Update documentation

README.md

@@ -6,103 +6,41 @@ rely on it for anything._**
 
 # Isle
 
-The Isle project provides the foundation for an **autonomous community
-cloud infrastructure**.
+Welcome to Isle's technical documentation. You can find a less technical
+entrypoint to Isle on [the Micropelago website][isle].
 
-This project targets communities of individuals, where certain members of the
-community would like to host services and applications from servers running in
-their homes or offices. These servers can range from simple Raspberry Pis to
-full-sized home PCs.
+Isle runs on a host as a server daemon, and connects to other isle instances to
+form a peer-to-peer network. Isle networks are completely self-hosted; no
+third-parties are required for a network to function.
 
-The core components of Isle, currently, are:
+Members of a network are able to build upon the capabilities provided by Isle to
+host services for themselves and others. These capabilities include:
 
-* A VPN which enables direct peer-to-peer communication. Even if most hosts in
-  the network are on a private LAN (e.g. their home WiFi network) or have a
-  dynamic IP, they can still communicate directly with each other.
+* A VPN which enables direct peer-to-peer communication between network members.
+  Even if most hosts in the network are on a private LAN (e.g. their home WiFi
+  network) or have a dynamic IP, they can still communicate directly with each
+  other.
 
-* An S3-compatible network filesystem. Each users can provide as much storage as
-  they care to, if any. Stored data is sharded and replicated across all hosts
-  that choose to provide storage.
+* An S3-compatible network filesystem. Each member can provide as much storage
+  as they care to, if any. Stored data is sharded and replicated across all
+  hosts that choose to provide storage.
 
-* A DNS server which provides automatic host and service (coming soon) discovery
-  within the network.
+* A DNS server which provides automatic host discovery within the network.
 
-These components are wrapped into a single binary, with all setup being
-automated. Isle takes "just works" very seriously.
+Every isle daemon is able to create or join multiple independent networks. In
+this case the networks remain siloed from each other, such that members of one
+network are unable to access resources or communicate with members of the other.
 
-Participants are able to build upon these foundations to host services for
-themselves and others. They can be assured that their communications are private
-and their storage is reliable, all with zero administrative overhead and zero
-third parties involved.
+[isle]: http://portal.mozz.us/gemini/micropelago.net/isle/
 
-## Documentation
+## Getting Started
 
-Isle users fall into different roles, depending on their level of
-involvement and expertise within their particular network. The documentation
-is broken down by these categories, so that the reader can easily
-decide which documents they need to care about.
+The following pages will guide you through setup of Isle, joining an existing
+network, and all other functionality available via the command-line.
 
-### User Docs
+* [Installation](./docs/install.md)
+* [Command-line Usage](./docs/command-line.md)
+    * [Join a Network](./docs/user/join-a-network.md)
 
-Users are participants who use network resources, but do not provide any network
-resources themselves. Users may be accessing the network from a mobile device,
-and so are not expected to be online at any particular moment.
-
-Documentation for users:
-
-* [Getting Started](docs/user/getting-started.md)
-* [Using DNS](docs/user/using-dns.md) (advanced)
-* Restic example (TODO)
-
-### Operator Docs
-
-Operators are users who own a dedicated host which they can expect to be
-always-online (to the extent that's possible in a residential environment).
-Operator hosts will need at least one of the following to be useful:
-
-* A static public IP, or a dynamic public IP with [dDNS][ddns] set up.
-
-* At least 1GB of unused storage which can be reserved for the network.
-
-Operators are expected to be familiar with server administration, and to not be
-afraid of a terminal.
-
-Documentation for operators:
-
-* [Contributing Storage](docs/operator/contributing-storage.md)
-* [Contributing a Lighthouse](docs/operator/contributing-a-lighthouse.md)
-* [Managing garage](docs/operator/managing-garage.md)
-* [Firewalls](doc/operator/firewall.md)
-
-[ddns]: https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/dns/glossary/dynamic-dns/
-
-### Admin Docs
-
-Admins are users who control membership within the network. They are likely
-operators as well.
-
-Documentation for admins:
-
-* [Creating a New Network](docs/admin/creating-a-new-network.md)
-* [Adding a Host to the Network](docs/admin/adding-a-host-to-the-network.md)
-* Removing a Host From the Network (TODO)
-
-### Dev Docs
-
-Devs may or may not be users in any particular isle network. They instead are
-those who work on the actual code for Isle.
-
-Documentation for devs:
-
-* [Design Principles](docs/dev/design-principles.md)
-* [`isle daemon` process tree](docs/dev/daemon-process-tree.svg): Diagram
-  describing the [pmux](https://code.betamike.com/micropelago/pmux) process tree
-  created by `isle daemon` at runtime.
-* [Rebuilding Documentation](docs/dev/rebuilding-documentation.md)
-* [Releases](docs/dev/releases.md)
-
-## Misc
-
-Besides documentation, there are a few other pages which might be useful:
-
-* [Glossary](docs/glossary.md)
+Those who want to dive in and contribute to the Isle codebase should check out
+the [Developer Documentation](./docs/dev/index.md).

