# Urbit Urbit is a clean-slate system software stack. It's patent-free and MIT licensed. It runs its own encrypted P2P network over UDP. At present urbit is under heavy development. It's not useful for any external purpose. Documentation is completely inadequate. Anyone can try the interpreter, of course, but the network is officially invitation-only. If you're interested in keeping in touch or following the project you can: - Give us your email address at [urbit.org](http://urbit.org). - Check out the [urbit-dev](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/urbit-dev) mailing list. - Follow [@urbit_](https://twitter.com/urbit\_) on Twitter. - Hit us up by email, . We're nice! Install a package ----------------- #### OS X - Homebrew brew install --HEAD homebrew/head-only/urbit #### Ubuntu or Debian Third-party packages are available, at: https://github.com/yebyen/urbit-deb Urbit is only supported on Jessie onward (but outgoing HTTPS requests only work on Stretch; I wish we knew why; if you have an idea why or just think you can help, please let us know). Install by hand --------------- First, install all our external dependencies. Then, make. ### Dependencies urbit depends on: gcc (or clang) gmp libsigsegv openssl automake autoconf ragel cmake re2c libtool libssl-dev (Linux only) ncurses (Linux only) #### Ubuntu or Debian sudo apt-get install libgmp3-dev libsigsegv-dev openssl libssl-dev libncurses5-dev git make exuberant-ctags automake autoconf libtool g++ ragel cmake re2c #### Fedora sudo dnf install gcc gcc-c++ git gmp-devel openssl-devel openssl ncurses-devel libsigsegv-devel ctags automake autoconf libtool ragel cmake re2c #### AWS sudo yum --enablerepo epel install gcc gcc-c++ git gmp-devel openssl-devel ncurses-devel libsigsegv-devel ctags automake autoconf libtool cmake re2c #### OS X - Homebrew brew install git gmp libsigsegv openssl libtool autoconf automake cmake #### OS X - Macports sudo port install git gmp libsigsegv openssl autoconf automake cmake Although `automake`/`autoconf`/`libtool` are generally installed by default, some have reported needing to uninstall and reinstall those three packages, at least with Homebrew. Your mileage may vary. #### FreeBSD pkg install git gmake gmp libsigsegv openssl automake autoconf ragel cmake re2c libtool ### Build instructions Clone the repo: git clone git://github.com/urbit/urbit.git `cd` to the directory you just created: cd urbit Run `make`: make (On FreeBSD, use `gmake` instead.) The executable is `bin/urbit`. Install it somewhere, or just use it in place. Create your urbit --------------- Urbit is a semi-decentralized P2P network. So you may or may not have an invitation. If you have an invitation, it's a *ticket* that lets you create a 32-bit Urbit plot, aka *planet*. If you don't have an invitation, you have to create a 128-bit plot, aka *comet*. As a comet, you're not necessarily a bad person. But you could be anyone, so you have zero reputation. You have no official access to any Urbit services. Any connectivity you may enjoy could be shut off at any time. And probably will be. If you have an invitation, it's a planet like `~fintud-macrep` and a ticket like `~fortyv-tombyt-tabsen-sonres`. Run urbit -w fintud-macrep -t fortyv-tombyt-tabsen-sonres If you don't, pick a nickname for your comet, like `mycomet`. Urbit will randomly generate a 128-bit address, but urbit -c mycomet Either way, creating your urbit will take some time. Go get a cup of coffee. Some of this time involves creating keys; some of it involves downloading code over Urbit itself. Note that Urbit is a P2P network that runs over random UDP ports; some firewalls may not like it. Urbit without connectivity isn't useless, but it can't boot without the network. But however horribly hacked, the `urbit` process can only read and write inside the `fintud-macrep` or `mycomet` directory, which we call your *pier*. A pier is portable; any Urbit install on any OS can execute the same pier. In the pier directory is a set of user-level mount points. Mount points are synced Dropbox style, with Unix file changes autocommitted to the Urbit revision control system (`%clay`) and vice versa. You edit Urbit code with vim and emacs, or whatever. Also within the pier is a system directory, `.urb`, which contains an event log (`egz.hope`), a checkpoint (`.chk`), and I/O directories for uploads and downloads (`put` and `get`). You can compact the pier by deleting the checkpoint, although that means Urbit needs to re-execute its entire event history. This will take some time. Go have a beer. When it's created (and before it calls `chroot()`), your urbit creates a passcode file, with a name like `~posluc-darnup`, in `~/.urbit`. If you want to encrypt the checkpoint and log, delete this