netnote

ABOUT:

A client/daemon pair inside a single executable. Netnote daemon maintains connection with other netnote daemons on the local network that are configured to use the same multicast address for host discovery. The netnote client can be used to request the daemon to send a file to any connected peer, given that the user invoking the daemon is part of the netnote group and has read permissions to the to-be-sent file.

INSTALLATION:

Remember to check the installation script!

Netnote uses GNU source extensions and as such will only build on Linux systems. Ensure that make is installed on your system. For most distros, it will be part of the 'build-essentials' package, or its equivalent.

Fetch the repo:

$ git clone https://github.com/vykt/netnote

Build:

$ cd netnote/src
$ make

Install:

$ cd ..
# ./install.sh

Add a user to the 'netnote' group:

# usermod -aG netnote [user]

RUN:

The netnote daemon must be run as superuser. Systems where /sbin and /usr/sbin aren't visible to regular users (such as the default Debian install) must run the user using a login root shell. If you intend to run the daemon on startup, create a service file that executes the netnote daemon and ensure it runs after networking becomes available.

To execute the daemon, run:

# netnote -d

To list connected hosts, run:

$ netnote -l

To send a file to a host, run:

$ netnote -s [file] [host id]

FILES:

Configuration file:

/etc/netnote.conf

Logs:

/var/log/netnote/netnoted.log

Process ID file:

/var/run/netnote/netnoted.pid

CONFIGURATION:

The configuration file at /etc/netnote.conf uses the following format:

[key]=[value]

Comments may be added by starting the line with the '#' character, as such:

#comment

The following configuration options are available and must be specified:

multicast_addr  - Host discovery multicast. Hosts wishing to connect must use 
                  the same multicast address.
				  Default: ff04:0000:ce73:602a:0942:bc84:f0b2:e25c

shared_udp_port - Host discovery traffic is listened to on this port. 
                  Default: 5148

shared_tcp_port - Incoming TCP connections for file transfer are listened to on
                  this port.
				  Default: 5149

downloads_path  - Received files will be stored at the directory specified here.
                  NOTE: The installation script creates a directory at the default 
				  location. If you intend to change this default, please manually 
				  create the new directory.
                  Default: /var/netnote

EXAMPLES:

Start the daemon:

\# netnote -d

List connected hosts and their repsective IDs:

$ netnote -l

Send file 'reading_list' from current directory to host with ID of 2:

$ netnote -s reading_list 2

FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS:

-Encryption of files as they're sent over the network, using an existing cryptography library and symmetric encryption using something like SHA256.

-Further develop the protocol to include exit messages as originally planned, as well as to handle errors more glacefully.

-Provide feedback to reqeustee upon transmission failure.

-Improve logging to be more verbose and specific.

vykt / netnote