Johnathan Corgan
4a1d583653
A kernel built without CONFIG_NF_CONNTRACK_PROCFS, such as Ubuntu's, has no /proc/net/nf_conntrack. The gateway then counted zero sessions for every mapping, so a mapping still carrying traffic was reclaimed on its TTL and grace period alone. When the proc file is absent, the gateway now dumps the IPv6 conntrack table over NETLINK_NETFILTER, the request conntrack -L makes, and counts each entry once per distinct destination, the same rule the proc parser applies. The choice is made on every read, because the proc file appears only once nf_conntrack is loaded. Any other proc error is still reported without falling back. When both sources fail, the per-tick warning carries the netlink error, and the startup line names both errors. The dump uses netlink-packet-netfilter 0.3, the release built on the netlink-packet-core 0.8 that rtnetlink already uses. The gateway suite now expects the netlink source line when the container has no proc file, and checks that the gateway counts the session left by the HTTP request through the first virtual IP.
FIPS Documentation
FIPS (Free Internetworking Peering System) is a self-organizing encrypted mesh network built on Nostr identities, capable of operating over arbitrary transports — local networks, the public internet, Tor, Bluetooth, or point-to-point links — without central infrastructure.
With FIPS, your machine becomes a node in the mesh with a self-generated cryptographic identity. There are two ways to deploy it.
As an overlay on top of existing IP networks, FIPS lets your node reach any other FIPS node wherever it sits — behind a NAT, on a different ISP, on a phone over cellular, on a laptop with only Bluetooth in range, or behind a Tor onion. The mesh forwards IPv6 traffic transparently and end-to-end encrypted, with no central VPN concentrator or coordinating server.
From the ground up over raw Ethernet, WiFi, or Bluetooth, FIPS provides a complete permissionless network without any pre-existing IP infrastructure, ISP, or DNS. Any node that joins the link gets routable IPv6 addresses, peer discovery, and a path to every other node automatically.
Either way, existing networking software runs over it unchanged: SSH, HTTP servers, file transfer, anything IPv6-native works the same way it would on a local network.
New to FIPS? Start with the Getting Started guide.
Documentation Sections
Tutorials
If you are starting from scratch and want a guided path to a working mesh, go here.
How-To Guides
If you have a specific task in mind — enabling a feature, deploying a component, diagnosing a problem — go here.
Reference
If you need to look up wire formats, configuration keys, command flags, or counter inventories, go here.
Design
If you want to understand how the mesh self-organizes, why FIPS makes the choices it does, or how the pieces fit together, go here.
Releases
If you want the notes for a particular version — what changed, what broke, and what to do about it on upgrade — go here.