Welcome to the I2P Anonymity Network
- Starting Up…
If you've just started I2P, the number of active peers indicated under the Peers Section in router sidepanel on the left should start to grow over the next few minutes and you'll see a "shared clients" local destination
listed at the bottom of the sidepanel on the left (if not, see below). The first time you start I2P it may take a few minutes to bootstrap you into the network and find additional peers to optimize your integration, so please be patient. Once green stars are indicated next to your local destinations, there are a range of things to do with I2P, and below we introduce you to some of them.
Services on I2P
- Anonymous File Transfer
I2PSnark is integrated into I2P, providing anonymous, encrypted BitTorrent transfers. In addition, Sponge develops a bittorrent client called Robert written in Python. There is also a port of eMule to I2P called iMule [Urgently needs developers!], a hookup into the gnutella network in the shape of I2Phex, and additional facilities including web-based file hosting etc.
- Anonymous E-mail
Postman's I2P-based mail system can be accessed either via I2P's built-in webmail (aka susimail) or using any mail client that supports smtp and pop3. Accounts can send and receive mail from the normal internet. For an account, visit hq.postman.i2p. Additionally, I2P-Bote is a new serverless, end-to-end encrypted e-mail system (with web interface) developed by HungryHobo, installable as a plugin.
- Anonymous Chat
Start your IRC client (eg. chatzilla)
and connect to the server at 127.0.0.1 port 6668
. Your local I2P IRC proxy on localhost:6668 will direct you to one of two IRC servers hosted on I2P by Postman and Badger, but neither you nor they know where the other is, and your mom, ISP or government is unable to intercept your conversation! Once you're there, #i2p, #i2p-help, #i2p-chat and #i2p-dev are just a few of the available channels you may wish to /join. There's also a I2P based instant messenger for unmonitorable, uncensorable, anonymous chat.
- Forums & Blogging
Syndie is a distributed forum and blogging platform for I2P [Urgently needs developers!]. There's also an I2P plugin port of the Java-based pebble blogging platform ported to I2P by zzz, available on i2plugins.i2p. And of course all normal blogging, forum and cms software will run over I2P, though you're advised to take extra precautions with security when setting up and keep all associated software (eg. Php, MySql, Python, Apache etc) up to date and locked down!
- Plugins for I2P
Extend the usefulness of I2P by installing plugins… blogging, chatting, filesharing and other plugins have already been written or ported and await your installation! Browse the plugins and related info at i2plugins.i2p. If you're a developer, a complete language agnostic framework for writing your own plugins is provided with documentation; I2P plugins can be coded in any language.
- I2P Darknet & Public Web browsing
On I2P you can host anonymous websites (aka eepsites) and other services (eg. ssh over I2p, your own irc server etc), and you can also access the normal web anonymously via I2P. Configure your browser to use the HTTP proxy I2P provides at 127.0.0.1 port 4444
, then
browse to an eepsite or a normal http://
address. Below we list some of the sites hosted on I2P.
Anonymous Encrypted Webserving on I2P
- Ready to roll!
I2P comes built-in with a ready-to-go webserver for hosting your own anonymous website (eepsite) on the I2P darknet: a Jetty instance listening on http://127.0.0.1:7658/. To host your own content
simply place your files in the eepsite/docroot/
directory (or place
any standard JSP/Servlet .war
files under eepsite/webapps
,
or standard CGI script under eepsite/cgi-bin
) and they'll show
up. You can also run any alternative webserver platform over I2P and replace the built-in server, or run it on another tunnel.
- Start your tunnel
After starting up your pre-configured I2P Webserver tunnel,
your eepsite will be visible (but not discoverable) to others. Detailed instructions for starting
your eepsite, registering an .i2p domain and promoting your site to others are accessible via your own I2P websever on http://127.0.0.1:7658/help/.
I2P-hosted Sites of interest
- Invisible Internet Project (I2P) Official Website
www.i2p2.i2p and
mirror i2p-projekt.i2p: Secure and
anonymous connections to www.i2p2.de. There's also an official mirror running on geti2p.net. If you want to know more about how I2P works or how you can participate, this is your first port of call!
- I2P Community Forums
forum.i2p: A secure
and anonymous connection to forum.i2p2.de, an online forum community where developers and users alike discuss problems and ideas relating to I2P and associated topics, and zzz's developer forums for users and developers alike.
- I2P Anonymous Pastebin
paste.i2p2.i2p: Secure and
anonymous paste service allowing anonymous text and text-based code sharing over I2P.
- Echelon's I2P Resources
echelon.i2p: I2P Software
archive with source code (where permissible), information about I2P including a beginner's guide & pre-release developer builds of I2P for the adventurous to try.
- Ugha's Wiki
ugha.i2p: An open wiki that anyone can edit with plenty of information about I2P, help for beginners, additional links into the network etc.
- I2P to Freenet Proxy
fproxy.tino.i2p:
Peer into the filesharing world of the Freenet darknet with Tino's I2P to Freenet proxy.
- Eepsite Search Engine
eepsites.i2p: An
anonymously hosted eepsite search engine.
- Explore the darknet!
There are many more eepsites - just follow the links from the ones you see,
bookmark your favorites, and visit them often! There's a custom build of Firefox built especially for I2P called I2PFox you might like to investigate for locked down darknet exploration!
- Be patient!
I2P may be slow to start the first time as it searches for peers.
If, after 30 minutes, your Active: connected/recent count has less than 10 connected
peers, you should open I2P's port on your modem, router and/or firewall(s) for better connectivity. More information on how to go about port forwarding can be found at portforward.com, in addition to our forums and irc channels listed elsewhere.
- Check your proxy setttings
If
you cannot see any eepsites at all (even www.i2p2.i2p),
be sure your browser proxy is set to access http traffic (not https, not socks) via 127.0.0.1 port 4444
. If you need some help, there's a guide to configuring your browser for I2P use also available on the normal net.
- Getting support online
You may also want
to review the information on the I2P website,
post up messages to the I2P discussion forum,
or swing by
#i2p-help, #i2p or #i2p-chat on I2P's internal IRC network (irc.postman.i2p
or irc.freshcoffee.i2p
). These channels are also available outside of I2P's encrypted, anonymous servers via Freenode IRC.
- Reporting Bugs
If you'd like to report a bug, please file a ticket on trac.i2p2.i2p. For developer related discussions, please visit zzz's developer forums or come and visit the developer channel on I2P's IRC network. Developers can browse source at zzz's mtn repository viewer or Sponge's instance, or via trac.i2p2.i2p.
- Get Involved!
I2P is developed and maintained entirely through unfunded, voluntary participation by community members. We're always looking for capable Java coders and translators to help I2P grow. For further info on how you can help visit the website. Thanks in advance!