RCN

Backbone

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

When installing TCP backbones, we are typically dealing with an installation procedure on an old laptop, home server or Raspberry Pi. Any Linux system will do. Below, we share the commands and conventions we use to install TCP backbones on linux servers. Backbone servers should generally provide reliable uptime so that our “over the internet” fallback provides stable connectivity.

We run both rnsd with transport, probe and gateway mode enabled. We run lxmd alongside rnsd to support propagation (which supports messaging each other offline). See the propagation node documentation for more.

Dependencies

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

Building a reliable community network using Reticulum is an exercise in dependency management. We need to understand and maintain an overview of all our dependencies in order to understand how resilient our network can be. This involves tracking software and hardware versions, firmwares and project developments.

Dependencies

Software	Purpose	Version	Check
`rnsd`	General connectivity	`1.5.5`	`rnsd --version`
`lxmd`	Propagation node	`1.2.0`	`lxmd --version`
`columba`	Android client	`v2.2.6`	`Settings > About`
`pipx`	Python package installer	`1.17.10`	`pipx --version`
`RTNode-HeltecV4` (web flasher)	LoRa transport node firmware	`v1.0.51`	`rnodeconf --info /dev/rnode_XXXX`
`LoraMon`	Debugging LoRa	`0.9.7`	`loramon --version`

Introduction

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

We’re still getting this thing off the ground.

More Coming Soon ™️

Presets

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Presets

These are the LoRa settings we use.

NOTE
See the Reticulum primer for more details on this configuration.

Frequency (MHz): 867.200 (867200000)
Bandwidth: 125 kHz (125000)
Spreading Factor: SF8
Coding Rate: 4/5
TX Power (dBm): 28

Clients

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Columba

Interfaces

Backbone

RNode

Relays

Nomadnet

Interfaces

Backbone

RNode

Propagation node

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

Propagation nodes are vital for supporting delay tolerant communication.

Root permissions

The commands below assume you are running the commands as the root user.

sudo -i

System user

We create a specific system user for all our Reticulum programs.

useradd --system -s /sbin/nologin reticulum

`lxmd`

Install lxmf globally with pipx.

NOTE
See Python packaging for more information on pipx.

pipx install rns --global

We need to “inject” this Python package into the rnsd virtual environment so the packages can interoperate.

Python management

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Python packaging

We use pipx as the “least shit” Python packaging tool at this moment in time. We recommend to use the so-called “zipapp” version of pipx, which allows us to download a single file and run it independtly of the system Python installation.

sudo -i
wget https://github.com/pypa/pipx/releases/download/1.17.11/pipx.pyz
chmod +x pipx.pyz
mv pipx.pyz /usr/bin/pipx
pipx --version
pipx ensurepath --global

Python packages will be installed into /opt/pipx.

Serial ports

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Serial ports

In order to interact with our LoRa device, we need to connect it to our laptop. This involves a process of the device registering itself but this registration can change over time. We need to configure our system to stabilise this registration. This is done by assigning a fixed filesystem path for the serial port based the unique identifier of the LoRa device.

We need to give our own system user permissions to pole the serial ports (the interface which you use to communicate from your laptop to the LoRa device).

Clients

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Oud-Charlois

WARNING
This backbone is not quite up yet.

[[oudCharlois]]
  type = TCPClientInterface
  enabled = true
  target_host = varia.zone
  target_port = 24242
  transport_identity = 29412ab9f78a016a929403194470b74e

Delfshaven

[[delfshaven]]
  type = TCPClientInterface
  enabled = true
  target_host = 45.83.235.53
  target_port = 24242
  transport_identity = 537a2e2389cdf021478f2288e8780e56

Glossary

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Glossary

There is a lot of jargon that operators should eventually learn to use. Here’s a glossary to make the transition less painful. Please add your own terms and let’s avoid hierarchies of knowledge in this project.

Transport Node

Propagation Node

RNode

LoRa

Transport node

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

Running a LoRa transport node require connecting a Heltec v4 device (see below) via USB-C cable to a server, laptop or Raspberry Pi. Similarly to the backbone install, it is assumed that the device and server will maintain reliable uptime for generall connectivity.

Hardware

We are using WiFi LoRa 32 v4.

Firmware

We use the RTNode Firmware web flasher.

Connect your device

See the serial ports documentation for how to connect your device in a stable way.

RNode

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

`rnsd` config

Using our presets.

[[MyRnodeName]]
  type = RNodeInterface
  enabled = true
  port = /dev/rnode_XXXX
  frequency = 867200000
  bandwidth = 125000
  spreadingfactor = 8
  codingrate = 5
  txpower = 22

Debug

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Streaming the serial port

To see specifically what the LoRa device is doing, connect it to your laptop and stream the serial port into your local terminal.

sudo apt install -y tio
tio -b 9600 /dev/rnode_XXX

Monitoring with `loramon`

NOTE
See Python packaging for more information on pipx.

pipx install loramon

Using our presets, you can pole the device with loramon in your local terminal.

loramon /dev/rnode_XXXX \
  --freq 867200000 \
  --bw 125000 \
  --sf 8 \
  --cr 5 \
  -C -W loramon-capture

RCN

Backbone

Introduction

Dependencies

Introduction

Dependencies

Introduction

Introduction

Presets

Presets

Clients

Columba

Interfaces

Backbone

RNode

Relays

Nomadnet

Interfaces

Backbone

RNode

Propagation node

Introduction

Root permissions

System user

lxmd

Python management

Python packaging

Serial ports

Serial ports

Clients

Oud-Charlois

Delfshaven

Glossary

Glossary

Transport Node

Propagation Node

RNode

LoRa

Transport node

Introduction

Hardware

Firmware

Connect your device

RNode

rnsd config

Debug

Streaming the serial port

Monitoring with loramon

`lxmd`

`rnsd` config

Monitoring with `loramon`