer.onion]
overchan=1
ctl=1

Options

####You need one connection and one settings block for each connection

Here is an example entry in feeds.ini

[feed-them.onion]
host=aabbccddeeff2233.onion
port=119
proxy-type=socks4a
proxy-host=127.0.0.1
proxy-port=9050
username=somerandomusername
password=somerandompassword

[them.onion]
overchan=1
ano.paste=0
ctl=1

But what does it mean?

[feed-them.onion]

Connection settings for a peer

host=aabbccddeeff2233.onion
port=119
proxy-type=socks4a
proxy-host=127.0.0.1
proxy-port=9050

Proxy settings, straight forward. Supported proxy types are socks4a and none

[them.onion]

NNTP synchronization settings

overchan=1

Sync all boards, use

overchan.bad=0

to prevent certain boards from syncing with certain peers. It can be used to keep bad boards out or keep exclusive boards in

ano.paste=0

This WILL be the nntpchan pastebin, but it's not implemented yet

ctl=1

Allows you to recieve moderation notifications from other boards, it's also used for decentralized moderation

Alternative config location

If you would like to have your feeds.ini somewhere other than in the working directory, you can set the SRND_FEEDS_INI_PATH environment variable. For example, if you would like to use /etc/nntpchan/meems.ini, edit ~/.profile and add export SRND_FEEDS_INI_PATH=/etc/nntpchan/meems.ini.