diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index e69de29..6cd7da7 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,83 @@ +# Intro + +The repository is missing link to run [Bitmessage](http://bitmessage.org) +as a docker container and provide IMAP and SMTP access for communications. + +It is baseed on [Notbit](https://github.com/bpeel/notbit) which is a minimal client for the +network. + +That way the bitmessage network can be used with +any compliant mail program such as Thunderbird or Apple Mail. + +Also note Notbit is a work in progress and currently has some limitations. +It can already send and receive messages to regular addresses but it +doesn't yet support channels or broadcasts. + +The docker image is compact (~20MB) alpine-based, can run on Linux / Mac / Windows with +appropriate setup of Mail client supporting IMAP and SMTP + +# Disclaimer + +I am not a cryptography expert and I don't know whether Notbit or the +Bitmessage protocol is actually safe for secure communications. I +wouldn't recommend using for anything highly sensitive. + +# Running bitmessage docker container + +First you may want to have dedicated docker volume for bitmessage data (keys etc): + +```bash +docker volume create bm-data +``` + +Then the docker container can be started with appropriate port mappings for IMAP (143) and SMTP(25). + +```bash +docker run -v bm-data:/data -d --name bm -p 8444:8444 -p 127.0.0.1:25:2525 -p 127.0.0.1:143:143 yshurik/bitmessage:latest +``` + +Note that on Mac it can be tricky way to access the volume files directly, so you may prefer to map just exisitng folder: + + + +From example above you can setup the Thunderbird to use IMAP from localhost, port 143, user: bm, password: bm. +For sending use SMTP localhost port 25 (no auth and credential) + +Not that in example above port 25,143 are mapped to 127.0.0.1 only so IMAP and SMTP can be accessed only from local machine. + +Port 8444 (bitmessage) is mapped to all interfaces to make network connectivity with other peers. + +# Creating an address + +TDOD: generate initial address by first start + +# Importing addresses + +If you already have some addresses from the official PyBitmessage +client you can import these directly by copying over the keys.dat. +file. To do this, make sure the container is stopped then +type: + +```bash +docker stop bm +cp ~/.config/PyBitmessage/keys.dat /notbit/keys.dat +chown 1000.1000 /notbit/keys.dat +docker start bm +``` + +# Addresses format + +The addresses used can not be real email +addresses but instead they must be of the form +`@bitmessage`. + +# Messages content-type limitations + +Note that any messages you send must have the content type set to +`text/plain` and can't contain any attachments. This means that HTML +messages won't work. They must use either the us-ascii encoding or +UTF-8. + + + +