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HOPR

A project by the HOPR Association

HOPR is a privacy-preserving messaging protocol which enables the creation of a secure communication network via relay nodes powered by economic incentives using digital tokens.

Table of Contents

About

The HOPR project produces multiple artifacts that allow running, maintaining and modiyfing the HOPR node. The most relevant components for production use cases are:

  1. hopr-lib
    • A fully self-contained referential implementation of the HOPR protocol over a libp2p based connection mechanism that can be incroporated into another projects as a transport layer.
  2. hoprd
    • Daemon application providing a higher level interface for creating a HOPR protocol compliant node that can use a dedicated REST API.
  3. hoprd-api-schema
    • Utility to generate the OpenAPI spec for the hoprd served REST API.
  4. hoprd-cfg
    • Utility for configuration management of the hoprd
  5. hopli
    • Utility designed to simplify and unify the management of on-chain and identity related tasks.

Unless stated otherwise, the following sections only apply to hoprd.

Install

For production purposes always run the latest stable release.

Multiple options for installation exist, the preferred choice for any production system should be to use the container image (e.g. using docker).

All releases and associated changelogs are located in the official releases section of the hoprnet repository.

Install via Docker

The following instructions show how any $RELEASE may be installed, to select the release, override the $RELEASE variable, e.g.:

  • export RELEASE=latest to track the latest changes on the repository’s master branch
  • export RELEASE=singapore to track the latest changes on the repository’s release/singapore branch (2.2.X)
  • export RELEASE=<version> to get a specific <version>

Container image has the format
europe-west3-docker.pkg.dev/hoprassociation/docker-images/$PROJECT:$RELEASE.
where:

  • $PROJECT can be either hopli or hoprd

Pull the container image with docker:

docker pull europe-west3-docker.pkg.dev/hoprassociation/docker-images/hoprd:singapore

It is recommended to setup an alias hoprd for the docker command invocation.

Install via Nix package manager

WARNING: This setup should only be used for development or advanced usage without any further support.

Clone and initialize the hoprnet repository:

git clone https://github.com/hoprnet/hoprnet
cd hoprnet

Build and install the hoprd binary, e.g. on a UNIX platform:

nix build
sudo cp result/bin/* /usr/local/bin/

Usage

hoprd provides various command-line switches to configure its behaviour. For reference these are documented here as well:

$ hoprd --help
HOPR node executable.

Usage: hoprd [OPTIONS]

