-This is the README file for tinc version 1.0pre3. Installation instructions may
-be found in the INSTALL file.
+This is the README file for tinc version 1.1pre11. Installation
+instructions may be found in the INSTALL file.
-tinc is Copyright (C) 1998,1999,2000 Ivo Timmermans <itimmermans@bigfoot.com>,
-Guus Sliepen <guus@sliepen.warande.net> and others. For a complete list of
-authors see the AUTHORS file.
+tinc is Copyright (C) 1998-2014 by:
-This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
-the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
-Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
-version. See the file COPYING for more details.
+Ivo Timmermans,
+Guus Sliepen <guus@tinc-vpn.org>,
+and others.
+
+For a complete list of authors see the AUTHORS file.
+
+This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at
+your option) any later version. See the file COPYING for more details.
+
+
+This is a pre-release
+---------------------
+
+Please note that this is NOT a stable release. Until version 1.1.0 is released,
+please use one of the 1.0.x versions if you need a stable version of tinc.
+
+Although tinc 1.1 will be protocol compatible with tinc 1.0.x, the
+functionality of the tinc program may still change, and the control socket
+protocol is not fixed yet.
Security statement
------------------
-In august 2000, we discovered the existence of a security hole in all versions
-of tinc up to and including 1.0pre2. This had to do with the way we exchanged
-keys. Since then, we have been working on a new authentication scheme to make
-tinc as secure as possible. The current version uses the OpenSSL library and
-does authentication in much the same way as the SSH protocol does.
+This version uses an experimental and unfinished cryptographic protocol. Use it
+at your own risk.
+
+
+Compatibility
+-------------
+
+Version 1.1pre11 is compatible with 1.0pre8, 1.0 and later, but not with older
+versions of tinc.
+
+When the ExperimentalProtocol option is used, tinc is still compatible with
+1.0.X and 1.1pre11 itself, but not with any other 1.1preX version.
-Cryptography is a hard thing to get right. We cannot make any guarantees. Time,
-review and feedback are the only things that can prove the security of any
-cryptographic product. If you wish to review tinc or give us feedback, you are
-stronly encouraged to do so.
Requirements
------------
-Since 1.0pre3, we use OpenSSL for all cryptographic functions. So you need to
-install this library first; grab it from http://www.openssl.org/. We recommend
-version 0.9.5 or better. If this library is not installed on you system,
-configure will fail. The manual in doc/tinc.texi contains more detailed
-information on how to install this library.
+In order to compile tinc, you will need a GNU C compiler environment. Please
+ensure you have the latest stable versions of all the required libraries:
+
+- OpenSSL (http://www.openssl.org/) version 1.0.0 or later, with support for
+ elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) and Galois counter mode (GCM) enabled.
+
+The following libraries are used by default, but can be disabled if necessary:
+
+- zlib (http://www.gzip.org/zlib/)
+- lzo (http://www.oberhumer.com/opensource/lzo/)
+- ncurses (http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/)
+- readline (ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/readline/)
Features
--------
-This version of tinc supports multiple virtual networks at once. To use this
-feature, you may supply a netname via the -n or --net options. The standard
-locations for the config files will then be /etc/tinc/<net>/. Because of this
-feature, tinc will send packets directly to their destinations, instead of to
-the uplink. If this behaviour is undesirable (for instance because of firewalls
-or other restrictions), please use an older version of tinc (I would recommend
-tinc-0.2.19).
-
-In order to force the kernel to accept received packets, the destination MAC
-address will be set to FE:FD:00:00:00:00 upon reception. The MAC address of the
-ethertap or tun/tap interface must also be set to this address. See the manual
-for more detailed information.
-
-tincd regenerates its encryption key pairs. It does this on the first activity
-after the keys have expired. This period is adjustable in the configuration
-file, and the default time is 3600 seconds (one hour).
-
-This version supports multiple subnets at once. They are also sorted on subnet
-mask size. This means that it is possible to have overlapping subnets on the
-VPN, as long as their subnet mask sizes differ.
+Tinc is a peer-to-peer VPN daemon that supports VPNs with an arbitrary number
+of nodes. Instead of configuring tunnels, you give tinc the location and
+public key of a few nodes in the VPN. After making the initial connections to
+those nodes, tinc will learn about all other nodes on the VPN, and will make
+connections automatically. When direct connections are not possible, data will
+be forwarded by intermediate nodes.
+
+By default, nodes authenticate each other using 2048 bit RSA (or 521 bit
+ECDSA*) keys. Traffic is encrypted using Blowfish in CBC mode (or AES-256 in
+GCM mode*), authenticated using HMAC-SHA1 (or GCM*), and is protected against
+replay attacks.
+
+*) When using the ExperimentalProtocol option.
+
+Tinc fully supports IPv6.
+
+Tinc can operate in several routing modes. In the default mode, "router", every
+node is associated with one or more IPv4 and/or IPv6 Subnets. The other two
+modes, "switch" and "hub", let the tinc daemons work together to form a virtual
+Ethernet network switch or hub.
+
+Normally, when started tinc will detach and run in the background. In a native
+Windows environment this means tinc will intall itself as a service, which will
+restart after reboots. To prevent tinc from detaching or running as a service,
+use the -D option.
+
+The status of the VPN can be queried using the "tinc" command, which connects
+to a running tinc daemon via a control connection. The same tool also makes it
+easy to start and stop tinc, and to change its configuration.
projects / tinc / blobdiff