![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/ipfs-logo-vector-ice-text.png\"){kind=logo}
In this article we will explore IPFS, the InterPlanetary File System. IPFS is a system for storing and accessing files, websites and other kinds of data \u2014 just as the Web we enjoy using every day \u2014 but unlike the Web, IPFS is peer-to-peer based and automatically distributes its content across the network.<\/p>\n
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A copy of this post is available on the IPFS network at First, some terminology:<\/p>\n From its outset, the Internet1<\/a><\/sup> was designed to be a decentralized network, able to deliver data packets and find alternate routing paths in case of a network or node failure. In a centralized computer<\/em> network, a single, central node<\/em> controls the communication flow between all other nodes. If that central hub goes down, no communication on the network can be made, the network becomes completely unusable.<\/p>\n A decentralized network<\/em> on the other hand is a network where multiple such hubs exist. There still are central nodes<\/em> which need to be passed by data packets in most cases, but when these central hubs crash, at least part of the network will continue to function.<\/p>\n A distributed network<\/em> is the most resilient kind of network where any single node can fail while all remaining nodes are still able to communicate with each other.<\/p>\n IPFS creates such a distributed network on top of the Internet, although other types of networks are supported as well. IPFS does not rely on or assume access to IP.<\/p>\n Instead of addressing data by its address<\/em> such as a domain name or IP address, IPFS addresses data by its content<\/em>3<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n Some of the benefits include:<\/p>\n Let’s get our hands dirty and start exploring the Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, no official Debian packages for We first show how to get The easiest way to install At first, change to a dedicated directory where all our files for We start by creating a and launch the Docker container, then exec into it with:<\/p>\n That’s it. We are now ready to use the First, install two dependencies which do not ship by default:<\/p>\n and continue by changing to a dedicated directory where all our files for Let’s install the CLI tool!<\/p>\n Verify the tarball’s integrity and unpack it:<\/p>\n Continue as follows:<\/p>\n The IPFS daemon can now be started with a simple<\/p>\n Check that it’s really up and running<\/p>\n Nice! Now configure your firewall to open up port As a last step, switch to the We are now ready to use the Finally it’s time to play around with The node should already have connected to other peers on the IPFS network found through the bootstrapping \/ seeding process<\/a>, similar to how nearly every other P2P network out there does (e.g. Bitcoin<\/a> and Monero<\/a>):<\/p>\n Time to ping them:<\/p>\n Upon first connecting, peers exchange their public keys and check whether the hash of their partner’s public key really equals the remote’s node ID. If not, the connection is terminated.<\/p>\n Every node has a local storage where IPFS blocks such as file objects are stored. This storage is either in RAM, some kind of database or simply on the node’s filesystem. Ultimately, all blocks available on IPFS are in some node’s local storage. When an object is requested, a peer serving the file is searched, eventually found, then downloaded from and stored temporarily in the local storage. This provides fast lookups of the same object for some time thereafter. Stored blocks can optionally be pinned so the block will stay in the local nodes’s storage forever without expiring.