View source for Running your own transport node

Everything in [[Connecting to ScotMesh]] makes you a '''client''': you use the network, and nothing goes through you. A '''transport node''' also carries other people's traffic and tells the network which paths it knows. That is how the network stops depending on any one machine, including ours. This page is for anyone who wants to run one. There are two ways: a ready-made board, or Reticulum on a computer.

== What it commits you to ==

* '''Something that stays on''', with a steady connection: a board on a windowsill, a Raspberry Pi, a small VPS, or a computer that is on anyway. Reticulum itself is light.
* '''Being reachable''', so that others can connect to you: a radio, a port open to the internet, or an I2P address if you cannot open one.
* '''Announcing often enough to be found.'''

What it does '''not''' commit you to:

* '''Seeing anyone's traffic.''' Everything through you is encrypted end to end and carries no sender address. You relay ciphertext.
* '''Any legal responsibility for content''', for the same reason: there is nothing you could read, filter or hand over.
* '''Much bandwidth.''' Reticulum traffic is measured in kilobytes.

== Out of the box: a board that is the node ==

The simplest transport node is a LoRa board running the [[ScotMesh firmware]]. It has its own identity, relays for everyone within radio range, serves its own status page, and can be looked after from anywhere on the mesh. No computer is attached, and a solar version runs on a hill.

# Buy a supported board; the '''SenseCAP Solar Node P1''' is the one we use for solar sites, and a Heltec V3 or XIAO ESP32S3 is fine on a windowsill.
# Open [https://rnode.scotmesh.net rnode.scotmesh.net] in Chrome or Edge, choose '''Standalone node''', and follow the steps: it flashes the board, picks the ScotMesh radio profile, names the node, sets its role to ''Fixed relay'' and makes you its admin.
# Put it somewhere high with its antenna clear. Within range of a ScotMesh gateway it joins the network by itself; out of range it relays for whoever is around it, and joins up when a gateway or another relay comes within reach.

That is a transport node on LoRa only. To join it to the internet side of the network as well, either put it within range of a gateway, or run the computer version below with the board attached to it as an [[RNode]].

== Full installation: Reticulum on a computer ==

=== 1. Turn transport on ===

In <code>~/.reticulum/config</code>, in the <code>[reticulum]</code> section at the top:

<syntaxhighlight lang="text">[reticulum]
  enable_transport = Yes</syntaxhighlight>

That is the whole switch. Restart <code>rnsd</code> and it starts forwarding. (MeshChatX has the same switch on its settings page, but a phone or laptop that sleeps makes a poor transport node; this route is for a machine that stays on.)

=== 2. Make yourself reachable ===

Keep your existing <code>TCPClientInterface</code> to ScotMesh (that is your link outward), and add a way in for others.

'''If you can open a port''' on your router or VPS firewall:

<syntaxhighlight lang="text">  [[Public entry]]
    type = TCPServerInterface
    enabled = yes
    listen_ip = 0.0.0.0
    listen_port = 4242</syntaxhighlight>

Forward TCP port 4242 to the machine if it is behind a home router.

'''If you cannot''' (CGNAT, no control of the router), offer an I2P entry point instead. With i2pd installed ([[Access over I2P]] shows how):

<syntaxhighlight lang="text">  [[I2P entry]]
    type = I2PInterface
    enabled = yes</syntaxhighlight>

With no <code>peers</code> line the interface listens. <code>rnstatus</code> shows the <code>.b32.i2p</code> address it was given; that is what you tell people.

'''A radio''' makes it a LoRa gateway as well: add an [[RNode]] interface with the ScotMesh profile, and LoRa users near you reach the whole network through it.

=== 3. Announce often enough ===

Reticulum's default announce interval for a node's own destinations is six hours. In practice that means a client that connects between announces never learns you exist, and node maps never show you. Anything you run on the node (a Nomad Network node, a propagation node) has its own announce setting; set them to '''30 to 60 minutes'''. For a Nomad Network node that is <code>announce_interval = 60</code> under <code>[node]</code> in <code>~/.nomadnetwork/config</code>; see [[Nomad Network]].

=== 4. Run it as a service ===

<code>rnsd</code> only relays while it is running. On Linux, install it as a systemd service so it starts at boot and restarts if it falls over; [[Connecting to ScotMesh#Keeping it running|Connecting to ScotMesh]] has a unit file to copy.

=== 5. Check it ===

* <code>rnstatus</code>: your interfaces, each Up, with traffic climbing.
* <code>rnstatus -a</code>: the paths your node knows. A transport node accumulates hundreds within a day.
* From another machine, <code>rnpath -t</code> followed by a destination that is only reachable through you should report a path.

=== 6. Tell us ===

Post your hostname and port, or I2P address, on the [https://discord.gg/ytxfyuDmSt ScotMesh Discord]. We will add a connection from our side, so the link between us survives either node restarting, and add you to [[Who we peer with]].

== Two things to avoid ==

* '''Do not block fast-flapping peers''' on a public listener unless you know why you want it: the default setting on <code>BackboneInterface</code> locks out any client that reconnects five times in twenty seconds for twelve hours, which happens to every client whenever your node restarts. [[Known bugs and workarounds]] has the detail. A plain <code>TCPServerInterface</code> does not have this problem.
* '''Do not run two transport nodes on the same LAN''' unless they are meant to peer. The <code>AutoInterface</code> will find each other and you get loops of announces. One transport node per household is plenty; the others can be clients of it.

== Going further ==

* Host pages: [[Nomad Network]].
* Hold messages for others: [[Propagation node]].
* Site a radio properly: [[Antennas and siting]].

[[Category:Operations]]