Plebnet

|jenkins_build|

A self-replicating autonomous Tribler exit-node.

Documentation

The full report regarding this project can be found here <https://github.com/Tribler/tribler/files/2133729/Bachelor_Project_BotNet.pdf>_
The main issue regarding this project can be found here <https://github.com/Tribler/tribler/issues/2925>_

Description

After the first instance is installed on a VPS, PlebNet will run Tribler as an exit-node and earn credits, which will be used to acquire new VPS instances for the next generation PlebNet agents. This should eventually create a community of exit-nodes for Tribler, thus creating a reliable and sufficiently large capacity for anonymous data transfer through the Tribler network

Initialisation

The first instance can be installed by downloading the file create-child.sh in Plebnet/plebnet/clone and call:

.. code-block:: console

./create-child.sh

Usage: ./create-child.sh -h --help Shows this help message -i --ip Ip address of the server to run install on -p --password Root password of the server -t --testnet Install agent in testnet mode (default 0) -e --exitnode Run as exitnode for tribler -conf --config (optional) VPN configuration file (.ovpn) Requires the destination config name. Example: -conf source_config.ovpn dest_config.ovpn -cred --credentials (optional) VPN credentials file (.conf) Requires the destination credentials name. Example -cred source_credentials.conf dest_credentials.conf -b --branch (optional) Branch of code to install from (default master)

This installs all dependencies (Tribler, Electrum, Cloudomate and ofcourse PlebNet). After installation the "plebnet setup" is called and a cron job is set up to regularly call "plebnet check".

exitnode is off by default. Using :code:-e flag when executing :code:create-child.sh will install PlebNet in eixtnode mode.

This check function checks whether the agent instance has acquired sufficient funds to buy a new VPS and spawn a new child instance. If this is the case, the PlebNet agent will execute the previously mentioned steps on the new server and the community has welcomed a newborn.

Running PlebNet locally

For running PlebNet locally, the following steps are necessary:

All dependencies installed via the create-child.sh script, must be installed manually.
Download PlebNet and all submodules by running the following command:

.. code-block:: console

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/Tribler/PlebNet.git

Go to the main folder and execute the following command:

.. code-block:: console

pip install .

To install PlebNet locally, do the same as one would for a remote server, but with your own IP address:

.. code-block:: console bash create-child.sh -i 127.0.0.1 -p

note that a cron job is created in :code:/etc/cron.d/plebnet, which calls :code:plebnet check every 5 minutes. To disable this, remove the file.

Usage

You can also install PlebNet locally by installing the dependencies from :code:plebnet/clone/install.sh and creating the necessary folders that :code:plebnet/clone/create-child.sh would create. After that, you need to call :code:plebnet setup, if the flag --exitnode is provided, Tribler will be run as exitnode.

:code:plebnet conf setup allows you to set the github issues configurations. So when a root agent is created, setting the github issuer configurations allows the agent and its children to create issues. To set the configurations: :code:plebnet conf setup -gu <usernme> -gp <password> -go <repo owner> -gr <git repo> -ga 1.

note that an account and repository dedicated to git issues only needs to be created for this functionality.

The rest of :code:plebnet commands:

usage: plebnet [-h] {setup,check,conf,irc} ...

positional arguments: {setup,check,conf,irc} setup Run the setup of PlebNet check Checks if the plebbot is able to clone conf Allows changing the configuration files irc Provides access to the IRC client

optional arguments: -h, --help show this help message and exit

usage: plebnet setup [-h] [--testnet] [--exitnode]

optional arguments: -h, --help show this help message and exit --testnet Use TBTC instead of BTC --exitnode Run as exitnode for Tribler

usage: plebnet irc [-h] {status,start,stop,restart}

positional arguments: {status,start,stop,restart} status Provides information regarding the status of the IRC Client start Starts the IRC Client stop Stops the IRC Client restart Restarts the IRC Client

optional arguments: -h, --help show this help message and exit

Configuring

All PlebNet configurations are stored inside the :code:~/.config/ directory. When testing, you can modify these files and PlebNet will apply the new values.

plebnet_setup.cfg

This file contains the configuration of the agent.