<\/p>\n Every node on IPFS \u2014 including our own \u2014 is capable of hosting files and delivering them to other peers. Adding new files to IPFS is easy:<\/p>\n As the hash uniquely identifies the file, we can retrieve it with:<\/p>\n Upon adding the file, Adding files was easy. Let’s deploy a small static website to IPFS.<\/p>\n First, a website is required! Fruits are awesome, so let’s showcase our favorite fruits on a website:<\/p>\n \u2026 the whole website has just been added to IPFS and is ready to be requested.<\/p>\n To list the websites we currently host, Paths work as they do in traditional UNIX filesystems and the Web:<\/p>\n To retrieve webpages from our YummyFruits website:<\/p>\n Alternatively, the files can be accessed directly using their hash:<\/p>\n A different notation to achieve exactly the same is to prefix the IPFS object Other prefixes are, for example, So far so good. Wouldn’t it be cool to view our website in an actual browser<\/em>?<\/p>\n The IPFS daemon sets up a Web Gateway running locally on port Alternatively, the website can be viewed through public IPFS Web Gateways such as the one run by Feel free to share this link with your all friends so they know exactly what kind of fruits you are into.<\/p>\n Showcasing only two fruits is quite pointless, so we add more:<\/p>\n But what’s that? The hash value for our website has changed!<\/p>\n Recall that IPFS objects are addressed by their content<\/em>6<\/a><\/sup> (to be precise, their hash) and not their address<\/em>. Once we change a file or folder, its hash must change too. We didn’t touch Confirming that everything we just did really works:<\/p>\n This new hash also needs to be shared with your friends, otherwise they would never know you like cherries too.<\/p>\n Takeaway from the previous section was that modifying content of an existing resource will produce a new hash under which it can then be accessed. Using an old hash will still return the old content.<\/p>\n Distributing a new hash every time a resource has changed would be really cumbersome which is where IPNS<\/strong>, the InterPlanetary Naming System, comes in handy. Using it, a dynamic resource (such as a website which might change from time to time) can always be addressed by the same, static reference<\/em>. This static reference is your peer ID, the hash of your peer’s public key.<\/p>\n Note: each peer ID can only reference a single resource such as our YummyFruits website. Multiple peer IDs can be created to reference more than just one dynamic resource. See To make our YummyFruits website available on our peer ID, use Using The website can now be accessed by our peer ID:<\/p>\n To better illustrate the usefulness of IPNS, let’s first add another one of our favorite fruits:<\/p>\n As a last step, add an Then add and re-publish:<\/p>\n Fire up a browser and access the IPNS via either the local Web Gateway<\/a> or a public one, e.g. the one provided by The only hash value you ever need to tell your friends from now on is the peer ID, Really? I am used to sharing nice-looking URLs with my friends!<\/em><\/p>\n All IPFS resources are self-authenticating<\/em>. This means when requesting for a resource by its hash at a (potentially malicious) node on the IPFS network, neither they nor anyone in between (a man-in-the-middle, MITM<\/em>) can inject additional data to the requested object as it would result in a different hash.