Files
fips/docs/reference/cli-fips.md
T
redshiftandJohnathan Corgan cdb03c76b0 Follow the macOS install layout for config, ACL, and identity paths
The macOS packaging installs config under /usr/local/etc/fips, wired through
the launchd plist and build-pkg.sh, but the default-path constants and the
config search path were hardcoded to /etc/fips for all Unix. On macOS the
daemon and fipsctl therefore looked in a directory that does not exist: the
ACL and host-map loaders hit their NotFound no-op arm and returned empty
state, so a populated peers.deny reported effective_mode "default_open" with
enforcement inactive, and host-file aliases went unloaded, with no error.

The peers.allow, peers.deny and hosts defaults now follow the platform's
packaging, and fipsctl keygen writes its identity there too. The config
search path keeps probing /etc/fips first and adds /usr/local/etc/fips after
it, so an existing install keeps working across the upgrade and the packaged
file still wins over a stale leftover. Both the macOS search-path entry and
the keygen output directory read one SYSTEM_CONFIG_DIR constant, so they
cannot drift apart. At startup the daemon warns once about hosts, peers.allow
or peers.deny stranded at the old location; the config file is deliberately
excluded, since both directories stay on the search path and a config left
behind is still read.

The control-socket snapshot tests repoint the ACL reloader at non-existent
paths under the temp dir, so the snapshot no longer reflects whatever ACL
files happen to exist on the machine running the tests.

Platform-gated unit tests pin both layouts, so a future refactor cannot
silently drift either one. Linux and Windows behavior is unchanged.

Adding a second system config directory moves the directory the daemon
derives the identity key path from, since that comes from whichever config
file loaded last. A host carrying fips.yaml at both locations would have
resolved fips.key to the new directory, found none, and under persistent
generated a fresh identity, silently changing its npub, routing address and
mesh IPv6 with no migration path. The daemon now adopts a key stranded at the
legacy path and warns to move it rather than generating one. The fallback is
confined to keys resolved from the system config directory, so a run using
./fips.yaml or a user config is never redirected to a system key.

Co-authored-by: Johnathan Corgan <johnathan@corganlabs.com>
2026-08-09 13:40:56 +00:00

94 lines
3.8 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 (e.g. `0.4.0 (rev abcdef1)`). |
| `--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), `/etc/fips/fips.yaml` (other Unix) | System-wide defaults |
| 2 | `~/.config/fips/fips.yaml` | User preferences |
| 3 | `~/.fips.yaml` | Legacy user config |
| 4 | `./fips.yaml` | Deployment-specific overrides |
Adjacent to the highest-priority config file the daemon reads (or
writes, on first start) the identity files:
| File | Mode | Purpose |
| ---- | ---- | ------- |
| `fips.key` | `0600` | Bech32 nsec for the persistent identity (Unix only; Windows inherits parent ACLs). |
| `fips.pub` | `0644` | Bech32 npub corresponding to `fips.key`. |
When `node.identity.persistent` is `false` (the default), a fresh
keypair is written to these files on every start.
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.