TARPN Node Controller

⚠️ Please Note! ⚠️ This project does not contain the software stack used in TARPN deployments. It is an experimental networking stack that may one day find some use in the field. Please refer to the official TARPN documentation https://tarpn.net.

Installation

System Requirements

On Linux (including Raspbian) ensure at least Python 3.7 is installed.

python3 --version

Next, install pip, and virtualenv

sudo apt-get install python3-pip
pip3 install virtualenv

On Mac OS:

brew install python3
pip3 install virtualenv

Install the software (RPi)

Create an installation directory under opt and install a Python environment into it

These instructions assume an installation directory of /opt/tarpn. However, the software can be installed at any location

sudo mkdir /opt/tarpn-core
sudo chown pi:pi /opt/tarpn-core
python3 -m virtualenv /opt/tarpn-core
cd /opt/tarpn-core

Install a release

/opt/tarpn-core/bin/pip install --upgrade https://github.com/tarpn/tarpn-node-controller/releases/download/v0.1.4/tarpn-core-0.1.4.tar.gz

Configuration

A sample config file is included at /opt/tarpn-core/config/node.ini.sample. Make a copy of it at /opt/tarpn-core/config/node.ini

cp /opt/tarpn-core/config/node.ini.sample /opt/tarpn-core/config/node.ini

Edit this file and, at a minimum, set mycall, node.alias, node.locator, and host.name

One or more ports should also be configured. An example [port:1] is included.

The mesh.address and host.name must be coordinated within your network to be unique.

node.ini.sample:

[default]
mycall = N0CALL         ; Your call sign

[node]
node.alias = MyNode     ; A name for your node
node.locator = FM05     ; Your maidenhead locator

[port:1]
port.enabled = False
port.type = serial
port.framing = kiss
kiss.checksum = false
serial.device = /dev/ttyUSB0
serial.speed = 57600

[network]
mesh.address = 00.aa    ; A unique address for this node on the network
host.name = default     ; A unique name for this node on the network

Systemd service (optional)

Install the systemd service file. This assumes that you've configured tarpn-node

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tarpn/tarpn-node-controller/main/scripts/tarpn-core.service
sudo mv tarpn-core.service /etc/systemd/system/tarpn-core.service
sudo systemctl enable tarpn-core
sudo systemctl start tarpn-core

Usage

Run the core packet engine

/opt/tarpn-core/bin/tarpn-node

In a separate shell, run the demo app.

/opt/tarpn-core/bin/tarpn-app demo

This app is a simple terminal chat program that lets you easily test out the network with other participants.

Development

Local setup

Create a virtualenv, activate, and install deps (using Python 3)

make init
make deps

Run the tests

make test

Now some "tarpn-" scripts are in your path. E.g.,

tarpn-packet-dump /tmp/vmodem0 9600

Run flake8

flake8 tarpn

Docker setup

docker build . -t tarpn/tarpn-core
docker run tarpn/tarpn-core:latest