Academic research and analysis of I2P is an important part of ensuring that the software and network performs as expected and is safe for users in hostile environments.
The standard mode of operation is to have one JVM per router instance; hence running multiple copies of I2P on a single machine is inadvisable, both due to the potential resource drain and the certain port conflicts. To better facilitate setting up small test networks, I2P has a multirouter mode which enables multiple distinct routers to be run in the same JVM.
Additionally, I2P can be started in a virtual network mode. This mode disables all transports, allowing the router to be tested in isolation without network traffic. To enable this mode, add <code>i2p.vmCommSystem=true</code> to the router.config before starting.
If you are planning on conducting research on the live I2P network, please <ahref="{{ contact }}">contact us</a> before you commence your testing. While we do not discourage researchers from responsibly testing their ideas on the live network, if an attack becomes apparent and we don't have any line of communication then we will end up taking countermeasures which could interfere with the test.