default.nix

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
   revision ? "dev",
   releaseName ? "dev",
 
-  bootstrap ? null,
+  bootstrap ? null, # TODO remove this
 
 }: let
 

docs/admin/creating-a-new-network.md

@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 # Creating a New Network
 
-This guide is for those who wish to start a new isle network of their
-own.
+This guide is for those who wish to start a new isle network of their own.
 
 By starting a new isle network, you are becoming the administrator of a
 network. Be aware that being a network administrator is not necessarily easy,

docs/command-line.md

@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+# Command-line Usage
+
+This documents provides examples of how to accomplish various tasks from Isle's
+command-line interface.
+
+Isle network members fall into different roles, depending on their level of
+involvement and expertise within their particular network. The documentation is
+broken down by these categories, so that the reader can easily decide which
+documents they need to care about.
+
+### User Docs
+
+Users are members who use network resources, but do not provide any network
+resources themselves. Users may be accessing the network from a mobile device,
+and so are not expected to be online at any particular moment.
+
+Documentation for users:
+
+* [Joining a Network](./user/join-a-network.md)
+* [Using DNS](./user/using-dns.md) (advanced)
+* Restic example (TODO)
+
+### Operator Docs
+
+Operators are members who own a dedicated host which they can expect to be
+always-online (to the extent that's possible in a residential environment).
+Operator hosts will need at least one of the following to be useful:
+
+* A static public IP, or a dynamic public IP with [dDNS][ddns] set up.
+
+* At least 1GB of unused storage which can be reserved for the network.
+
+Operators are expected to be familiar with server administration, and to not be
+afraid of a terminal.
+
+Documentation for operators:
+
+* [Contributing Storage](./operator/contributing-storage.md)
+* [Contributing a Lighthouse](./operator/contributing-a-lighthouse.md)
+* [Managing garage](./operator/managing-garage.md)
+* [Firewalls](./operator/firewall.md)
+
+[ddns]: https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/dns/glossary/dynamic-dns/
+
+### Admin Docs
+
+Admins are members who control membership within the network. They are likely
+operators as well.
+
+Documentation for admins:
+
+* [Creating a New Network](./admin/creating-a-new-network.md)
+* [Adding a Host to the Network](./admin/adding-a-host-to-the-network.md)
+* Removing a Host From the Network (TODO)

docs/dev/architecture.md

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# Architecture
+
+The isle daemon is the central point around which all operations occur. Users of
+the isle command-line tool (or, soon, a GUI) communicate with the daemon over a
+local RPC socket to issue commands, for example to tell it to join a new network
+or to retrieve the names of hosts in an already-joined network.
+
+For every network which is joined, the isle daemon will create and manage
+sub-processes to provide certain parts of its functionality. These include:
+
+* A [nebula][nebula] instance to provide VPN functionality.
+* A [dnsmasq][dnsmasq] instance to act as DNS server.
+* Zero or more [garage][garage] instances, depending on how storage is
+  configured on the host, to provide the S3 storage layer.
+
+The isle daemon considers the configuration and management of these
+sub-processes to be an implementation detail. In other words, its RPC interface,
+and therefore all user interfaces, do not expose members to the fact that these
+sub-processes exist, or even that these projects are being used under the hood.
+
+![Architectural diagram](./architecture.svg)
+
+[nebula]: https://github.com/slackhq/nebula
+[garage]: https://garagehq.deuxfleurs.fr/
+[dnsmasq]: https://dnsmasq.org/doc.html