<\/p>\n Simple illustration:<\/p>\n As you are not yet in possession of a resource with that hash, you begin querying other peers which you are connected to. Once a providing node has been found and the file transfer has completed, your (receiving) IPFS node computes the hash of whatever data the other node sent. If that hash doesn’t match the hash value you were initially given by your colleague, your node knows something suspicious happened and discards the data. IPFS then asks another node for the file. Nodes will be penalized7<\/a><\/sup> locally when they frequently sent such junk data.<\/p>\n To find nodes which provide the file, run the following command:<\/p>\n Hashes are hard to remember. On the other hand, domain names as we use them every day can easily be remembered. For that, it uses DNS TXT records. To make an IPFS resource (e.g. our latest YummyFruits website, Alternatively, specify your IPNS name in the Confirm that it really works:<\/p>\n In your favorite browser, head over to https:\/\/ipfs.io\/ipns\/yummyfruits.ipfs.leonklingele.de\/<\/a> and view it in action. Beware that \u2014 as you are not directly<\/em> accessing a hash here but only a DNS-resolved IPFS address \u2014 MITM<\/em> attacks become a problem if the domain doesn’t employ additional security mechanisms such as DNSSEC to add authenticity to the returned TXT record. Also note that DNSLink uses DNS which is a centralized<\/em> system that can break more easily \u2014 we wanted to get decentralized<\/em> and distributed<\/em> after all, remember?<\/a><\/p>\n So far, we’ve always dealt with IPFS \/ipns\/ipfs.leonklingele.de\/edu\/hdm\/ipfs\/index.html<\/code>:
\nhttps:\/\/ipfs.io\/ipns\/ipfs.leonklingele.de\/edu\/hdm\/ipfs\/<\/a> (seriously, go read it over there, the syntax highlighting in this blog is terrible!<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n
\nIPFS protocol<\/em><\/li>\nipfs<\/code><\/strong>, in lowercase letters, refers to the IPFS command line utility<\/em><\/a> written in Go<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nIntroducing distributed networks<\/h2>\n
\nWhile the Internet itself is resilient to failures2<\/a><\/sup>, the vast majority of content hosted on it is served by centralized organizations and servers, rendering it inaccessible in case of server or network failures.<\/p>\n![\"Paul](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/paul-baran-distributed-communications-network.png\")
<\/p>\nImage source: Paul Baran, 1962. On distributed communications network, pp. 3\u20134<\/em><\/div>\nIPFS basics<\/h2>\n
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Diving into the
ipfs<\/code> command line utility<\/h2>\nipfs<\/code> CLI utility<\/a> along with some details of the inner workings of the IPFS protocol.<\/p>\nipfs<\/code> exist which means we need to install the tool on our own.<\/em><\/p>\nipfs<\/code> up and running with Docker & Docker Compose, and provide an alternative way by installing it directly to Debian-based distros as explained further below<\/a>.<\/p>\nInstalling
ipfs<\/code> with Docker & Docker Compose<\/h3>\nipfs<\/code> at the time of writing is to run it within Docker. The procedure is straightforward and only requires the docker<\/code> and docker-compose<\/code> tools to be installed.<\/p>\nipfs<\/code> will be put. For the purposes of demonstration, we use a temporary directory. Be advised that any data stored there will be lost on a system reboot.<\/p>\n$ cd $(mktemp -d)\n<\/code><\/pre>\ndocker-compose.yml<\/code> file as follows:<\/p>\n$ cat <<EOF> docker-compose.yml\nversion: "3"\n\nservices:\n ipfs:\n image: ipfs\/go-ipfs:latest\n restart: unless-stopped\n cap_drop:\n - ALL\n cap_add:\n - SETUID\n - SETGID\n - CHOWN\n ports:\n - "4001:4001" # Swarm TCP\n - "127.0.0.1:5001:5001" # Daemon API\n - "127.0.0.1:8080:8080" # Web Gateway\n - "127.0.0.1:8081:8081" # Swarm Websockets\n working_dir: \/shared\n volumes:\n - ".\/data\/ipfs:\/data\/ipfs"\n - ".\/data\/shared:\/shared"\nEOF\n<\/code><\/pre>\n$ docker-compose up -d\n\n$ docker-compose exec ipfs sh\n<\/code><\/pre>\nipfs<\/code> CLI utility.<\/p>\nInstalling
