init/tripe-init.in: Pass the `-m' option through to the server.

[tripe] / README

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			  Trivial IP Encryption


* Brief introduction

** What TrIPE does

TrIPE is a fairly simple network protocol for securely transferring IP
packets over hostile networks, using cryptography to ensure their
secrecy and authenticity.  It is used to construct `virtual private
networks', which securely connect geographically separated hosts and
physical networks into a single virtual network.  The name stands for
`Trivial IP Encryption'.

The tripe suite, of which this file is part, consists of a server which
implements this protocol, together with a number of utilities, scripts
and ancillary services which assist in configuring and maintaining the
server.

** Supported operating systems

The main server ought to build on more or less any Unix-like operating
system.  The author only has Linux readily to hand, so it doesn't get
tested much on other systems, but porting should be easy.  The only
nonportable aspect is the use of tunnel interfaces, though the server
can fall back to using SLIP, which almost every Unix ought to be able to
cope with.  There is code already for dealing with Linux's TUN/TAP
driver, and *BSD's tunnels (and an obsolete tun-like device the author
wrote for Linux a long time ago).  If other systems have similar
devices, it should be easy to add support.

A Windows port is a more daunting prospect.  The author is currently
considering a lash-up port using Cygwin and the OpenVPN Win32-tun
driver, but hasn't started work.

Other parts of the system are a bit more Linux specific.  For example,
the interface configuration script `tripe-ifup' exists only in a
Linux-specific version.  (Writing a new version for some other system is
very straightforward, though.)  The `pathmtu' utility is more
problematic: I don't know how to do this well for *BSD, for example.
Contributions are welcome!

** Licence

The TrIPE suite is free software.  You may modify and/or redistribute
it, under the terms of the GNU General Public License, either version 2
or, at your option, any later version.  There should be a copy of this
licence included in the source distribution.  Pre-built binary packages,
e.g., for Debian GNU/Linux, may not include it, on the assumption that
Debian already has a copy in /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-2.

There are no restrictions on the use of the network protocol.

** Finding out more

There is fairly extensive documentation on the various components of the
TrIPE suite.  The tripe.7 manpage aims to provide an overview of the
system, so it may be a good place to start reading.

* Building the tripe suite from a source distribution

** Prerequisites

In order to compile the tripe suite, you must have a number of other
packages already installed.

	Package name		Version		Needed for

	mLib			2.5.0  		S K V M +
	Catacomb		2.1.0		S K
	Python			2.4		  K V M
	mLib-Python		1.0.0		    V M
	Catacomb-Python		1.0.0		  K
	PyGTK			2.12.0		      M
	python-cdb		0.32		    V

Key:
	S: server (you really need this)
	K: key management utility
	V: peer connection services
	M: graphical monitor
	+: various other utilities

The mLib and Catacomb libraries, and their Python bindings, are probably
available from the same place you found this.

** Building and installing

The source distribution should contain a `configure' script.  In theory,
it should be sufficient to run

	$ ./configure
	$ make
	$ make check
	$ sudo make install

(or use your preferred means of attaining superuser privileges).  If you
don't want to clutter the source tree with object files, change to a
clean directory and run

	  $ SRCDIR/.configure
	  $ make

etc., where SRCDIR is where you put the sources.

The configure script should make sensible choices about the tunnel
devices available on your system.  If it doesn't, you can force its hand
by saying something like

	$ ./configure --with-tunnel="linux slip"

There are also configure-time options for choosing default directories
and filenames (e.g., where to find configuration files, where to write
logs).  These can all be overridden using command line options if
necessary.

For full details about the configure-time options, run

	$ ./configure --help

A script to start and stop the server is generated as part of the build,
as init/tripe-init.  If you have a System V-style init, you can drop
this script into /etc/init.d (or your equivalent), and link it into the
relevant /etc/rc.d directories.

** Building from Git

This section is mainly relevant to those who wish to participate in
TrIPE development.  If you just want to use the tripe suite, you're
probably best off using a source distribution tarball.

The author maintains the tripe sources using Git.  The files checked
into Git omit many files provided in distribution tarballs, because
they're really maintained in separate projects.  The first thing you
need to do, then, is reconstruct these files.  You need the following:

	cfd 1.3.4
	Autoconf 2.61
	Automake 1.8
	Autoconf-archive 2007-05-12

Make sure that the `aclocal' program can find the macros in the Autoconf
archive.  Then run

	$ mdw-setup

This ought, magically, to construct the `configure' script and all the
Makefile.in files.  You should now be able to build the system as if you
had sources.

The only thing which will still be missing is the `RELEASE' file, which
just contains the package version number.  Instead, tripe's build system
will work this out by looking at your Git repository.

* Contacting the author

If you need want to complain about bugs, build problems, or missing
features, or suggest improvements, or ask about how things work, send
email to

      Mark Wooding <mdw@distorted.org.uk>

Currently there is no mailing list for discussion of TrIPE development.
If there seems to be sufficient interest, I'll set one up.

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