Peerster

An incentive compatible decentralized file storage

Decentralized Systems Engineering Project.

Run it

To run the project, you need to build the root directory as well as the client directory through go build

Afterwards, you can start a Peerster node through ./Peerster <extra parameters>. A client can be run similarly through ./client/client <extra parameters>. Apart from the flags specified in the homeworks, the following flags are available for the Peerster executable:

• -runUI: Indicate that the Peerster node is supposed to serve the GUI on port 8080.

For the client executable:

• -encrypt: Use encryption algorithm for the specified file or private message. Attention: For Private Messages, the peer node must have a valid public key as nodeID.
• -replications=<int>: Specify the number of replications for a private file upload that shall be distributed among peers in the network
• -state=<string>: Indicates that the specified file to be uploaded contains is a state that shall be imported

To see a full list of the available parameters, use the flag -h. All functionality can be invoked from the GUI as well.

Final project implementation

The work done as part of the final project can be mainly found in the following files:

• asymmEncryption.go
• challengeHandler.go
• keyHandling.go
• privateFileDownload.go
• privateFileHandler.go
• stateManagement.go
• symmEncryption.go

New user functionality

Private Messages

Can now be sent using RSA content encryption and digital signatures.
CLI: adding the -encrypt flag to a regular private message.

Private Files

• Can be uploaded along with a specification of the number of replications that shall be distributed.
  CLI: adding -private and -replications=<int> to a regular file upload
• State export (only GUI).
• State upload.
  CLI: Specify -state=<string> with the name of the state file
• Download a private file. Automatically determines from where to retrieve the file, i.e. from the local node or from a remote peer. In the ladder case, the file can be found as encrypted version and a decreypted version which is prefixed by decrypted_ in the download folder.
  CLI: Set the -encrypt flag to a regular file download request

Demo video

The demo video was created and can be reproduced using the test_final_project.sh script.