ipfs<\/code> on Debian without Docker<\/h3>\n# As root\n$ apt install tar curl\n<\/code><\/pre>\nipfs<\/code> will be put.
\nAgain, be advised that any data put to a temporary directory as used in this tutorial will be lost on a system reboot.<\/p>\n$ cd $(mktemp -d)\n<\/code><\/pre>\n$ VERSION=0.4.23\n$ curl -O https:\/\/dist.ipfs.io\/go-ipfs\/v${VERSION}\/go-ipfs_v${VERSION}_linux-amd64.tar.gz\n<\/code><\/pre>\n$ sha256sum go-ipfs_v${VERSION}_linux-amd64.tar.gz\n639492d0aec98f845d7de8cdb251389bcac924d9f3940921504481923b532e2f go-ipfs_v0.4.23_linux-amd64.tar.gz\n\n$ tar xzfv go-ipfs_v${VERSION}_linux-amd64.tar.gz\ngo-ipfs\/install.sh\ngo-ipfs\/ipfs\ngo-ipfs\/LICENSE\ngo-ipfs\/README.md\n<\/code><\/pre>\n# Copy the ipfs binary to a dir in your path\n$ cp go-ipfs\/ipfs \/usr\/local\/bin\/\n\n# Set up an ipfs user so the binary does not run as root\n$ adduser --gecos ipfs --disabled-password ipfs\n\n# Set up a systemd service to make starting and stopping the IPFS daemon easy\n$ cat <<eof> \/etc\/systemd\/system\/ipfs.service\n[Unit]\nDescription=IPFS Daemon\nAfter=network.target<\/eof>\n\n[Service]\nExecStart=\/usr\/local\/bin\/ipfs daemon --init --migrate --enable-gc\nKillSignal=SIGINT\nUser=ipfs\nGroup=ipfs\n\n[Install]\nWantedBy=multi-user.target\nEOF\n\n# Reload the systemd daemon\n$ systemctl daemon-reload\n\n# Enable the ipfs service so it automatically starts upon boot\n$ systemctl enable ipfs\n<\/code><\/pre>\n$ systemctl start ipfs\n<\/code><\/pre>\n$ systemctl status ipfs\n[..]\nFeb 25 18:00:00 service-ipfs ipfs[5055]: Daemon is ready\n<\/code><\/pre>\n4001\/tcp<\/code> which is required
\nto connect to other peers:<\/p>\n$ ufw allow 4001\/tcp\n<\/code><\/pre>\nipfs<\/code> user.<\/p>\n$ su ipfs\n<\/code><\/pre>\nipfs<\/code> CLI utility.<\/p>\nExploring the
ipfs<\/code> CLI utility<\/h3>\nipfs<\/code>!<\/p>\nipfs<\/code> has already been initialized (ipfs init<\/code>) and its daemon was started (ipfs daemon<\/code>). Upon first startup, the IPFS node created a public\/private key pair which uniquely identifies the node on the IPFS network. The public key is hashed5<\/a><\/sup>, yielding<\/a> the peer’s unique ID which will become useful later on<\/a>.<\/p>\n# Show own peer ID\n$ ipfs id --format='<id>\\n'\nQmXWf53PNW5nSrP2voZg9GHfYpqPWrYo7677saX6yFV8Z1\n<\/code><\/pre>\n$ ipfs swarm peers\n[..] long list of peers, an excerpt:\n\/ip4\/37.120.190.6\/tcp\/4001\/ipfs\/Qma5q8kiKopYw1G3sSTwtRXDgx1AQ7a7jgJy6gdERvvWEY\n\/ip4\/94.16.118.23\/tcp\/4001\/ipfs\/Qmdoy815C6fWDiUCeCq8ETVBwaWN2gsdmGTf9f4ST9P7X7\n\/ip4\/94.16.118.250\/tcp\/4001\/ipfs\/QmV1gHWEBkfVDXRNbrUJ6qLfk9GiCR5gSbUGYdVXwzZCeK\n<\/code><\/pre>\n$ ipfs ping Qma5q8kiKopYw1G3sSTwtRXDgx1AQ7a7jgJy6gdERvvWEY\nPING Qma5q8kiKopYw1G3sSTwtRXDgx1AQ7a7jgJy6gdERvvWEY.\nPong received: time=0.56 ms\nPong received: time=0.57 ms\nPong received: time=0.61 ms\n^C\nAverage latency: 0.58ms\n\n# \u2026 smooth!\n<\/code><\/pre>\nAdding files to IPFS<\/h4>\n
