.github/workflows | ||
rnsh | ||
.gitignore | ||
LICENSE | ||
pyproject.toml | ||
README.md |
r n s h
Shell over Reticulum
rnsh
is a utility written in Python that facilitates shell
sessions over Reticulum networks. It is based off the rnx
utility that ships with Reticulum.
rnsh
is still pretty raw; there are some things that are
implemented badly, and many other things that haven't been
built at all (yet). Signals (i.e. Ctrl-C) need some work, so have
another terminal handy to send a SIGTERM if things glitch
out.
One of the main drivers of complexity in the implementation
is that the only reliable way I found to read live from
stdin/stdout (as opposed to line by line) without blocking
required using quite a bit of async
code, while the
RNS API is firmly synchronous.
Anyway, there's a lot of room for improvement.
Quickstart
Requires Python 3.10+ on Linux or Unix. WSL probably works. Cygwin might work, too.
- Activate a virtualenv
pip3 install rnsh
- Or from a
whl
release,pip3 install /path/to/rnsh-0.0.1-py3-none-any.whl
- Or from a
- Configure Reticulum interfaces, check with
rnstatus
- Ready to run
rnsh
. The options are shown below.
Usage:
rnsh [--config <configdir>] [-i <identityfile>] [-s <service_name>] [-l] -p
rnsh -l [--config <configfile>] [-i <identityfile>] [-s <service_name>]
[-v...] [-q...] [-b] (-n | -a <identity_hash> [-a <identity_hash>]...)
[--] <program> [<arg>...]
rnsh [--config <configfile>] [-i <identityfile>] [-s <service_name>]
[-v...] [-q...] [-N] [-m] [-w <timeout>] <destination_hash>
rnsh -h
rnsh --version
Options:
--config DIR Alternate Reticulum config directory to use
-i FILE --identity FILE Specific identity file to use
-s NAME --service NAME Listen on/connect to specific service name if not default
-p --print-identity Print identity information and exit
-l --listen Listen (server) mode
-b --no-announce Do not announce service
-a HASH --allowed HASH Specify identities allowed to connect
-n --no-auth Disable authentication
-N --no-id Disable identify on connect
-m --mirror Client returns with code of remote process
-w TIME --timeout TIME Specify client connect and request timeout in seconds
-v --verbose Increase verbosity
-q --quiet Increase quietness
--version Show version
-h --help Show this help
How it works
Listeners
Listener instances are the servers. Each listener is configured with an RNS identity, and a service name. Together, RNS makes these into a destination hash that can be used to connect to your listener.
Multiple listeners can use the same identity. As long as they are given different service names. They will have different destination hashes and not conflict.
Listeners must be configured with a command line to run (at least at this time). The identity hash string is set in the environment variable RNS_REMOTE_IDENTITY for use in child programs.
Listeners are set up using the -l
flag.
Initiators
Initiators are the clients. Each initiator has an identity hash which is used as an authentication mechanism on Reticulum. You'll need this value to configure the listener to allow your connection. It is possible to run the server without authentication, but hopefully it's obvious that this is an advanced use case.
To get the identity hash, use the -p
flag.
With the initiator identity set up in the listener command
line, and with the listener identity copied (you'll need to
do -p
on the listener side, too), you can run the
initiator.
I recommend staying pretty vanilla to start with and
trying /bin/zsh
or whatever your favorite shell is these
days. The shell should start in login mode. Ideally it
works just like an ssh
shell session.
Roadmap
- Plan a better roadmap
- ?
- Keep my day job
TODO
Initial versionPip package with command-line utility support- Publish to PyPI
- Improve signal handling
- Protocol improvements (throughput!)
- Test on several *nixes
- Make it scriptable (currently requires a tty)
- Documentation improvements