gnunet-docker

Dockerfiles for building and running GNUnet.

There are Dockerfiles to create two GNUnet images:

"GNUnet build" image (~2.5GB)

The "build" image is used to compile GNUnet (core and Gtk) from source code that is pulled from the official GNUnet Git repository (https://gnunet.org/git/). The compiled binaries (programs and libraries) are packaged into a tar.gz; the archive will later be used to install GNUnet into the "run" image.

The corresponding Dockerfile (Dockerfile.build) is compiled into an image using the mk_build script. The archive gnunet-bin.tar.gz with the compiled binaries is put into the current directory after the build is complete.

The Dockerfile specifies the Git revision/tag of the GNUnet repository to be build (ENV GNUNET_VERSION v0.11.0pre66) and needs be be changed if you want to build a different version of GNUnet. Use ENV GNUNET_VERSION latest to build the latest version of GNUnet. The specified version must be consistent between core and Gtk repositories.

If the GNUnet repositories change after the initial build, you need to re- build the image. The easiest way is to remove the old image bfix/gnunet-build and run the mk_build script again. This way also newer Debian packages are installed.

"GNUnet run" image (~400MB)

The "run" image is used to run GNUnet as a Docker container. It installs the archive of compiled binaries from the "build" image and installs all required runtime dependencies.

The corresponding Dockerfile (Dockerfile.deploy) is compiled into an image using the mk_deploy script.

Initial setup

Before running the run image, you need to setup the runtime environment for GNUnet. This runtime is a directory stored outside of the Docker container on the host file-system. This way configuration changes are persistent between GNUnet sessions (running/terminating the Docker image).

To initialize the runtime directory run:

$ ./init_deploy ${GNUNET_RUNTIME}

and set ${GNUNET_RUNTIME} to a directory of your choice. Please note that you need sudo privileges to successfully run the script.

You should now edit the configuration files to customize them to your needs:

${GNUNET_RUNTIME}/system/.config/gnunet.conf

This file will be accessible as /etc/gnunet.conf in the Docker container and specifies the system configuration. The default configuration is an example for an IPv4-only system behind a punched NAT. You will at least need to replace the line EXTERNAL_ADDRESS = xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with your public IPv4 address.

You need sudo to edit the configuration file as non-root.

${GNUNET_RUNTIME}/user/.config/gnunet.conf

This file specifies the user configuration and need to be copied manually to the correct location (see "Running GNUnet").

You need sudo to edit the configuration file as non-root and if your user id is not 1000.

Running GNUnet in a Docker container

Running the container

The container is run using the run_deploy script (that you need to customize for the local directories on your host system):

docker run --rm -ti --name gnunet -h gnunet \
    --cap-add=NET_ADMIN --cap-add=NET_BROADCAST --device=/dev/net/tun \
    -e DISPLAY=${DISPLAY} \
    -v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix \
    -v ${GNUNET_RUNTIME}/user:/home/user \
    -v ${GNUNET_RUNTIME}/system:/var/lib/gnunet \
    -p 0.0.0.0:2086:2086 \
    -p 0.0.0.0:1080:1080 \
    bfix/gnunet

It maps to the two folders in ${GNUNET_RUNTIME}: the home directories for the user gnunet (GNUnet system account) and user (GNUnet user account). If you have created these folders yourself (and not by running the init_deploy script), make sure that your folders have the following uid/gid assignments:

${GNUNET_RUNTIME}/user: (uid=1000/gid=1000)
${GNUNET_RUNTIME}/system: (uid=666 /gid=666 )

When the container is run, a shell is opened for user user and no GNUnet programs are started. To start GNUnet (system and user part), run the /usr/bin/gnunet-start script.

First time setup

After starting GNUnet you should initialize some GNU Name Service (GNS)- related configurations. This is done by running:

$ gnunet-gns-import.sh
$ gnunet-gns-proxy-setup-ca

Using GNUnet

You can now run GNUnet programs as you like.

Stopping the container

To quit the container, stop GNUnet by running the /usr/bin/gnunet-stop script and exit the shell.

The container used to run the GNUnet image is automatically removed (if you use the --rm option when running the image).

dvn0 / gnunet-docker-1