# Create a new file on IPFS\n$ echo "Hello World, today is $(date '+%Y-%m-%d')" | ipfs add\nadded QmVDE7P8cWERGeoexGtLsLGzABoiVQvwaJP7FTv4X6dEbk QmVDE7P8cWERGeoexGtLsLGzABoiVQvwaJP7FTv4X6dEbk\n33 B \/ 33 B [============================================================================] 100.00%\n\n# Note: if you run the command above it will return a different hash as the file will be a different.\n<\/code><\/pre>\nipfs<\/code> adds the file to the local object storage and returns the hash of it: QmVDE7P8cWERGeoexGtLsLGzABoiVQvwaJP7FTv4X6dEbk<\/code>. The file’s hash is added to the DHT and the local node starts serving the file to other nodes requesting it by its hash value.<\/p>\n# View the file we just added\n$ ipfs cat QmVDE7P8cWERGeoexGtLsLGzABoiVQvwaJP7FTv4X6dEbk\nHello World, today is 2020-02-27\n\n# Yup, working fine!\n<\/code><\/pre>\nipfs<\/code> also automatically announces its existence to other peers on the network. (Try to ipfs cat<\/code> it from another node \u2014 it will return the same content!)<\/p>\nIn IPFS, data distribution happens by exchanging blocks with peers using a\nBitTorrent-inspired protocol: BitSwap. Like BitTorrent, BitSwap peers are\nlooking to acquire a set of blocks (the want_list), and have another set of\nblocks to offer in exchange (the have_list). Unlike BitTorrent, BitSwap is not\nlimited to the blocks in one torrent. BitSwap operates as a persistent\nmarketplace where nodes can acquire the blocks they need, regardless of what\nfiles those blocks are part of. The blocks could come from completely unrelated\nfiles in the filesystem. Nodes come together to barter in the marketplace.\n\nIn the base case, BitSwap nodes have to provide direct value to each other in\nthe form of blocks. This works fine when the distribution of blocks across nodes\nis complementary, meaning they have what the other wants. Often, this will not\nbe the case. In some cases, nodes must work for their blocks. In the case that\na node has nothing that its peers want (or nothing at all), it seeks the pieces\nits peers want, with lower priority than what the node wants itself. This\nincentivizes nodes to cache and disseminate rare pieces, even if they are not\ninterested in them directly.\n\nThe protocol must also incentivize nodes to seed when they do not need anything\nin particular, as they might have the blocks others want. Thus, BitSwap nodes\nsend blocks to their peers optimistically, expecting the debt to be repaid. But\nleeches (free-loading nodes that never share) must be protected against. A\nsimple credit-like system solves the problem:\n\n1. Peers track their balance (in bytes verified) with other nodes.\n2. Peers send blocks to debtor peers probabilistically, according to a function\nthat falls as debt increases.\n\nNote that if a node decides not to send to a peer, the node subsequently ignores\nthe peer for a while. This prevents senders from trying to game the probability\nby just causing more dice-rolls.\n\nThe debt ratio is a measure of trust: lenient to debts between nodes that have\npreviously exchanged lots of data successfully, and merciless to unknown,\nuntrusted nodes.\n<\/code><\/pre>\nSource: IPFS whitepaper<\/a> which continues to describe this in more detail.