Running RECN Node

Install

Run this as the user the Node should belong to, not with sudo:

curl -fsSL https://recn.in/install-node.sh | bash

It prints each step as it goes. It finds the newest build for your machine, checks its SHA-256, unpacks it to ~/Applications/RECN Node on a Mac or ~/.local/opt/recn-node on Linux, and puts recn-node in ~/.local/bin. Then it installs the Node as a service for your user and starts it. On Linux it also turns on lingering, so the Node keeps running after you log out. That step may ask for your password.

If ~/.local/bin isn't on your PATH yet, the installer says so and prints the line that adds it for new shells. In the shell you installed from, run export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH" before the commands below.

Want to read it first? install-node.sh is short.

Updates

The Node updates itself once a day, at 3 a.m. its time. It keeps the build before, so recn-node update --rollback puts it back. Run recn-node update to update now. Running the installer again doesn't reinstall anything: it only sets the service up again.

On a cloud VM

Any small Linux VM with systemd works, x64 or arm64, with enough disk for your library. Give it a user of its own and run the installer as that user:

sudo useradd --create-home --shell /bin/bash recn
sudo loginctl enable-linger recn
sudo -iu recn
curl -fsSL https://recn.in/install-node.sh | bash

No ports to open. Your devices reach the Node through an encrypted relay, and connect directly when the network allows. Keep port 7326 closed: the dashboard only listens on the VM itself.

Forward the dashboard's port from your own computer and leave this running:

ssh -N -L 7326:127.0.0.1:7326 you@your-vm

Then, on the VM:

recn-node open --no-browser

Open the URL it prints in your computer's browser within 60 seconds. You stay signed in on that browser for a week after you last use it. If recn-node status shows a port other than 7326, use that one in both places.

Make a node

One install can hold several nodes: Personal, Studio, a client. Each has its own name, its own products and its own devices, and nothing crosses between them. A new install holds none, so make the first:

recn-node node add Personal --rec

Add --work for a node that holds Work too. recn-node node list shows them. Your phone shows the node's name, so Studio reads as “Studio” there.

Pair a phone or a laptop

recn-node invite Personal

For a node with more than one product, say which: recn-node invite Personal --work. It prints a QR code in the terminal. In Rec or Work, choose Pair a device, then Scan a code. If the terminal's QR code won't scan, paste the line printed above it.

Everyday commands

recn-node status: Is it running, its dashboard URL, why it last refused to start.
recn-node service status: Is the service installed, and where its log is.
journalctl --user -u recn-node -f: Follow the Node's log on Linux.
recn-node backup: Take a snapshot now. It takes one every night at 2 a.m. and keeps three.
recn-node backups: List the snapshots. recn-node restore <id> --yes brings one back.
recn-node reset uninstall --yes: Stop it and remove it, data and all.

Snapshots are on the same disk as the Node. Copy them off the VM too: they're in ~/.local/share/recn-node/backups unless you moved them.

Windows and Docker

On Windows, unzip the build from the Node page and run bin\recn_node.exe service install. On a NAS or anywhere else you run containers, use ghcr.io/recn-in/recn-node. The image updates when you pull it.

Something not behaving like this? Tell us.