Options:
      --network <NETWORK>
          ID of the network the node will attempt to connect to [env: HOPRD_NETWORK=]
      --identity <IDENTITY>
          The path to the identity file [env: HOPRD_IDENTITY=]
      --data <DATA>
          Specifies the directory to hold all the data [env: HOPRD_DATA=]
      --host <HOST>
          Host to listen on for P2P connections [env: HOPRD_HOST=]
      --announce...
          Announce the node on chain with a public address [env: HOPRD_ANNOUNCE=]
      --api...
          Expose the API on localhost:3001 [env: HOPRD_API=]
      --apiHost <HOST>
          Set host IP to which the API server will bind [env: HOPRD_API_HOST=]
      --apiPort <PORT>
          Set port to which the API server will bind [env: HOPRD_API_PORT=]
      --apiToken <TOKEN>
          A REST API token and for user authentication [env: HOPRD_API_TOKEN=]
      --password <PASSWORD>
          A password to encrypt your keys [env: HOPRD_PASSWORD=]
      --disableUnrealizedBalanceCheck...
          Disables checking of unrealized balance before validating unacknowledged tickets. [env: HOPRD_DISABLE_UNREALIZED_BALANCE_CHECK=]
      --maxBlockRange <MAX_BLOCK_RANGE>
          Maximum number of blocks that can be fetched in a batch request from the RPC provider. [env: HOPRD_MAX_BLOCK_RANGE=]
      --maxRequestsPerSec <MAX_RPC_REQUESTS_PER_SEC>
          Maximum number of RPC requests that can be performed per second. [env: HOPRD_MAX_RPC_REQUESTS_PER_SEC=]
      --provider <PROVIDER>
          A custom RPC provider to be used for the node to connect to blockchain [env: HOPRD_PROVIDER=]
      --init...
          initialize a database if it doesn't already exist [env: HOPRD_INIT=]
      --forceInit...
          initialize a database, even if it already exists [env: HOPRD_FORCE_INIT=]
      --inbox-capacity <INBOX_CAPACITY>
          Set maximum capacity of the HOPRd inbox [env: HOPRD_INBOX_CAPACITY=]
      --heartbeatInterval <MILLISECONDS>
          Interval in milliseconds in which the availability of other nodes get measured [env: HOPRD_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL=]
      --heartbeatThreshold <MILLISECONDS>
          Timeframe in milliseconds after which a heartbeat to another peer is performed, if it hasn't been seen since [env: HOPRD_HEARTBEAT_THRESHOLD=]
      --heartbeatVariance <MILLISECONDS>
          Upper bound for variance applied to heartbeat interval in milliseconds [env: HOPRD_HEARTBEAT_VARIANCE=]
      --networkQualityThreshold <THRESHOLD>
          Minimum quality of a peer connection to be considered usable [env: HOPRD_NETWORK_QUALITY_THRESHOLD=]
      --configurationFilePath <CONFIG_FILE_PATH>
          Path to a file containing the entire HOPRd configuration [env: HOPRD_CONFIGURATION_FILE_PATH=]
      --safeTransactionServiceProvider <HOPRD_SAFE_TX_SERVICE_PROVIDER>
          Base URL for safe transaction service [env: HOPRD_SAFE_TRANSACTION_SERVICE_PROVIDER=]
      --safeAddress <HOPRD_SAFE_ADDR>
          Address of Safe that safeguards tokens [env: HOPRD_SAFE_ADDRESS=]
      --moduleAddress <HOPRD_MODULE_ADDR>
          Address of the node management module [env: HOPRD_MODULE_ADDRESS=]
      --protocolConfig <HOPRD_PROTOCOL_CONFIG_PATH>
          Path to the protocol-config.json file [env: HOPRD_PROTOCOL_CONFIG_PATH=]
  -h, --help
          Print help
  -V, --version
          Print version

Environment variables

On top of the default configuration options generated for the command line, the following environment variables can be used in order to tweak the node functionality:

  • HOPRD_LOG_FORMAT - override for the default stdout log formatter (follows tracing formatting options)
  • HOPRD_USE_OPENTELEMETRY - enable the opentelemetry output for this node
  • OTEL_SERVICE_NAME - the name of this node for the opentelemetry service
  • HOPR_INTERNAL_LIBP2P_MAX_CONCURRENTLY_DIALED_PEER_COUNT - the maximum number of concurrently dialed peers in libp2p
  • HOPR_INTERNAL_LIBP2P_MAX_NEGOTIATING_INBOUND_STREAM_COUNT - the maximum number of negotiating inbound streams
  • HOPR_INTERNAL_LIBP2P_MSG_ACK_MAX_TOTAL_STREAMS - the maximum number of used outbound and inbound streams for the msg and ack protocols
  • HOPR_INTERNAL_LIBP2P_SWARM_IDLE_TIMEOUT - timeout for all idle libp2p swarm connections in seconds
  • HOPR_INTERNAL_DB_PEERS_PERSISTENCE_AFTER_RESTART_IN_SECONDS - cutoff duration from now to not retain the peers with older records in the peers database (e.g. after a restart)
  • HOPR_INTERNAL_REST_API_MAX_CONCURRENT_WEBSOCKET_COUNT - the maximum number of concurrent websocket opened through the REST API
  • HOPR_INTERNAL_MIXER_CAPACITY - capacity of the mixer buffer
  • HOPR_INTERNAL_MIXER_MINIMUM_DELAY_IN_MS - the minimum mixer delay in milliseconds
  • HOPR_INTERNAL_MIXER_DELAY_RANGE_IN_MS - the maximum range of the mixer delay from the minimum value in milliseconds
  • HOPR_TEST_DISABLE_CHECKS - the node is being run in test mode with some safety checks disabled (currently: minimum winning probability check)
  • ENV_WORKER_THREADS - the number of environment worker threads for the tokio executor
  • HOPRD_SESSION_PORT_RANGE - allows restricting the port range (syntax: start:end inclusive) of Session listener automatic port selection (when port 0 is specified)
  • HOPRD_NAT - indicates whether the host is behind a NAT and sets transport-specific settings accordingly (default: false)

Example execution

Running the node without any command-line argument might not work depending on the installation method used. Some command line arguments are required.