<\/em><\/div>\nDeploying a static website to IPFS<\/h4>\n
$ WEBDIR=demo\/websites\n$ SITEDIR=$WEBDIR\/yummyfruits\n$ mkdir -p $SITEDIR\n$ echo '<h1 style="color: green;">I really like green Apples! \ud83c\udf4f<\/h1>' > $SITEDIR\/apple.html\n$ echo '<h1 style="color: yellow;">Bananas are one of my favorite fruits! \ud83c\udf4c<\/h1>' > $SITEDIR\/banana.html\n$ ipfs add -r $WEBDIR\nadded QmUx6PWeRAPxCTqmK4eGq95KnvPCJwNhfU1cgw5RWCEG8y websites\/yummyfruits\/apple.html\nadded QmZkMyLFKAQqRXer1MExU3vnfAFmxCN7rFkpmsUQBG81UN websites\/yummyfruits\/banana.html\nadded QmbVPuewTkDPSLJku69JFkAox3VUcMiokK2fk2HniT7e1u websites\/yummyfruits\nadded QmeoPDguuLaYsZXnniL5Be7t9hmbU55XU6B8LE5cuS7TJr websites\n140 B \/ 140 B [==========================================================================] 100.00%\n<\/code><\/pre>\nipfs ls<\/code> the hash of the websites<\/code> object:<\/p>\n# Show our websites\n$ ipfs ls QmeoPDguuLaYsZXnniL5Be7t9hmbU55XU6B8LE5cuS7TJr\nQmbVPuewTkDPSLJku69JFkAox3VUcMiokK2fk2HniT7e1u - yummyfruits\/\n<\/code><\/pre>\n# List files on the YummyFruits website\n$ ipfs ls QmeoPDguuLaYsZXnniL5Be7t9hmbU55XU6B8LE5cuS7TJr\/yummyfruits\nQmUx6PWeRAPxCTqmK4eGq95KnvPCJwNhfU1cgw5RWCEG8y 64 apple.html\nQmZkMyLFKAQqRXer1MExU3vnfAFmxCN7rFkpmsUQBG81UN 76 banana.html\n<\/code><\/pre>\n$ ipfs cat QmeoPDguuLaYsZXnniL5Be7t9hmbU55XU6B8LE5cuS7TJr\/yummyfruits\/apple.html\n<h1 style="color: green;">I really like green Apples! \ud83c\udf4f<\/h1>\n$ ipfs cat QmeoPDguuLaYsZXnniL5Be7t9hmbU55XU6B8LE5cuS7TJr\/yummyfruits\/banana.html\n<h1 style="color: yellow;">Bananas are one of my favorite fruits! \ud83c\udf4c<\/h1>\n<\/code><\/pre>\n# Resolve hash of apple.html, or simply look up its hash above\n$ ipfs resolve QmeoPDguuLaYsZXnniL5Be7t9hmbU55XU6B8LE5cuS7TJr\/yummyfruits\/apple.html\n\/ipfs\/QmUx6PWeRAPxCTqmK4eGq95KnvPCJwNhfU1cgw5RWCEG8y\n\n# Address apple.html directly by its hash\n$ ipfs cat QmUx6PWeRAPxCTqmK4eGq95KnvPCJwNhfU1cgw5RWCEG8y\n<h1 style="color: green;">I really like green Apples! \ud83c\udf4f<\/h1>\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
\nwith \/ipfs\/<\/code>:<\/p>\n# Address apple.html directly by its hash and the \/ipfs\/ prefix\n$ ipfs cat \/ipfs\/QmUx6PWeRAPxCTqmK4eGq95KnvPCJwNhfU1cgw5RWCEG8y\n<h1 style="color: green;">I really like green Apples! \ud83c\udf4f<\/h1>\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\/ipns\/<\/code> which we’ll explore later on<\/a>.<\/p>\nAccessing our website in a web browser<\/h5>\n
8080<\/code> which can be accessed using a web browser or with other clients such as curl<\/code>:<\/p>\n$ curl localhost:8080\/ipfs\/QmeoPDguuLaYsZXnniL5Be7t9hmbU55XU6B8LE5cuS7TJr\/yummyfruits\/apple.html\n<h1 style="color: green;">I really like green Apples! \ud83c\udf4f<\/h1>\n<\/code><\/pre>\n![\"Website](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/website-ipfs.png\")
<\/p>\nipfs.io<\/code>: https:\/\/ipfs.io\/ipfs\/QmeoPDguuLaYsZXnniL5Be7t9hmbU55XU6B8LE5cuS7TJr\/yummyfruits\/apple.html<\/a><\/p>\nAdding more fruits to our website<\/h5>\n
$ echo '<h1 style="color: darkred;">Cherries are so sweet! \ud83c\udf52<\/h1>' > $SITEDIR\/cherry.html\n$ echo '<h1 style="color: brown;">I only ever date dates! \ud83e\udd13<\/h1>' > $SITEDIR\/date.html\n$ ipfs add -r $WEBDIR\nadded QmUx6PWeRAPxCTqmK4eGq95KnvPCJwNhfU1cgw5RWCEG8y websites\/yummyfruits\/apple.html\nadded QmZkMyLFKAQqRXer1MExU3vnfAFmxCN7rFkpmsUQBG81UN websites\/yummyfruits\/banana.html\nadded QmVW36JGRo1Q4SjNjktWPnd9SF3SEynH7nfTu4KBF7HSBn websites\/yummyfruits\/cherry.html\nadded QmYdEHFhCX8U3zgGEfayTpfvM6fj21pedBmG7jbPUrio1B websites\/yummyfruits\/date.html\nadded QmTmtiurZozG98k7QnTvbQ2i95b3VPou3By8HQm8TRHEKq websites\/yummyfruits\nadded QmPHxSJX9VeFgkXoESJ29zLoCVh6GP1yCkb68fu97drSts websites\n261 B \/ 261 B [==========================================================================] 100.00%\n<\/code><\/pre>\napple.html<\/code> and banana.html<\/code> so their hash values remained the same. On the other hand, the hash of the yummyfruits<\/code> directory object was modified because two new files, cherry.html<\/code> and date.html<\/code>, were added to it. Consequently, as the hash for yummyfruits<\/code> changed, its parent’s hash must to change too. This chain of hash-updates recursively propagates to all parents of a modified object (child).