::

  [irc]
  channel = #plebnet123
  server = irc.undernet.org
  port = 6667
  nick_def = plebbot
  nick = plebbot2930
  timeout = 60

  [vps]
  host = linevast
  initdate = 15:06:33 02-05-2018
  finaldate = 02-06-2018

  [vpn]
  installed = 0
  host = azirevpn
  child_prefix = child_
  own_prefix = own
  config_name = _config.ovpn
  credentials_name = _credentials.conf
  running = 0
  pid = 0

  [paths]
  plebnet_config = ~/.plebnet.cfg
  plebnet_home = ~/PlebNet
  tribler_home = ~/PlebNet/tribler
  logger_path = ~/data
  vpn_config_path = ~/

  [filenames]
  logger_file = plebnet.logs

  [pids]
  tribler_pid = twistd_tribler.pid
  tunnel_helper_pid = twistd_th.pid
  irc_pid = Documents/ircbot.pid

  [github]
  username = unset
  password = unset
  owner = unset
  repo = unset
  active = 0

  [wallets]
  testnet = 0
  testnet_created = 0
  initiate_once = 1
  password = plebnet

  [active]
  logger = 1
  verbose = 1

  [tribler]
  exitnode = 1

Each setting can be modified so that the next :code:`plebnet check` is run with different settings. 

DNA.json

This file contains the provider weights for choosing providers and the agent's identity.

{ "Self": "twosync", "VPS": { "linevast": 0.5, "twosync": 0.5, "blueangelhost": 0.5, "undergroundprivate": 0.5 }, "tree": "plebbot2930" }

To restrict the provider choice of PlebNet, the value of the provider should be set to a very high number (>5000).

The :code:"tree" key indicates the current child's depth in the cluster starting from its root. The first value is the root node's :code:IRC nickname (due to its semi uniqueness). Some tree examples:

.. code-block:: python

plebbot2930 # root node, it is the first of its inheritance tree plebbot2930.0 # this is the first child of the root node (child index 0) plebbot2930.1 # second child of root node plebbot2930.0.0 # second child of the first child (first grandchild) plebbot2930.0.5 # fifth grandchild

Using this, each node's origin can be identified in IRC (and in the PlebNet VISION tool).

plebnet.json

This file contains the agent's transactions and is used to keep track of servers to be installed.

::

  {
     "last_offer_date": 1530783430.253793, 
     "transactions": [
        "391a8ebeb10041c02585941357889c8a7d0531cbdf643540bd4c0cbd2272909d"
     ], 
     "expiration_date": 1533291353.528893, 
     "last_offer": {
        "BTC": 0.0014060814961627155, 
        "MB": 930
     }, 
     "installed": [], 
     "child_index": 1, 
     "chosen_provider": [
        "linevast", 
        0, 
        0.0014401424067158812
     ], 
     "bought": [
        [
         "linevast",
         "296b20d6885787054c3f94a4d8e87b39b1289c991c06ec419d2774a5358e8c9a", 
         7
        ]
     ]
     "excluded_providers": []
  }

In this example, :code:`Linevast` was the purchased server to be installed when its ready. The :code:`bought` list contains servers the agents needs to install. After installing, the entry is removed from :code:`bought` and put in :code:`installed`.

Checking the state of the agent
-------------------------------

IRC and PlebNet VISION (:code:`tools/vision`) can be used to check how the network and agents are doing. You can also check the agent on the server itself. When Tribler is running, its :code:`HTTP API` on port :code:`8085` can be queried for checking status, among other things (see :code:`plebnet/controllers/`). To kill Tribler, kill :code:`twistd` processes (although the cron job will start it again on the next iteration if it's not removed).

Use :code:`curl` to use the :code:`HTTP API`:

Triber settings

:code:curl http://localhost:8085/settings

Wallets

:code:`curl http://localhost:8085/wallets`
Shows the created wallets, Bitcoins can be sent to this address to test the agent's purchasing and installing abilities.

Market

You can find some useful market requests in the :code:plebnet/controllers/market_controller.py file.

State


:code:`curl http://localhost:8085/state` Shows the state of Tribler and exceptions.

VPN
====
VPN is currently only possible on LineVast. In Cloudomate, the functionalities to enable :code:`TUN/TAP` via the control panel was added. The agent checks for the VPN configurations by searching for files: :code:`own_config.ovpn` and :code:`own_credentials.conf`, these can be initialized from :code:`create-child.sh`. When the VPN is installed, ssh access to the server is **terminated**, which means that you can't access it from its normal IP. Use the **client panel** by logging in with the credentials (which should be mailed to the bot's main shared email address) and use the **serial console** to logon to the server.

To check if a machine suports vpn: :code:`cat /dev/net/tun`, the output should read 'File desciptor in bad state'. If the output reads 'No such file or directory', :code:`TUN/TAP` should be enabled from the control panel (which for Linevast happens automatically through Cloudomate).

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vwigmore / PlebNet

readme

Documentation

Description

Initialisation

Running PlebNet locally

Usage

Configuring