As of December 2007, trading references with strangers on IRC is obsolete, so refbot.py is no long required. See OpenNet for details on the new in-node peer management implementation.

refbot.py

The refbot is an IRC bot that will attempt to automatically gather references for your Freenet Node. It is written in Python and should run anywhere Python runs, including Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.

Using refbot on Windows

These are instructions on how to use the automatic refbot on Windows.

Getting Python

If you don't already have Python installed, download and install it from http://python.org/∞

Getting the refbot

• Download the latest pyfcp package (which includes refbot.py) from http://downloads.freenetproject.org/alpha/pyFreenet/pyFreenet-latest.tbz∞

This will download the latest source code for the refbot.

• Now, unpack the archive, usually by right clicking on the downloaded file and selecting the appropriate archive extraction option. Both 7zip <http://www.7-zip.org/∞> and WinRAR <http://www.rarlab.org/∞> are reported to work with the .tbz archive fromat. Cell Phones Reviews∞

You now have the scripts for the refbot!

Starting the refbot

In the directory where the archive was unpacked to that contains the refbot script, double-click on refbot.py

The refbot will now be started.
You now have the scripts for the refbot!

Updating the refbot

In the directory where the archive was unpacked to that contains the refbot script, double-click on updater.py

The refbot updater will now download any updated files, including security improvements and added features.

Securing the refbot

The refbot saves its settings by default to your user's "Documents and settings" path (%USERPROFILE%). Amongst other things, these settings include, in plain text, your and the bot's IRC nicks, the bot's IRC password, your noderef URLs, a list of noderefs that you have accepted, your TMCI and FCP host IPs and ports, and so forth.

If you are running freenet and the refbot from an encrypted drive, thumbdrive, or other writable secure location, this may not be ideal.

To make it save the settings to another location, create a shortcut to the "refbot.py" file, rightclick the shortcut, and in the "Target" textfield, append the path to which you want it to save, in quotes.

So, you might change:
"Z:\hidden stuff\refbot.py"
to:
"Z:\hidden stuff\refbot.py" "Z:\hidden stuff\settings.txt"

Using refbot on Linux

These are instructions on how to use the automatic refbot on Linux (and perhaps Mac OS X).

Getting the refbot

• Open a terminal, and type:

This will download the latest source code for the refbot.

• Now, un-archive the script by typing:

You now have the scripts for the refbot!

Starting the refbot

In a terminal, go to the directory that contains the refbot script, and type:

The refbot will now be started.

Updating the refbot

In a terminal, go to the directory that contains the refbot script, and type:

The refbot updater will now download any updated files, including security improvements and added features.