<\/p>\n$ ipfs cat QmPHxSJX9VeFgkXoESJ29zLoCVh6GP1yCkb68fu97drSts\/yummyfruits\/{cherry,date}.html\n<h1 style="color: darkred">Cherries are so sweet! \ud83c\udf52<\/h1>\n<h1 style="color: brown">I only ever date dates! \ud83e\udd13<\/h1>\n# This on the other hand will not work as `cherry.html` is not available under the old resource hash\n$ ipfs cat QmeoPDguuLaYsZXnniL5Be7t9hmbU55XU6B8LE5cuS7TJr\/yummyfruits\/cherry.html\nError: no link named "cherry.html" under QmbVPuewTkDPSLJku69JFkAox3VUcMiokK2fk2HniT7e1u\n<\/code><\/pre>\nEnter IPNS, the InterPlanetary Naming System<\/h5>\n
ipfs key gen --help<\/code>.<\/em><\/p>\nPublishing an IPNS name<\/h5>\n
ipfs name publish<\/code> followed by the hash of the updated yummyfruits<\/code> object:<\/p>\n$ ipfs name publish QmTmtiurZozG98k7QnTvbQ2i95b3VPou3By8HQm8TRHEKq\nPublished to QmXWf53PNW5nSrP2voZg9GHfYpqPWrYo7677saX6yFV8Z1: \/ipfs\/QmTmtiurZozG98k7QnTvbQ2i95b3VPou3By8HQm8TRHEKq\n# ^ This is the peer ID\n<\/code><\/pre>\nipns name resolve<\/code> we can now resolve our IPNS name<\/em> to the IPFS object<\/em>:<\/p>\n$ IPFS_PEER_ID=$(ipfs id --format='<id>\\n')\n$ echo $IPFS_PEER_ID\nQmXWf53PNW5nSrP2voZg9GHfYpqPWrYo7677saX6yFV8Z1<\/id>\n\n$ ipfs name resolve $IPFS_PEER_ID\n\/ipfs\/QmTmtiurZozG98k7QnTvbQ2i95b3VPou3By8HQm8TRHEKq\n<\/code><\/pre>\n# v Note the use of IPNS here\n$ ipfs cat \/ipns\/$IPFS_PEER_ID\/cherry.html\n<h1 style="color: darkred;">Cherries are so sweet! \ud83c\udf52<\/h1>\n<\/code><\/pre>\nAdding even more yummy fruits<\/h5>\n
$ echo '<h1 style="color: dark;">Elderberries are nice but stain clothes, be careful! \u26a0\ufe0f<\/h1>' > $SITEDIR\/elder.html\n$ ipfs add -r $WEBDIR\nadded QmUx6PWeRAPxCTqmK4eGq95KnvPCJwNhfU1cgw5RWCEG8y websites\/yummyfruits\/apple.html\nadded QmZkMyLFKAQqRXer1MExU3vnfAFmxCN7rFkpmsUQBG81UN websites\/yummyfruits\/banana.html\nadded QmVW36JGRo1Q4SjNjktWPnd9SF3SEynH7nfTu4KBF7HSBn websites\/yummyfruits\/cherry.html\nadded QmYdEHFhCX8U3zgGEfayTpfvM6fj21pedBmG7jbPUrio1B websites\/yummyfruits\/date.html\nadded QmR9hSAqq425pWzvjtA8g6xEak1Ks96fE8kuLU4xDTQTCX websites\/yummyfruits\/elder.html\nadded QmV9z6Dccx9onMnggZ6YHtofAsAw9xWHMnzMbMVt4gobkr websites\/yummyfruits\nadded QmaX2HpHbf2VrAuenhFDYJibMNmk66ZTy4Y8Cq84WB4PwN websites\n351 B \/ 351 B [==========================================================================] 100.00%\n<\/code><\/pre>\n# This doesn't work yet\u2026\n$ ipfs cat \/ipns\/$IPFS_PEER_ID\/elder.html\nError: no link named "elder.html" under QmTmtiurZozG98k7QnTvbQ2i95b3VPou3By8HQm8TRHEKq\n\n# \u2026 we need to re-publish the updated hash first \u2026\n$ ipfs name publish QmV9z6Dccx9onMnggZ6YHtofAsAw9xWHMnzMbMVt4gobkr\nPublished to QmXWf53PNW5nSrP2voZg9GHfYpqPWrYo7677saX6yFV8Z1: \/ipfs\/QmV9z6Dccx9onMnggZ6YHtofAsAw9xWHMnzMbMVt4gobkr\n\n# \u2026 now it does!\n$ ipfs cat \/ipns\/$IPFS_PEER_ID\/elder.html\n<h1 style="color: dark;">Elderberries are nice but stain clothes, be careful! \u26a0\ufe0f<\/h1>\n<\/code><\/pre>\nindex.html<\/code> file with references to all our favorite fruits added so far:<\/p>\n$ echo '<ul>\n <li><a href="apple.html">Apple<\/a><\/li>\n <li><a href="banana.html">Banana<\/a><\/li>\n <li><a href="cherry.html">Cherry<\/a><\/li>\n <li><a href="date.html">Date<\/a><\/li>\n <li><a href="elder.html">Elder<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>' > $SITEDIR\/index.html\n<\/code><\/pre>\n$ ipfs add -r $WEBDIR\nadded QmUx6PWeRAPxCTqmK4eGq95KnvPCJwNhfU1cgw5RWCEG8y