Installing Reticulum
More actions
How to get Reticulum onto the machines people actually have.
Out of the box: you probably do not need this page
If you want to use the network from a laptop or phone, install an app that bundles Reticulum and configures it for you:
| App | Runs on | Get it |
|---|---|---|
| MeshChatX | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android | meshchatx.com |
| Sideband | Android, Windows, macOS, Linux | GitHub releases |
| Retichat or Columba | iPhone | App Store, GitHub |
Connecting to ScotMesh walks you through MeshChatX step by step, and Choosing a client compares them. Come back here when you want Reticulum on a server or a Raspberry Pi, want Nomad Network or the command-line tools, or want to see what is going on underneath.
Full installation
Reticulum is a Python program. On every platform the install is pip install rns, with one wrinkle per platform.
Linux
On Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 12 and other recent distributions, a system-wide pip install is refused with error: externally-managed-environment. That is deliberate on the distribution's part (PEP 668), not a fault. Use a virtual environment:
sudo apt install python3-venv
python3 -m venv ~/reticulum
~/reticulum/bin/pip install rns
The commands are then ~/reticulum/bin/rnsd, ~/reticulum/bin/rnstatus and so on. To have them on your path, add export PATH=~/reticulum/bin:$PATH to ~/.bashrc.
pipx install rns also works, if you have pipx, and puts the commands on your path for you.
On a Raspberry Pi the same applies. A Pi Zero 2 or later is plenty.
macOS
Install Python 3 from python.org or with Homebrew (brew install python), then:
pip3 install rns
If pip refuses for the same PEP 668 reason, use a virtual environment exactly as for Linux.
Windows
Install Python 3 from python.org, ticking Add Python to PATH in the installer. Then in a terminal:
pip install rns
The config file lands in C:\Users\<you>\.reticulum\config.
Android
Use one of the apps above; both Android apps bundle Reticulum. Running it by hand under Termux is possible but fiddly and gains you nothing for ordinary use.
First run
Run rnsd once. It creates ~/.reticulum/config and stops when you press Ctrl+C. Then add an interface to ScotMesh as described in Connecting to ScotMesh, start it again, and check with rnstatus.
Keeping it running
Reticulum only works while rnsd is running. On Linux, run it as a systemd service so it starts at boot; the unit file is in Connecting to ScotMesh. On macOS and Windows, leave the terminal open, or use MeshChatX, which keeps its own Reticulum running while the app is open.
Checking it works
rnstatus
Each interface should show Status: Up and traffic that rises over the first minute or two. Troubleshooting explains the output line by line and what to do when it is not Up.
Updating
pip install --upgrade rns
(with the same path prefix if you used a virtual environment), then restart rnsd. Reticulum releases are backwards compatible on the wire, so you do not have to update in step with anyone else.