I2P+ 2.4.0+ released!

Posted by z3d in I2P (edited )

I2P+ is an enhanced version of I2P that aims to deliver a superior user experience. Updated themes, easier to understand configuration and diagnostics, and an enhanced feature set make I2P+ a compelling alternative to the official I2P release. Additionally, I2P+ implements improvements to the router's network performance and, for routers that are firewalled, can significantly increase participating traffic and network responsiveness.

Is I2P+ compatible with I2P?

The changes relate to user interaction and enhanced presentation of the console and webapps, in addition to network performance improvements, leaving the underyling crypto untouched, so it remains 100% compatible with I2P. On the network, an I2P+ router will identify as a normal I2P router. Updating from I2P to I2P+, or from I2P+ to I2P, is as simple as providing the router with the relevant update file and restarting.

Installation

If you're running a manually installed version of I2P (from the Java installer, not the Easy Installer Bundle, nor a Linux repository or .deb file), updating is as simple as dropping the i2pupdate.zip file into your I2P application folder and restarting the router. Note: Do not extract the zip file, simply copy it to the I2P application folder and restart I2P... I2P will extract the zip automatically and update. (Java 1.8 or later required). For information about migrating from a repo or .deb install, visit the I2P+ site linked below.

To enable updates for I2P+, visit the update page at http://127.0.0.1:7657/configupdate and enable unsigned development updates. The default update address will inform you of release updates, or for development updates (aka rolling release), replace the address with: http://skank.i2p/dev/i2pupdate.zip

Note: If you have installed I2P from the Easy Installer Bundle, this will need to be uninstalled first and your configuration directory renamed or deleted - see the included INSTALL.txt file for more info.

New in this release (2.4.0+):

  • Complete console and webapp translations for all listed languages
  • Optimized and improved Javascript for both the console and I2PSnark
  • Improved page rendering for console and webapps
  • I2PSnark filter bar rewritten to use search query parameters instead of Javascript
  • Additional "Connected" filter option for I2PSnark
  • Fix lightbox image display feature in I2PSnark
  • Improved rendering times for identicons
  • Reverse the order of in-console wrapper logs to match router logs (newest entry first)
  • Add a magnet column to I2PSnark's main view with a toggle to switch between magnets and links
  • Process tunnel control requests in the Tunnel Manager in situ to avoid a page reload
  • Display page load bar when checking for router updates and display latest update info
  • Indicate on /jobs when table cells are updated
  • Add security and cache-control headers to resources served by I2PTunnel HTTP server when not present
  • Improvements to console and webapp themes
  • Console logging improvements

Note: Update contains a new GeoIP database and full translations for all available languages.

More information

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Comments

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Updates wrote

There were some wild updates 4-5 times but the version stayed to 2.4.0-2+ which was the number that was downloaded from gitlab since the Postman was the plain 2.4.0-0 and could not update at 3% build ratio. Are those peers reseeds? The build rate is very good after 24 hours 45%.
Updating from 2.3 is/was a no go. The build ratio was 2-5% plus you had interference from the official i2p. I will port to a few different test OSes and Java versions. The security is improved (I had mitigations for the fixes and did not affect me). i2pd improved too. Just by being on Ramble droped the build to 38%.

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z3d OP wrote (edited )

The minor release updates related to cosmetic fixes for I2PSnark, and an issue with the sticky sidebar at less than 1500px viewport width; networking is unaffected.

As for build tunnel success, we appear to be under some sort of attack right now so expect things to behave abnormally. Reduced build success percentages and increased transit tunnel requests have been observed. Under normal operation, a non-firewalled I2P+ router should see around 70-80% build success after approximately 30m of uptime.

To address the varying size of the update zip files that you raised on rocksolid, the additional translations have added around 2MB to the pack200 (skank.i2p/dev/i2pupdate.zip) files, more where pack200 isn't being used. And from time to time, the GeoIP database is included in an update, which adds another 3MB or so to the size.

Regarding minor releases being pushed to the release update channel, these may happen on account of bugs, a new, stable feature being made available pre-release, or because a security issue is being addressed in an update that merits an out-of-band update.

In short, if you don't mind the occasional bug, then the /dev/ update path will give you the new stuff sooner, while the stable/release update path will only give you minor version updates when the new features are sufficiently tested and deemed robust, or to address functional or security bugs that may arise from time to time.

One last thing to mention: if you haven't previously installed I2P+ on a system running a non .deb / repo I2P, and you're performing an upgrade from I2P to I2P+ (not using the full installer), you will need to install from the release url: skank.i2p/i2pupdate.zip before enabling develoment updates from skank.i2p/dev/i2pupdate.zip to ensure you have the pack200 library, otherwise updating from the /dev/ path will fail.

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TheArkive wrote

I've been tinkering with I2P and I2P+ lately. I have a typical firewall up (router) that is difficult to punch a hole in. I read that I2P+ is better with firewalled routers.

Are the recent attacks likely to cause problems in this regard?

I ask because, behind a firewall, my stats are much more active on regular I2P currently than my tests with I2P+.

I consider myself a bit of an I2P/+ noob, though I have tinkered with it a lot on and off for over a decade. I finally have a dedicated home server that I'm trying to setup. So far so good, except for this oddity.

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z3d OP wrote (edited )

I have a typical firewall up (router) that is difficult to punch a hole in.

If you're talking about a hardware router, you should be able to port forward from the router's internet facing interface to an internal IP address that's hosting your I2P/I2P+ router. You only need to do that for the public I2P port, for both TCP and UDP. You'll find your router operates much, much better if you can overcome the firewalling of your I2P port. The assigned port is indicated on: http://127.0.0.1:7657/confignet

Regarding general activity, I2P+ is much more aggressive in blocking, banning or otherwise ignoring routers on the network that may be participating in attacks or are poorly configured and maintained, so that's probably why you're seeing a difference in network traffic. Keep an eye on the banned peers counter and the tunnel build success percentage in the sidebar in I2P+, these will give you some idea of the network health.

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