file; Urbit will prompt you for its contents. Please be warned that Urbit is not at present secure in any way! Wait until you see a prompt, like ~fintud-macrep:talk> and then press ^D to quit. Your urbit is born. Execute ------- To restart your urbit, run with the pier name: urbit fintud-macrep urbit mycomet Your Urbit is a database, at least in theory. You can kill the process however you like, and it won't lose state. In theory. In practice, this works better on OS X than Linux. Also, don't let your filesystem run out of disk! Out of the box, your urbit is running two default appliances, `:dojo` (a shell or REPL) and `:talk`. Switch between them with `^X`. Note that all apps share an output log, but `^X` switches the prompt. `^D` from any default appliance exits the urbit process. Learn more ---------- Your urbit is a web server, so the best place to read about it is in your browser. Urbit prints the HTTP port it's serving when it starts up: http: live (insecure) on 8080 8080 is the default. If you're running on AWS or another cloud service, this port may be firewalled; go to the firewall configuration to open it. In a last resort, you can use our server, doznec.urbit.org. Or just talk ------------ Use `^X` to get into `:talk`, and From `:talk`, ~ Doing more ---------- To test the dojo, run Doing more From either of the core directory. Your pier (all Urbit state, log and checkpoint) will be in `./fintud-macrep`. The format is portable. Doing `rm -r fintud-macrep/.urb/chk` will delete the checkpoint, meaning all your events need to be recomputed, but making the image smaller. bin/urbit fintud-macrep Run (without a network invitation) ---------------------------------- To create a comet (128-bit urbit) in the Unix directory `mycomet`: bin/urbit -c mycomet This will take a little while. Go smoke a bowl. This process can only read and write files within `mycomet`. To quit Urbit (without destroying any data, since Urbit is a database): ^D. To start your comet again, omit the `-c` flag: bin/urbit mypier Learn these two control keys first: ^D to quit Urbit (from either of the two core applications), Basics ------ `^v` will switch between the task manager and the focussed process. `^x` will switch between processes. To start a process that is not yet started, run `*proc` from the task manager. To connect your console to a process that has already been started, run `+proc` from the task manager. Note that the process must be one that supports console access, such as dojo and talk. `^d` will exit the pier from the task manager. No matter how you shut your urbit down you'll be returned to exactly the same state as when you turned it off. Talk ---- If you're on the network, you can use its most basic application, `talk`. If `talk` is not running, start it with `*talk` from the task manager. Use `^x` to switch to the `talk` prompt and then run ;join ~doznec/urbit-meta to join the `urbit-meta` channel. People in there are helpful. There are three main `talk` commands: ;join ~urbit-name/channel `;join` subscribes your main feed to a remote channel. ; `;` activates a previous message number, like a URL that got clipped. ; `;` sets the target for your messages, such as `;~urbit-name` for a private message. Filesystem Sync --------------- The Urbit filesystem, `%clay` doesn't automatically sync to unix. If you'd like to browse the contents of your Urbit from unix you'll need to use `|mount`. `|mount` creates a mirror in unix of files from `%clay` that is always watching for changes. To sync your entire `home/` desk run: |mount % you should see a directory called `home/` get created inside your pier. When you change files in this directory the changes will get synced into your urbit. Since each mount point is always watching for changes you may also want to unmount from time to time. The full syntax is as follows (from `dojo`): |mount [] The `` is optional and defaults to the last part of the ``. |unmount or: |unmount Sysadmin -------- For the most part, updates to the system are automatically synced to your urbit across the network. When we make updates to the interpreter you should be able to shut down your urbit and: git pull origin master make bin/urbit pier where pier is the name of your pier. While the network is still young from time to time we reboot the entire universe. We call this a 'continuity breach' since we're breaking the continuity of our crypto. When this happens you'll need to back up your data and start a fresh pier. Your original ticket will still work. Contributing ------------ The first step in contributing to urbit is to come and join us on `:talk`. For more detailed instructions check out [`contributing.md`](https://github.com/urbit/urbit/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md),.