Installation¶

Getting started with Routinator is really easy either building from Cargo, installing a Debian and Ubuntu package or using Docker.

Quick Start with Debian and Ubuntu Packages¶

Assuming you have a machine running a recent Debian or Ubuntu distribution, you can install Routinator from our software package repository. To use this repository, add the line below that corresponds to your operating system to your /etc/apt/sources.list or /etc/apt/sources.list.d/.

deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.nlnetlabs.nl/linux/debian/ stretch main
deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.nlnetlabs.nl/linux/debian/ buster main
deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.nlnetlabs.nl/linux/ubuntu/ xenial main
deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.nlnetlabs.nl/linux/ubuntu/ bionic main
deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.nlnetlabs.nl/linux/ubuntu/ focal main

Then run the following commands.

sudo apt update && apt-get install -y gnupg2
wget -qO- https://packages.nlnetlabs.nl/aptkey.asc | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt update

You can then install, initialise, enable and start Routinator by running these commands. Note that routinator-init is slightly different than the command used with Cargo.

sudo apt install routinator
sudo routinator-init
# Follow instructions provided
sudo systemctl enable --now routinator

By default, Routinator will start the RTR server on port 3323 and the HTTP server on port 8323. These, and other values can be changed in the configuration file located in /etc/routinator/routinator.conf. You can check the status of Routinator with sudo systemctl status routinator and view the logs with sudo journalctl --unit=routinator.

Quick Start with Docker¶

Due to the impracticality of complying with the ARIN TAL distribution terms in an unsupervised Docker environment, before launching the container it is necessary to first review and agree to the ARIN Relying Party Agreement (RPA). If you agree to the terms, you can let the Routinator Docker image install the TALs into a mounted volume that is later reused for the server:

# Create a Docker volume to persist TALs in
sudo docker volume create routinator-tals
# Review the ARIN terms.
# Run a disposable container to install TALs.
sudo docker run --rm -v routinator-tals:/home/routinator/.rpki-cache/tals \
    nlnetlabs/routinator init -f --accept-arin-rpa
# Launch the final detached container named 'routinator' exposing RTR on
# port 3323 and HTTP on port 9556
sudo docker run -d --restart=unless-stopped --name routinator -p 3323:3323 \
     -p 9556:9556 -v routinator-tals:/home/routinator/.rpki-cache/tals \
     nlnetlabs/routinator

Quick Start with Cargo¶

Assuming you have a newly installed Debian or Ubuntu machine, you will need to install rsync, the C toolchain and Rust. You can then install Routinator and start it up as an RTR server listening on 127.0.0.1 port 3323 and HTTP on port 9556:

apt install rsync build-essential
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source ~/.cargo/env
cargo install --locked routinator
routinator init
# Follow instructions provided
routinator server --rtr 192.0.2.13:3323 --http 192.0.2.13:9556

If you have an older version of Rust and Routinator, you can update via:

rustup update
cargo install --locked --force routinator

If you want to try the main branch from the repository instead of a release version, you can run:

cargo install --git https://github.com/NLnetLabs/routinator.git  --branch main

System Requirements¶

When choosing a system to run Routinator on, make sure you have 1GB of available memory and 1GB of disk space. This will give you ample margin for the RPKI repositories to grow over time, as adoption increases.

Getting Started¶

There are three things you need to install and run Routinator: rsync, a C toolchain and Rust. You can install Routinator on any system where you can fulfil these requirements.

You need rsync because most RPKI repositories currently use it as its main means of distribution. Some of the cryptographic primitives used by Routinator require a C toolchain. Lastly, you need Rust because that’s the programming language that Routinator has been written in.

rsync¶

Currently, Routinator requires the rsync executable to be in your path. Due to the nature of rsync, it is unclear which particular version you need at the very least, but whatever is being shipped with current Linux and *BSD distributions and macOS should be fine. Alternatively, you can download rsync from its website.

On Windows, Routinator requires the rsync version that comes with Cygwin – make sure to select rsync during the installation phase.

C Toolchain¶

Some of the libraries Routinator depends on require a C toolchain to be present. Your system probably has some easy way to install the minimum set of packages to build from C sources. For example, apt install build-essential will install everything you need on Debian/Ubuntu.

If you are unsure, try to run cc on a command line and if there’s a complaint about missing input files, you are probably good to go.

Rust¶

The Rust compiler runs on, and compiles to, a great number of platforms, though not all of them are equally supported. The official Rust Platform Support page provides an overview of the various support levels.

While some system distributions include Rust as system packages, Routinator relies on a relatively new version of Rust, currently 1.42 or newer. We therefore suggest to use the canonical Rust installation via a tool called rustup.

To install rustup and Rust, simply do:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

Alternatively, visit the official Rust website for other installation methods.

You can update your Rust installation later by running:

rustup update

Building¶

The easiest way to get Routinator is to leave it to cargo by saying:

cargo install --locked routinator

If you want to try the main branch from the repository instead of a release version, you can run:

cargo install --git https://github.com/NLnetLabs/routinator.git --branch main

If you want to update an installed version, you run the same command but add the -f flag, a.k.a. force, to approve overwriting the installed version.

The command will build Routinator and install it in the same directory that cargo itself lives in, likely $HOME/.cargo/bin. This means Routinator will be in your path, too.

Notes¶

In case you want to build a statically linked Routinator, or you have an Operating System where special care needs to be taken, such as OpenBSD and CentOS, please refer to the Installation Notes section.