js-libp2p/examples/auto-relay

Auto relay

Auto Relay enables libp2p nodes to dynamically find and bind to relays on the network. Once binding (listening) is done, the node can and should advertise its addresses on the network, allowing any other node to dial it over its bound relay(s). While direct connections to nodes are preferable, it's not always possible to do so due to NATs or browser limitations.

0. Setup the example

Before moving into the examples, you should run npm install on the top level js-libp2p folder, in order to install all the dependencies needed for this example. Once the install finishes, you should move into the example folder with cd examples/auto-relay.

This example comes with 3 main files. A relay.js file to be used in the first step, a listener.js file to be used in the second step and a dialer.js file to be used on the third step. All of these scripts will run their own libp2p node, which will interact with the previous ones. All nodes must be running in order for you to proceed.

1. Set up a relay node

In the first step of this example, we need to configure and run a relay node in order for our target node to bind to for accepting inbound connections.

The relay node will need to have its relay subsystem enabled, as well as its HOP capability. It can be configured as follows:

import { createLibp2p } from 'libp2p'
import { WebSockets } from '@libp2p/websockets'
import { Noise } from '@chainsafe/libp2p-noise'
import { Mplex } from '@libp2p/mplex'

const node = await createLibp2p({
  transports: [new WebSockets()],
  connectionEncryption: [new Noise()],
  streamMuxers: [new Mplex()]
  addresses: {
    listen: ['/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/0/ws']
    // TODO check "What is next?" section
    // announce: ['/dns4/auto-relay.libp2p.io/tcp/443/wss/p2p/QmWDn2LY8nannvSWJzruUYoLZ4vV83vfCBwd8DipvdgQc3']
  },
  relay: {
    enabled: true,
    hop: {
      enabled: true
    },
    advertise: {
      enabled: true,
    }
  }
})

await node.start()

console.log(`Node started with id ${node.peerId.toB58String()}`)
console.log('Listening on:')
node.multiaddrs.forEach((ma) => console.log(`${ma.toString()}/p2p/${node.peerId.toB58String()}`))

The Relay HOP advertise functionality is NOT required to be enabled. However, if you are interested in advertising on the network that this node is available to be used as a HOP Relay you can enable it. A content router module or Rendezvous needs to be configured to leverage this option.

You should now run the following to start the relay node:

node relay.js

This should print out something similar to the following:

Node started with id QmWDn2LY8nannvSWJzruUYoLZ4vV83vfCBwd8DipvdgQc3
Listening on:
/ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/61592/ws/p2p/QmWDn2LY8nannvSWJzruUYoLZ4vV83vfCBwd8DipvdgQc3
/ip4/192.168.1.120/tcp/61592/ws/p2p/QmWDn2LY8nannvSWJzruUYoLZ4vV83vfCBwd8DipvdgQc3

2. Set up a listener node with Auto Relay Enabled

One of the typical use cases for Auto Relay is nodes behind a NAT or browser nodes due to their inability to expose a public address. For running a libp2p node that automatically binds itself to connected HOP relays, you can see the following:

import { createLibp2p } from 'libp2p'
import { WebSockets } from '@libp2p/websockets'
import { Noise } from '@chainsafe/libp2p-noise'
import { Mplex } from '@libp2p/mplex'

const relayAddr = process.argv[2]
if (!relayAddr) {
  throw new Error('the relay address needs to be specified as a parameter')
}

const node = await createLibp2p({
  transports: [new WebSockets()],
  connectionEncryption: [new Noise()],
  streamMuxers: [new Mplex()],
  relay: {
    enabled: true,
    autoRelay: {
      enabled: true,
      maxListeners: 2
    }
  }
})

await node.start()
console.log(`Node started with id ${node.peerId.toB58String()}`)

const conn = await node.dial(relayAddr)

console.log(`Connected to the HOP relay ${conn.remotePeer.toString()}`)

// Wait for connection and relay to be bind for the example purpose
node.peerStore.on('change:multiaddrs', ({ peerId }) => {
  // Updated self multiaddrs?
  if (peerId.equals(node.peerId)) {
    console.log(`Advertising with a relay address of ${node.multiaddrs[0].toString()}/p2p/${node.peerId.toB58String()}`)
  }
})

As you can see in the code, we need to provide the relay address, relayAddr, as a process argument. This node will dial the provided relay address and automatically bind to it.

You should now run the following to start the node running Auto Relay:

node listener.js /ip4/192.168.1.120/tcp/61592/ws/p2p/QmWDn2LY8nannvSWJzruUYoLZ4vV83vfCBwd8DipvdgQc3

This should print out something similar to the following:

Node started with id QmerrWofKF358JE6gv3z74cEAyL7z1KqhuUoVfGEynqjRm
Connected to the HOP relay QmWDn2LY8nannvSWJzruUYoLZ4vV83vfCBwd8DipvdgQc3
Advertising with a relay address of /ip4/192.168.1.120/tcp/61592/ws/p2p/QmWDn2LY8nannvSWJzruUYoLZ4vV83vfCBwd8DipvdgQc3/p2p-circuit/p2p/QmerrWofKF358JE6gv3z74cEAyL7z1KqhuUoVfGEynqjRm

Per the address, it is possible to verify that the auto relay node is listening on the circuit relay node address.

Instead of dialing this relay manually, you could set up this node with the Bootstrap module and provide it in the bootstrap list. Moreover, you can use other peer-discovery modules to discover peers in the network and the node will automatically bind to the relays that support HOP until reaching the maximum number of listeners.

3. Set up a dialer node for testing connectivity

Now that you have a relay node and a node bound to that relay, you can test connecting to the auto relay node via the relay.

import { createLibp2p } from 'libp2p'
import { WebSockets } from '@libp2p/websockets'
import { Noise } from '@chainsafe/libp2p-noise'
import { Mplex } from '@libp2p/mplex'

const autoRelayNodeAddr = process.argv[2]
if (!autoRelayNodeAddr) {
  throw new Error('the auto relay node address needs to be specified')
}

const node = await createLibp2p({
  transports: [new WebSockets()],
  connectionEncryption: [new Noise()],
  streamMuxers: [new Mplex()]
})

await node.start()
console.log(`Node started with id ${node.peerId.toB58String()}`)

const conn = await node.dial(autoRelayNodeAddr)
console.log(`Connected to the auto relay node via ${conn.remoteAddr.toString()}`)

You should now run the following to start the relay node using the listen address from step 2:

node dialer.js /ip4/192.168.1.120/tcp/61592/ws/p2p/QmWDn2LY8nannvSWJzruUYoLZ4vV83vfCBwd8DipvdgQc3

Once you start your test node, it should print out something similar to the following:

Node started: Qme7iEzDxFoFhhkrsrkHkMnM11aPYjysaehP4NZeUfVMKG
Connected to the auto relay node via /ip4/192.168.1.120/tcp/61592/ws/p2p/QmWDn2LY8nannvSWJzruUYoLZ4vV83vfCBwd8DipvdgQc3/p2p-circuit/p2p/QmerrWofKF358JE6gv3z74cEAyL7z1KqhuUoVfGEynqjRm

As you can see from the output, the remote address of the established connection uses the relayed connection.

4. What is next?

Before moving into production, there are a few things that you should take into account.

A relay node should not advertise its private address in a real world scenario, as the node would not be reachable by others. You should provide an array of public addresses in the libp2p addresses.announce option. If you are using websockets, bear in mind that due to browser’s security policies you cannot establish unencrypted connection from secure context. The simplest solution is to setup SSL with nginx and proxy to the node and setup a domain name for the certificate.