Some basic reasonable setup uses a custom identity and enables the REST API of the hoprd:

hoprd --identity /app/hoprd-db/.hopr-identity --password switzerland --init --announce --host "0.0.0.0:9091" --apiToken <MY_TOKEN> --network doufur

Here is a short breakdown of each argument.

hoprd
  # store your node identity information in the persisted database folder
  --identity /app/hoprd-db/.hopr-identity
  # set the encryption password for your identity
  --password switzerland
  # initialize the database and identity if not present
  --init
  # announce the node to other nodes in the network and act as relay if publicly reachable
  --announce
  # set IP and port of the P2P API to the container's external IP so it can be reached on your host
  --host "0.0.0.0:9091"
  # specify password for accessing REST API
  --apiToken <MY_TOKEN>
  # an network is defined as a chain plus a number of deployed smart contract addresses to use on that chain
  --network doufur

Special care needs to given to the network argument, which defines the specific network hoprd node should join. Only nodes within the same network can communicate using the HOPR protocol.

Using Docker Compose with extended HOPR node monitoring

Please follow the documentation for docker compose based deployment.

Testnet accessibility

To participate in a public network the node must be eligible. See Network Registry for details.

Node eligibility is not required in a local development cluster (see Develop section below).

Migrating between releases

There is NO backward compatibility between releases.

We attempt to provide instructions on how to migrate your tokens between releases.

  1. Set your automatic channel strategy to passive.
  2. Redeem all unredeemed tickets.
  3. Close all open payment channels.
  4. Once all payment channels have closed, withdraw your funds to an external
    wallet.
  5. Run info and take note of the network name.
  6. Once funds are confirmed to exist in a different wallet, backup .hopr-identity folder.
  7. Launch new HOPRd instance using latest release, observe the account address.
  8. Only transfer funds to new HOPRd instance if HOPRd operates on the same network as last release, you can compare the two networks using info.

Develop

Either setup nix and flake to use the nix environment, or install Rust toolchain from the rust-toolchain.toml, as well as foundry-rs binaries (forge, anvil).

Nix environment setup

Install nix from the official website at https://nix.dev/install-nix.html.

Create a nix configuration file at ~/.config/nix/nix.conf with the following content:

experimental-features = nix-command flakes

Install the nix-direnv package to introduce the direnv:

nix-env -i nix-direnv

Append the following line to the shell rc file (depending on the shell used it can be ~\.zshrc, ~\.bashrc, ~\.cshrc, etc.). Modify the <shell> variable inside the below command with the currently used (zsh, bash, csh, etc.):

eval "$(direnv hook <shell>)"

From within the hoprnet repository’s directory, execute the following command.

direnv allow .

Nix flake outputs

We provide a couple of packages, apps and shells to make building and
development easier, to get the full list execute:. You may get the full list like so:

nix flake show

Code Formatting

All nix, rust, solidity and python code can be automatically formatted:

nix fmt

These formatters are also automatically run as a Git pre-commit check.

Code Linting

All linters can be executed via a Nix flake helper app:

nix run .#lint

This will in particular run clippy for the entire Rust codebase.

Generate the Python SDK

No Python SDK is available to connect to the HOPRd API. However, you can generate one using the generate-python-sdk.sh script.

Prerequisites:

  • swagger-codegen3
  • build the repository to get the hoprd-api-schema generated

The generated SDK will be available in the /tmp/hoprd-sdk-python/ directory. Modify the script to generate SDKs for different programming languages supported by swagger-codegen3.

For usage examples of the generated SDK, refer to the generated README.md file in the SDK directory.