docs/dev/architecture.plantuml

@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+@startuml
+skinparam componentStyle rectangle
+
+[isle command line] as isleCommand
+() "daemon.RPC" as isleDaemonRPC
+[daemon.Client] as daemonClient
+
+frame "isle daemon process" {
+   portin "RPC Socket" as rpcSocket
+   [RPC Server] as rpcServer
+
+   () "daemon.RPC" as daemonRPC
+   [daemon.Daemon] as daemon
+   [network.Network (A)] as networkA
+   [network.Network (B)] as networkB
+
+
+   rpcServer --> rpcSocket : handle
+   rpcServer ..> daemonRPC : dispatch
+
+   daemon - daemonRPC
+   daemon --> networkA
+   daemon --> networkB
+}
+
+isleCommand ..> isleDaemonRPC : issue commands
+daemonClient - isleDaemonRPC
+daemonClient --> rpcSocket
+
+package "network A child processes" {
+    [nebula] as networkANebula
+    [garage (alloc 1)] as networkAGarage1
+    [garage (alloc 2)] as networkAGarage2
+    [dnsmasq] as networkADNSMasq
+}
+
+networkA --> networkANebula
+networkA --> networkAGarage1
+networkA --> networkAGarage2
+networkA --> networkADNSMasq
+
+package "network B child processes" {
+    [nebula] as networkBNebula
+    [dnsmasq] as networkBDNSMasq
+}
+
+networkB --> networkBNebula
+networkB --> networkBDNSMasq
+@enduml

docs/dev/building.md

@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# Building Isle
+
+Building from source requires [nix][nix].
+
+(*NOTE* The first time you run some of these builds a lot of things will be
+built from scratch. If you have not otherwise configured it, nix might be using
+a tmpfs as its build directory, and the capacity of this tmpfs will probably be
+exceeded by this build. You can change your build directory to somewhere on-disk
+by setting the TMPDIR environment variable for `nix-daemon` (see [this github
+issue][tmpdir-gh].))
+
+[nix]: https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Nix_package_manager
+[tmpdir-gh]: https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/2098#issuecomment-383243838
+
+## Current System
+
+You can build an AppImage for your current system by running the following from
+the project's root:
+
+```
+nix-build -A appImageBin
+```
+
+The resulting binary can be found under `result/bin`.
+
+## Cross-Compile
+
+An AppImage can be cross-compiled by passing the `hostSystem` argument:
+
+```
+nix-build --argstr hostSystem "x86_64-linux" -A appImageBin
+```
+
+Supported system strings are enumerated in `nix/pkgs.nix`.

docs/dev/daemon-process-tree.plantuml

@@ -1,37 +0,0 @@
-@startuml
-hide empty description
-
-state "./isle daemon -c ./daemon.yml" as init
-
-state AppDir {
-
-    note "All relative paths are relative to the root of the AppDir" as N1
-
-    state "./bin/entrypoint daemon -c ./daemon.yml" as entrypoint {
-        entrypoint : * Create runtime dir
-        entrypoint : * Lock runtime dir
-        entrypoint : * Merge given and default daemon.yml files
-        entrypoint : * Copy bootstrap.json into state directory, if it's not there
-        entrypoint : * Merge daemon.yml config into bootstrap.json
-        entrypoint : * Create $RUNTIME_DIRECTORY/dnsmasq.conf
-        entrypoint : * Create $RUNTIME_DIRECTORY/nebula.yml
-        entrypoint : * Create $RUNTIME_DIRECTORY/garage-N.toml\n  (one per storage allocation)
-        entrypoint : * Spawn child processes
-        entrypoint : * Wait for nebula & garage to initialize
-        entrypoint : * Updates garage cluster layout
-        entrypoint : * Stores host info in global bucket, based on latest bootstrap.json
-    }
-
-    init --> entrypoint : exec
-
-    state "./bin/dnsmasq -d -C $RUNTIME_DIRECTORY/dnsmasq.conf" as dnsmasq
-    entrypoint --> dnsmasq : child
-
-    state "./bin/nebula -config $RUNTIME_DIRECTORY/nebula.yml" as nebula
-    entrypoint --> nebula : child
-
-    state "./bin/garage -c $RUNTIME_DIRECTORY/garage-N.toml server" as garage
-    entrypoint --> garage : child (one per storage allocation)
-}
-
-@enduml

docs/dev/design-principles.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 The following points form the basis for all design decisions made within the
 Isle project.
 
-* The UX is aggressively optimized to eliminate manual intervention by users.
+* The UX is aggressively optimized to eliminate manual intervention by members.
   All other concerns are secondary. The concept of "UX" extends beyond GUI
   interfaces, and encompasses all interactions of any sort with an isle
   process.

docs/dev/glossary.md

@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ documentation and source code.
   be capitalized.
 
 - "isle" - The name of the binary or program produced by the Isle project. isle
-  is the name of the file itself, and so is always lower-case.
+  is the name of the file itself, as well as an instance of the process, and so
+  is always lower-case.
 
