Skip to content

Hosting a Node

rettui can host two kinds of node with your identity: a NomadNet node (pages and files), and an LXMF propagation node (messages kept for people who are offline).

NomadNet node

rettui hosts a NomadNet node using rsNomad's node. Pages are Micron files in node/pages/ (and downloads in node/files/) in the data directory, or the folder set in node_dir.

  • Switching it on: press h in the Node tab, use Start hosting in the web UI, or set "Host a node" in the settings. The node uses your identity, so its address stays the same. Its name defaults to your display name, and it announces every node_announce_interval_mins (360 by default) or when you press a.
  • Editing: the Node tab lists the pages and has an editor with Micron colouring, undo and redo, and a live preview, in both the TUI and the web UI. Show the editor and the preview side by side, the editor alone, or the preview alone (Ctrl-P / p, or the buttons in the web UI). Saving writes the file, and visitors get the new version straight away. New, renamed and deleted pages are picked up without a restart. You can also edit the files with any editor.
  • Formatting ribbon: above the page editor, in both UIs, buttons put Micron markup around the selection, on the selected lines, or at the cursor: bold, italic, underline and normal (removes formatting), text and background colour, left/centre/right alignment, three heading levels, divider, literal block, comment, and inserting links, images, text fields, checkboxes and radio buttons. Each has an Alt shortcut, the letter underlined on its button: Alt+B I U N, F G (colours), L C R, 1 2 3, V (divider) T (literal) O (comment), K (link) M (image) D (field) H (checkbox) A (radio). Bold, italic and underline toggle, as do headings and comments. The web UI also takes Ctrl+B, I, U and K, and picks colours from a palette.
  • Selecting text in the editors: Shift with the arrows, Home/End or PgUp/PgDn, Ctrl-A for everything, or drag with the mouse. Typing, pasting or deleting replaces the selection.
  • Starter page: a new node gets an index page with a short Micron guide.
  • Your own node in the Browser: a client can't reach a node it hosts over Reticulum, so rettui reads your own pages straight from the folder (never from the cache).
  • Scripts: executable pages run as programs for visitors only when "Run page scripts" is on. The web UI can't change, rename or create scripts, turn "Run page scripts" on or move the node folder, so the web login can't be used to run programs on the host. The TUI can do all of these.

Propagation node

A propagation node keeps messages for people who aren't online, until they collect them, as lxmd and other LXMF propagation nodes do. rettui's is built on rsLXMF's propagation node (its message store, stamp checks and peer protocol).

  • Switching it on: set "Host a propagation node" in the settings (Status tab, either UI). It announces itself (lxmf.propagation) a few seconds after it starts, then every announce_interval_mins, with its name (pn_name, or your display name), stamp cost and transfer limits. Its address comes from your identity, so it stays the same. Changing one of its settings restarts it; the messages it holds stay.
  • Status: the Status tab's Hosting messages line shows its address, how many messages it holds and their size, how many it has taken in and given out, those it refused, and the peers connected to it now. It's also listed in the Network tab, where you can pick it as your own propagation node.
  • What it takes: each message sent through it brings a propagation stamp of at least pn_stamp_cost (16 by default, LXMF's own; at least 13) less LXMF's flexibility of 3, and is at most pn_transfer_kb (256 KB by default). Clients send one message at a time; only peers send several. Messages without a valid stamp, too big, or over the storage limit are refused.
  • Storage: messages are kept encrypted for their recipients in propagation/ in the data directory, at most pn_storage_mb (500 MB by default). LXMF's 30-day expiry applies, and past the limit the oldest go first.
  • Collecting: a client identifies itself on its Link and asks for its messages (/get); the node sends them, then deletes the ones it got.
  • Messages for you: when the node takes a message addressed to you, it delivers it straight to your conversations instead of keeping it. With your own node picked as your propagation node, rettui hands messages to it directly (a client can't open a Link to itself), and a sync has nothing to download.
  • Peers: other propagation nodes that peer with yours (proving the work of LXMF's peering key, cost 18) offer it the messages it doesn't have, and send them several at a time. Yours doesn't peer with other nodes itself, as lxmd with autopeer off: messages sent through it stay here until their recipients collect them, and other nodes only get them by peering with it. Tested against Python LXMF 1.2: its clients send through and collect from rettui's node, and its propagation nodes peer with it.