Local node with safe staking service (local network)

Running one node in test mode, with safe and module attached (in an anvil-localhost network)

nix run .#lint
# clean up, e.g.
# make kill-anvil
# make clean

# build deps and HOPRd code
make -j deps && make -j build

# starting network
make run-anvil args="-p"

# update protocol-config
scripts/update-protocol-config.sh -n anvil-localhost

# create identity files
make create-local-identity id_count=1

# create a safe and a node management module instance,
# and passing the created safe and module as argument to
# run a test node local (separate terminal)
# It also register the created pairs in network registry, and
# approve tokens for channels to move token.
# fund safe with 2k token and 1 native token
make run-local-with-safe id_file_path=/tmp
# or to restart a node and use the same id, safe and module
# run:
# make run-local id_path=$(find `pwd` -name ".identity-local*.id" | sort -r | head -n 1)

# fund all your nodes to get started
make fund-local-all id_dir=`pwd`

# start local HOPR admin in a container (and put into background)
make run-hopr-admin &

Local node with safe staking service (dufour network)

Running one node in test mode, with safe and module attached (in dufour network)

# build deps and HOPRd code
make -j deps && make -j build

# Fill out the `ethereum/contract/.env` from the `ethereum/contracts/example.env`
#
# ensure a private key with enough xDAI is set as PRIVATE_KEY
# This PRIVATE_KEY is the "admin_key" (i.e. owner of the created safe and node management module)
#
# Please use the deployer private key as DEPLOYER_PRIVATE_KEY
# The Ethereum address to the DEPLOYER_PRIVATE_KEY should be a "manager" of the network registry.
# Role can be checked in the explorer:

# echo "https://gnosisscan.io/address/$(jq '.networks.dufour.addresses.network_registry' ./ethereum/contracts/contracts-addresses.json)\#readContract"

source ./ethereum/contracts/.env

export HOPR_NETWORK="dufour"
export IDENTITY_PASSWORD="SOmeranDOmPassHere-DefiniteLyChangeThis!"

# create identity files
bash scripts/generate-identity.sh

# start local HOPR admin in a container (and put into background)
make run-hopr-admin &

Local cluster

The best way to test with multiple HOPR nodes is by using a local cluster of interconnected nodes.

Test

Unit testing

Tests both the Rust and Solidity code.

make test

Github Actions CI

We run a fair amount of automation using Github Actions. To ease development
of these workflows one can use act to run workflows locally in a
Docker environment.

E.g. running the build workflow:

act -j build

For more information please refer to act’s documentation.

End-to-End Testing

When using the nix environment, the test environment preparation and activation is automatic.

Tests are using the pytest infrastructure.

Running Tests Locally

Testing environment

If not using nix, setup the pytest environment:

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python3 -m pip install -r tests/requirements.txt

To deactivate the activated testing environment if no longer needed:

deactivate
Test execution

With the environment activated, execute the tests locally:

make smoke-tests

Using Fast Sync

Fast sync is a feature that allows the node to sync the blockchain state faster
than the default sync mode by using a pre-built logs database.

Prerequisites

To generate the logs database, you need:

  • A fully synced node
  • Node configured to keep logs in the database (enabled by default)
    • Set hopr -> chain -> keep_logs in the configuration file

Database Files

The following files in the node’s database folder are required:

  • hopr_logs.db - Main logs database
  • hopr_logs.db-shm - Auxiliary file
  • hopr_logs.db-wal - Auxiliary file

Configuration Steps

  1. Place the pre-built logs database files in the node’s database folder
  2. Enable fast sync mode (enabled by default):
  • Set hopr -> chain -> fast_sync to true in the configuration file

  1. Remove any existing index data:

    rm hopr_index.db*

Post-sync Behavior

  • If index data exists but is incomplete, the node will resume fast sync at the
    last processed log
  • If index data exists and is complete, the node will skip fast sync and start in normal sync mode
  • After fast sync completes, the node automatically switches to normal sync mode

Profiling & Instrumentation

Multiple layers of profiling and instrumentation can be used to debug the hoprd:

tokio executor instrumentation

Requires a special build:

  1. Set RUSTFLAGS="--cfg tokio_unstable" before building
  2. Enable the prof feature on the hoprd package: cargo build --feature prof

Once an instrumented tokio is built into hoprd, the application can be instrumented by tokio_console as described in the official crate documentation.

Contact

License

GPL v3 © HOPR Association

List of all crates