 - "host" - A computer or device on which isle is run.
 
@@ -20,5 +21,5 @@ documentation and source code.
     term "cluster" in the context of garage to stay consistent with garage's
     documentation and command-line.
 
-- "user" - A person who takes part in the usage, operation, or administration of
-  an isle network.
+- "member" - A person who takes part in the usage, operation, or administration
+  of an isle network.

docs/dev/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Developer Documentation
+
+This section of the documentation is targeted at those who are contributing to
+the Isle codebase. It is recommended to start with the following pages, in order
+to better understand how to navigate and work on the codebase.
+
+* [Glossary](./glossary.md)
+* [Design Principles](./design-principles.md)
+* [Architecture](./architecture.md)
+
+These pages can be helpful in specific situations.
+
+* [Building Isle](./building.md)
+* [Rebuilding Documentation](./rebuilding-documentation.md)
+* [Releases](./releases.md)

docs/dev/releases.md

@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 
 A release consists of:
 
-- A full set of binaries for all supported platforms, compiled from the same
-  source.
+- A full set of `isle` binaries for all supported platforms, compiled from the
+  same source.
 - A text file containing hashes of each binary.
 - A file containing a signature of the hash file, created by whoever is building
   the release.

docs/install.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-# Getting Started
+# Installation
 
-This document will guide you through the process of obtaining an isle
-binary and joining a network.
+This document will guide you through the process of obtaining and installing
+Isle on your machine.
 
 NOTE currently only linux machines with the following architectures are
 supported:
@@ -56,33 +56,13 @@ If your distro uses an init system other than systemd then you will need to
 configure that yourself. You can use the systemd service file linked above as a
 reference.
 
+[latest]: https://code.betamike.com/micropelago/isle/releases/latest
 [serviceFile]: https://code.betamike.com/micropelago/isle/src/branch/main/dist/linux/isle.service
 
 ### From Source
 
-(TODO probably move these instructions into the Dev docs section).
-
-Building from source requires [nix][nix].
-
-You can build your own AppImage by running the following from the project's
-root:
-
-```
-nix-build -A appImageBin
-```
-
-(*NOTE* The first time you run this a lot of things will be built from scratch.
-If you have not otherwise configured it, nix might be using a tmpfs as its build
-directory, and the capacity of this tmpfs will probably be exceeded by this
-build. You can change your build directory to somewhere on-disk by setting the
-TMPDIR environment variable for `nix-daemon` (see
-[this github issue][tmpdir-gh].))
-
-The resulting binary can be found under `result/bin`. From here you can continue
-with the instructions under the "AppImage" section above.
-
-[nix]: https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Nix_package_manager
-[tmpdir-gh]: https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/2098#issuecomment-383243838
+If you'd like to build your own `isle` binary from scratch, see the [Building
+Isle](./dev/building.md) document.
 
 ## Add Users to the `isle` Group (Optional)
 
@@ -104,26 +84,3 @@ sudo systemctl enable --now isle
 
 (NOTE If your distro uses an init system other than systemd then you will need
 to instead start isle according to that system's requirements.)
-
-## Join a Network
-
-This section will guide you through the process of joining an existing network
-of isle hosts. If instead you wish to create a new network for others to join
-then see the [Creating a New Network][creating-a-new-network] page.
-
-To join an existing network you will need to first obtain a `bootstrap.json`
-file. The `bootstrap.json` file contains all information required for your
-particular host to join the network, and must be generated and provided to you
-by an admin for the network.
-
-Once obtained, you can join the network by doing:
-
-```
-isle network join --bootstrap-path /path/to/bootstrap.json
-```
-
-After a few moments you will have successfully joined the network!
-
-[creating-a-new-network]: ../admin/creating-a-new-network.md
-
-[latest]: https://code.betamike.com/micropelago/isle/releases/latest

docs/user/join-a-network.md

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# Join a Network
+
+This document guide you through the process of joining an existing network
+of isle hosts. If instead you wish to create a new network for others to join
+then see the [Creating a New Network][creating-a-new-network] page.
+
+To join an existing network you will need to first obtain a `bootstrap.json`
+file. The `bootstrap.json` file contains all information required for your
+particular host to join the network, and must be generated and provided to you
+by an admin for the network.
+
+Once obtained, you can join the network by doing:
+
+```
+isle network join --bootstrap-path /path/to/bootstrap.json
+```
+
+After a few moments you will have successfully joined the network!
+
+[creating-a-new-network]: ../admin/creating-a-new-network.md