Bison Relay

Bison Relay (BR) is a suite of programs to enable private and secure communications between any number of parties.

The server is oblivious to the contents of individual messages (i.e. all messages are E2E encrypted) and Lightning Network payments are required in order to send and receive messages.

Building

Building the software in this repository requires Go version 1.18+. Proceed with the standard method for building and installing Go binaries.

Quick Start

The following assumes there is a suitable version of the Go toolset installed.

CLI Client

The basic CLI client is available in the brclient package. It can be installed and ran by with the following commands in a checked out copy of this repository:

$ go install ./brclient
brclient

If this is the first time the client is being executed, it will by default go through the initial setup wizard and will create a file named ~/.brclient/brclient.conf to hold the config.

During the setup wizard, the user will be asked to create a dcrlnd wallet if it can't provide connection details to one. In this case, brclient will run an embedded LN wallet, including with the on-chain services necessary to fully operate it. The client will not be usable until the initial sync completes and the LN wallet is fully operational.

Note that in order to send and receive messages with other users, the associated LN wallet (either the embedded or an external one) MUST be actively managed by the user, including by having active channels and enough outbound bandwidth to be able to make the payments required by the server.

Basic Commands

The entire list of supported commands can be found by typing /help after the client is fully setup. Further information about a command be obtained by typing /help <command>.

• /ln <subcommand>: perform operations in the underlying LN wallet. Including:
  • /ln info: show info about the current LN wallet.
  • /ln newaddress: generate a deposit address for DCR that can be used to fund the on-chain wallet operations.
  • /ln openchannel: open an outbound channel to a target peer.
  • /ln requestrecv: request inbound capacity by having a remote node open a channel back to the local node (requires paying the remote node).
• /invite <filename>: generate an "invitation" file that can be sent to another user to start communicating with them.
• /add <filename>: accept the invitation to communicate with a user.
• /msg <user> <message> send a private message to a previously known user.

Client Automation

Automation (bots, integrations, etc) of a brclient instance can be done by using the clientrpc interface.

Simple Store

More information about running a simple store can be found in the /doc subdir.

Server

A private server can be executed by running:

$ go install ./brserver
$ brserver

The sample config file for a server install is available in the brserver.conf file in this repository.

Further Reading

More information about the internal architecture of bison relay can be found in the /doc subdir.

Verifying Binaries

For your security, we recommend that you verify binaries before running them. Each release contains a manifest file with SHA-256 hashes for each released binary. To ensure your downloads are authentic, you should verify that the manifest file is signed by [email protected], and that your hashed binary matches the manifest.

Detailed instructions can be found in the Decred Documentation: Verifying Binaries. New users should start there.

If you've already done this before and you still have the Decred Release keys on your GnuPG keyring, the following shorthand instructions are provided as a quick refresher:

1. Download:

   • The zip/tarball for your specific OS / architecture
   • The file manifest and hashes, ending in -manifest.txt
   • The signature for the manifest, ending in -manifest.txt.asc

2. Verify that the manifest was directly signed by the Decred project:

   $ gpg --verify <your manifest.txt.asc file>
   

   Example output:

   gpg: assuming signed data in 'brclient-v0.1.8-manifest.txt'
   gpg: Signature made 01/29/20 15:17:58 Eastern Standard Time
   gpg:                using RSA key F516ADB7A069852C7C28A02D6D897EDF518A031D
   gpg: Good signature from "Decred Release <[email protected]>" [unknown]
   gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature!
   gpg:          There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner.
   Primary key fingerprint: FD13 B683 5E24 8FAF 4BD1  838D 6DF6 34AA 7608 AF04
      Subkey fingerprint: F516 ADB7 A069 852C 7C28  A02D 6D89 7EDF 518A 031D
   

   If you see Good signature from "Decred Release <[email protected]>", then you're successful! You can trust that the manifest.txt came directly from the Decred project.

3. Verify that the hash of your downloaded zip/tarball matches the manifest hash:

   • Windows:

     • If you have 7-Zip installed, simply open up Windows Explorer, right click on the file, mouseover CRC SHA, then click SHA-256.

     • $ certutil -hashfile <your file> SHA256

   • macOS

     • $ shasum -a 256 <your file>

   • Linux

     • $ sha256sum <your file>

   Example output:

   0c43caffa428cebb8a4d3c8efb2a341220fd1c232640ff3b4403ff67e1873e1a  brclient-linux-amd64-0.1.8
   

If your output hash matches the hash from the manifest, you're done! The binary for your platform is now verified and you can be confident it was generated by the Decred Project. It's safe to install the software.

Disclaimer

BR has not been audited yet. Use wisely.

License

BR is licensed under the copyfree ISC License.