Bootstrapping
Introduction
Bootstrapping is the process where the Polykey agent sets itself up as a new Polykey node. This involves creating the encrypted-at-rest node state, and connecting to the mainnet or a custom specified network domain.
Setting Up Your Node
Creating the Root Key
When you first start the Polykey agent, it automatically generates a random root key.
This root key is an asymmetric key pair consisting of a public key representing your identity and used for verifying signatures, and a private key which is used for signing.
Afterwards, encryption keys are derived from this root key, which is used for encryption and decryption of all node state and secret data managed by Polykey.
You will be prompted to provide a root password. This password encrypts the root key.
Remember to keep your password in a secure location as you will need it each time you start the Polykey agent.
Starting the Polykey Agent
You can start the Polykey agent in the foreground of your terminal by running:
polykey agent start --verbose
Running the agent in the foreground allows you to monitor its output directly in the terminal. Ensure this terminal session remains active to keep the agent running. You can execute Polykey commands from any other terminal session while this runs.
Starting Polykey in the Background
Alternatively, in the demo video and other scenarios where you do not wish to occupy your terminal, you can start the agent in the background:
polykey agent start --verbose --background
Stopping the Polykey Agent
You can stop the Polykey agent by pressing Control+C in the terminal where it's running in the foreground, or by running:
polykey agent stop
Troubleshooting
If the Polykey agent does not terminate properly, you can force quit the process through the Activity Monitor on your machine. If you encounter this or any other issue, please consider making a bug report to help improve Polykey.
Check Agent Status
To check the status of your Polykey node, use the following command:
polykey agent status
This command provides detailed information about your node's current state, including its connectivity and activity within the network.
Example Output
status LIVE
pid 96992
nodeId vgijtpv0h8m1eajeir77g73muq88n5kj0413t6fjdqsv9kt8dq4pg
clientHost ::1
clientPort 54975
agentHost ::
agentPort 60358
upTime 8
startTime 1716509093
connectionsActive 3
nodesTotal 11
version 1.2.3-alpha.4-1-1
sourceVersion 1.2.3-alpha.4
stateVersion 1
networkVersion 1
Check Network Status
When your agent has started, it should show as a node on the network. By default the network is mainnet. Check out the network dashboard to see your placement on the world map.
Monitoring Network Connections
To view the nodes currently connected to the network, including the seed nodes, run:
polykey nodes connections
This will list all active connections, including details about each node.
Example Output
host hostname nodeIdEncoded port timeout usageCount
3.145.86.40 N/A v6p14qcvvftnnscuavsehu37t22vfvnhse054pbkb3ehemmjsrdh0 1314 46873 0
13.239.117.143 N/A vncm2mkk41vgp2fmplqiu1je7b2l3v6fhgltlqf5f3f85923ve0j0 1314 116186 0
1.145.55.96 N/A vg6gldhfdstju8frtbguav2p2svmev85dvpdb34gffmiagpgjf2pg 1200 102086 0
Checking Node Activity
To determine if a specific node is active, use the ping command:
polykey nodes ping <nodeID>
This will tell you whether the node is active within the network.
Example Output
polykey nodes ping v6p14qcvvftnnscuavsehu37t22vfvnhse054pbkb3ehemmjsrdh0
Node is Active
Conclusion
Bootstrapping your node is the first step to using Polykey effectively. It prepares your node for managing and sharing secrets securely within the network. By following these guidelines, you ensure that your node is well-configured, secure, and ready for advanced operations in the Polykey ecosystem.
Stay tuned for upcoming sections where we will discuss managing multiple nodes, assigning different file paths to each node, and other advanced configurations.