Files
fips/docs/reference/cli-fips.md
T
Johnathan Corgan b4e9bfbc08 Stop writing the identity key file in ephemeral mode
An ephemeral node wrote the private key of an identity it discards on
every restart to fips.key, and overwrote any key already at that path,
including an operator's key in the case where persistent: true was
forgotten. It now writes only fips.pub, so the running npub stays
visible, and holds the private key in memory only.

A fips.key found at an ephemeral start is moved aside to
fips.key.unused with a warning rather than used or overwritten, so an
operator's key is recoverable and a stale key from an earlier release
stops being read by fipsctl address. If that name is already taken or
the rename fails, the file is left in place, a warning says so, and the
start continues.

Persistent and explicit-nsec identities are unchanged. The keygen
note, the Windows service installer's closing note, and the
documentation that described the old write are corrected, including
the persistent identity how-to, which told operators to start once in
ephemeral mode and then pin the key it wrote.
2026-09-27 19:35:11 +00:00

105 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown

# `fips`
The FIPS mesh network daemon.
## Synopsis
```text
fips [-c FILE]
```
On Windows the same binary additionally accepts `--install-service`,
`--uninstall-service`, and (used internally by the service control
manager) `--service`.
## Description
`fips` is the FIPS daemon. It loads a YAML configuration, resolves an
identity, brings up the TUN adapter, listens on configured transports,
authenticates peers, maintains the spanning tree, and forwards mesh
traffic. There is one daemon per node.
The daemon stays in the foreground, logging to stderr, until it
receives `SIGINT` or `SIGTERM`. On Windows, the service variant is
controlled through the standard service control manager.
## Options
| Flag | Argument | Description |
| ---- | -------- | ----------- |
| `-c`, `--config` | `FILE` | Use `FILE` as the configuration. Skips the default search paths. |
| `-V` | — | Print the short version, `<version> (rev <git-hash>)`. The `rev` part is omitted when the build could not read a git revision, as in a package built from a git worktree. |
| `--version` | — | Print the long version: short version plus build target triple. |
| `-h`, `--help` | — | Print usage and exit. |
| `--install-service` | — | (Windows only) Install `fips` as a Windows service. Requires Administrator. |
| `--uninstall-service` | — | (Windows only) Uninstall the Windows service. Requires Administrator. |
| `--service` | — | (Windows only, internal) Run as a Windows service. Invoked by the service control manager — not for direct use. |
There are no other CLI flags; all daemon behaviour is governed by the
YAML configuration. See [configuration.md](configuration.md).
## Exit Codes
| Code | Meaning |
| ---- | ------- |
| `0` | Clean shutdown after `SIGINT` / `SIGTERM`. |
| `1` | Failed to load configuration, resolve identity, construct the node, or start the node. The reason is printed to stderr before exit. |
## Environment
| Variable | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `RUST_LOG` | Tracing filter directive. Overrides `node.log_level` from the config. Examples: `info`, `debug`, `fips=trace,fips::node::handlers::mmp=debug`. |
| `XDG_RUNTIME_DIR` | Used to derive the default control-socket path when `/run/fips` does not exist. See [control-socket.md](control-socket.md). |
| `FIPS_CONFIG` | (Windows service mode only) Path to the configuration file when the daemon runs under the service control manager. |
The daemon also clamps the `nostr_relay_pool`, `nostr_sdk`, and `nostr`
log targets to `info` whenever the effective log level is below
`trace`, so that `RUST_LOG=debug` does not flood the journal with raw
relay frames. To see those frames, set the level to `trace`.
## Files
`fips` looks for `fips.yaml` in the following locations, lowest to
highest priority. All present files are merged in priority order; the
highest-priority value wins.
| Priority | Path | Purpose |
| -------- | ---- | ------- |
| 1 | `/usr/local/etc/fips/fips.yaml` (macOS, FreeBSD), `C:\ProgramData\fips\fips.yaml` (Windows), `/etc/fips/fips.yaml` (other Unix) | System-wide defaults |
| 2 | `~/.config/fips/fips.yaml` (`%APPDATA%\fips\fips.yaml` on Windows) | User preferences |
| 3 | `~/.fips.yaml` | Legacy user config |
| 4 | `./fips.yaml` | Deployment-specific overrides |
On macOS and FreeBSD both system directories are probed: `/etc/fips`
first, then `/usr/local/etc/fips`, so the packaged file wins over a
leftover `/etc/fips` copy from an earlier install. Windows likewise
probes `\etc\fips` on the current drive, then `C:\ProgramData\fips`.
Adjacent to the highest-priority config file the daemon keeps the
identity files:
| File | Mode | Purpose |
| ---- | ---- | ------- |
| `fips.key` | `0600` | Bech32 nsec for the persistent identity, written only in persistent mode (Unix; on Windows the file takes its directory's ACL, which `install-service.ps1` restricts to SYSTEM and Administrators). |
| `fips.pub` | `0644` | Bech32 npub of the running identity, written on every start. In persistent mode it corresponds to `fips.key`. |
When `node.identity.persistent` is `false` (the default), a fresh
keypair is generated on every start and only `fips.pub` is written.
A `fips.key` found there is moved aside to `fips.key.unused` and a
warning is logged.
On Windows the service writes its log to `C:\ProgramData\fips\fips.log`,
rolled at 10 MiB with four old files kept; a foreground run logs to the
console.
The control socket path is derived per
[control-socket.md](control-socket.md).
## See also
- [`fipsctl`](cli-fipsctl.md) — control-socket client.
- [`fipstop`](cli-fipstop.md) — live-status TUI.
- [configuration.md](configuration.md) — YAML reference.
- [control-socket.md](control-socket.md) — control-socket protocol.