The I2P Software (I2P)

When you install the I2P software made available at geti2p.net, you are actually installing an I2P router and an accompanying bundle of basic applications. The I2P Java distribution is the first I2P software gateway and has been actively developed since 2003.

The applications are made available through a webUI, which listens at 127.0.0.1:7657, and the main page of which is called the “Router Console,” where you monitor the health of your connection to the network and access applications to use on the network.

What is included:

The Set Up Wizard: When you download the I2P software, a set up wizard will guide you through a few configuration steps while your router is making its first connections to the network. This happens the same way that your home router connects you to the Internet. During the set up process, you will be given the option to test your bandwidth and set your bandwidth limits in order to ensure a good connection as a network peer.

The I2P Router Console: Here is where you can see your network connections and information about your router. You will be able to see how many peers you have, and other information that will help if you need to troubleshoot. You can stop and start the router as well. You will see the applications that the software includes, as well as links to some community forums and sites on the I2P network. You will receive news when there is a a new software release, and will be able to download the latest version here as well. Additionally, you can find shortcuts to other available applications. The console is customizable and includes a default light theme with a dark theme option.

SusiMail: SusiMail is a secure email client. It is primarily intended for use with Postman’s email servers inside of the I2P network . It is designed to avoid leaking information about email use to other networks. SusiMail is bridged so it can send and receive email from the internet as well. Occasionally you may see some services like Gmail classifying it as spam, which you can correct in your Internet email service providers settings.

I2PSnark: Snark is an I2P network only BitTorrent client. It never makes a connection to a peer over any other network.

The Address Book: This is a locally-defined list of human-readable addresses ( ie: i2p-projekt.i2p) and corresponding I2P addresses.(udhdrtrcetjm5sxzskjyr5ztpeszydbh4dpl3pl4utgqqw2v4jna.b32.i2p) It integrates with other applications to allow you to use those human-readable addresses in place of those I2P addresses. It is more similar to a hosts file or a contact list than a network database or a DNS service. There is no recognized global namespace, you decide what any given .i2p domain maps to in the end.

The QR Code Generator: Besides the Address Book, I2P addresses can be shared by converting them into QR codes and scanning them with a camera. This is especially useful for Android devices.

I2P Hidden Services Manager This is a general-purpose adapter for forwarding services ( ie SSH ) into I2P and proxying client requests to and from I2P. It provides a variety of “Tunnel Types” which are able to do advance filtering of traffic before it reaches I2P.

Applications Outside I2P to use with I2P

Mozilla Firefox: A web browser with advanced privacy and security features, this is the best browser to configure to browse I2P sites.

Chromium: A web browser developed by Google that is the Open-Source base of Google Chrome, this is sometimes used as an alternative to Firefox.

BiglyBT: A Feature-Rich bittorrent client including I2P support and the unique ability to “Bridge” regular torrents in-to I2P so people can download them anonymously.

OpenSSH: OpenSSH is a popular program used by systems administrators to remotely administer a server, or to provide “Shell” accounts for users on the server.

Git/Gitlab: Git is a source-code control tool which is distributed, and often recommends a fork-first workflow. Hosting source code on I2P is an important activity, so Gitlab-specific instructions are available for all to use.

Debian and Ubuntu GNU/Linux: It is possible to obtain packages for Debian and Ubuntu GNU/Linux over I2P using apt-transport-i2p and apt-transport-i2phttp. In the future, a bittorrent-based transport may also be developed.

Applications for Developers to create new things

The SAM API Bridge: The SAM API is a language-independent API for writing applications that are I2P-native by communicating with the local I2P router. It can provide Streaming-like capabilities, Anonymous Datagrams, or Repliable Datagrams.

The BOB API Bridge: This is a deprecated technology, BOB users should migrate to SAM if it is possible for them to do so.

The I2CP API: Not strictly an application, this is how Java applications communicate with the I2P router to set up tunnels, generate and manage keys, and communicate with other peers on the network.