websites\/yummyfruits\/apple.html\nadded QmZkMyLFKAQqRXer1MExU3vnfAFmxCN7rFkpmsUQBG81UN websites\/yummyfruits\/banana.html\nadded QmVW36JGRo1Q4SjNjktWPnd9SF3SEynH7nfTu4KBF7HSBn websites\/yummyfruits\/cherry.html\nadded QmYdEHFhCX8U3zgGEfayTpfvM6fj21pedBmG7jbPUrio1B websites\/yummyfruits\/date.html\nadded QmR9hSAqq425pWzvjtA8g6xEak1Ks96fE8kuLU4xDTQTCX websites\/yummyfruits\/elder.html\nadded QmTbcghvnaEVg86PzATNTYu6QgZ9V5iRv3Ss7BV81djSEb websites\/yummyfruits\/index.html\nadded QmNr95KriEevBHikGKR5JvPfnKckiQRyNEpkb8z7yqAHg4 websites\/yummyfruits\nadded QmPBkXse5gUKXakJW8JjP8ukVQ4LNN5X3Um91iHmcQCKnM websites\n574 B \/ 574 B [==========================================================================] 100.00%\n\n$ ipfs name publish QmNr95KriEevBHikGKR5JvPfnKckiQRyNEpkb8z7yqAHg4\nPublished to QmXWf53PNW5nSrP2voZg9GHfYpqPWrYo7677saX6yFV8Z1: \/ipfs\/QmNr95KriEevBHikGKR5JvPfnKckiQRyNEpkb8z7yqAHg4\n<\/code><\/pre>\nipfs.io<\/code>: https:\/\/ipfs.io\/ipns\/QmXWf53PNW5nSrP2voZg9GHfYpqPWrYo7677saX6yFV8Z1\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Website](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/website-ipns.png\")
<\/p>\nQmXWf53PNW5nSrP2voZg9GHfYpqPWrYo7677saX6yFV8Z1<\/code>.<\/p>\n# A colleague creates an arbitrary file on IPFS and sends you the hash of it over an authenticated channel\n$ echo 'Hello World!' | ipfs add -q\nQmfM2r8seH2GiRaC4esTjeraXEachRt8ZsSeGaWTPLyMoG\n<\/code><\/pre>\n$ ipfs dht findprovs QmfM2r8seH2GiRaC4esTjeraXEachRt8ZsSeGaWTPLyMoG\n[..] long list of peers serving the file, an excerpt:\nQmXWf53PNW5nSrP2voZg9GHfYpqPWrYo7677saX6yFV8Z1\nQma5q8kiKopYw1G3sSTwtRXDgx1AQ7a7jgJy6gdERvvWEY\nQmdoy815C6fWDiUCeCq8ETVBwaWN2gsdmGTf9f4ST9P7X7\nQmV1gHWEBkfVDXRNbrUJ6qLfk9GiCR5gSbUGYdVXwzZCeK\n<\/code><\/pre>\nCreating beautiful8<\/a><\/sup> IPNS names<\/h5>\n
\nIPFS supports DNSLink<\/a>, a system allowing to map domain names to an IPFS address, creating memorable aliases of the objects referred to.<\/p>\nQmNr95KriEevBHikGKR5JvPfnKckiQRyNEpkb8z7yqAHg4<\/code>) available under \/ipns\/yummyfruits.ipfs.leonklingele.de\/<\/code>, simply create a TXT DNS record on the _dnslink.yummyfruits.ipfs<\/code> subdomain of your zone as follows:<\/p>\n--- a\/zones\/leonklingele.de\n+++ b\/zones\/leonklingele.de\n@@ -2,3 +2,3 @@ $TTL 3600\n@ IN SOA ns1.leonklingele.de. hostmaster.leonklingele.de. (\n- 2020022400 ; Serial number\n+ 2020022500 ; Serial number\n1800 ; Refresh (30 minutes)\n@@ -424,2 +424,3 @@ www IN A 185.183.159.234\n\n+_dnslink.yummyfruits.ipfs IN TXT "dnslink=\/ipfs\/QmNr95KriEevBHikGKR5JvPfnKckiQRyNEpkb8z7yqAHg4"<\/code><\/pre>\ndnslink<\/code> directive.<\/p>\n$ dig +short -t TXT _dnslink.yummyfruits.ipfs.leonklingele.de\n"dnslink=\/ipfs\/QmNr95KriEevBHikGKR5JvPfnKckiQRyNEpkb8z7yqAHg4"\n\n$ ipfs dns yummyfruits.ipfs.leonklingele.de\n\/ipfs\/QmNr95KriEevBHikGKR5JvPfnKckiQRyNEpkb8z7yqAHg4\n\n$ ipfs cat \/ipfs\/QmNr95KriEevBHikGKR5JvPfnKckiQRyNEpkb8z7yqAHg4\/index.html\n<ul>\n <li><a href="apple.html">Apple<\/a><\/li>\n <li><a href="banana.html">Banana<\/a><\/li>\n <li><a href="cherry.html">Cherry<\/a><\/li>\n <li><a href="date.html">Date<\/a><\/li>\n <li><a href="elder.html">Elder<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n# Or, using the IPNS name directly\n$ ipfs cat \/ipns\/yummyfruits.ipfs.leonklingele.de\/index.html\n[..] same as above\n\n# Yay!\n<\/code><\/pre>\n![\"Website](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/website-ipns-domain.png\")
<\/p>\nDealing with IPFS blocks<\/h4>\n
objects<\/code>. Objects are blocks represented in a Merkle Directed Acyclic Graph<\/a> (DAG<\/em>) but are addtionally encoded in the