Plugin Specification

Overview

This document specifies a .xpi2p file format (like the Firefox .xpi), but with a simple plugin.config description file instead of an XML install.rdf file. This file format is used for both initial plugin installs and plugin updates.

In addition, this document provides a brief overview of how the router installs plugins, and policies and guidelines for plugin developers.

The basic .xpi2p file format is the same as a i2pupdate.sud file (the format used for router updates), but the installer will let the user install the addon even if it doesn’t know the signer’s key yet.

As of release 0.9.15, the SU3 file format is supported and is preferred. This format enables stronger signing keys.

Note: We do not recommend distributing plugins in the xpi2p format any more. Use the su3 format.

The standard directory structure will let users install the following types of addons:

• Console webapps
• New eepsite with cgi-bin, webapps
• Console themes
• Console translations
• Java programs
• Java programs in a separate JVM
• Any shell script or program

A plugin installs all its files in ~/.i2p/plugins/name/ (%APPDIR%\I2P\plugins\name\ on Windows). The installer will prevent installation anywhere else, although the plugin can access libraries elsewhere when running.

This should be viewed only as a way to make installation, uninstallation, and upgrading easier, and to lessen basic inter-plugin conflicts.

There is essentially no security model once the plugin is running, however. The plugin runs in the same JVM and with the same permissions as the router, and has full access to the file system, the router, executing external programs, etc.

Details

foo.xpi2p is a signed update (sud) file containing the following:

Standard .sud header prepended to the zip file, containing the following:

40-byte DSA signature
16-byte plugin version in UTF-8, padded with trailing zeroes if necessary

Zip file containing the following:

plugin.config file

This file is required. It is a standard I2P configuration file, containing the following properties:

Required Properties

The following four are required properties. The first three must be identical to those in the installed plugin for an update plugin.

• name - Will be installed in this directory name. For native plugins, you may want separate names in different packages - foo-windows and foo-linux, for example.
• key - DSA public key as 172 B64 chars ending with ‘=’. Omit for SU3 format.
• signer - yourname@mail.i2p recommended
• version - Must be in a format VersionComparator can parse, e.g. 1.2.3-4. 16 bytes max (must match sud version). Valid number separators are ‘.’, ‘-’, and ‘_’. This must be greater than the one in the installed plugin for an update plugin.

Display Properties

Values for the following properties are displayed on /configplugins in the router console if present:

• date - Java time - long int
• author - yourname@mail.i2p recommended
• websiteURL - http://foo.i2p/
• updateURL - http://foo.i2p/foo.xpi2p - The update checker will check bytes 41-56 at this URL to determine whether a newer version is available. As of 1.7.0 (0.9.53), it is possible to use the $OS and $ARCH variables in the URL. Not recommended. Do not use unless you previously distributed plugins in the xpi2p format.
• updateURL.su3 - http://foo.i2p/foo.su3 - The location of the su3-format update file, as of 0.9.15. As of 1.7.0 (0.9.53), it is possible to use the $OS and $ARCH variables in the URL.
• description - in English
• description_xx - for language xx
• license - The plugin license
• disableStop=true - Default false. If true, the stop button will not be shown. Use this if there are no webapps and no clients with stopargs.

Console Summary Bar Link Properties

The following properties are used to add a link on the console summary bar:

• consoleLinkName - will be added to summary bar
• consoleLinkName_xx - for language xx
• consoleLinkURL - /appname/index.jsp
• consoleLinkTooltip - supported as of 0.7.12-6
• consoleLinkTooltip_xx - lang xx as of 0.7.12-6

Console Icon Properties

The following optional properties may be used to add a custom icon on the console:

• console-icon - supported as of 0.9.20. Only for webapps. A path to a 32x32 image, e.g. /icon.webp. As of 1.7.0 (API 0.9.53), if consoleLinkURL is specified, the path is relative to that URL. Otherwise it is relative to the webapp name. Applies to all webapps in the plugin.
• icon-code - supported as of 0.9.25. Provides a console icon for plugins without web resources. A B64 string produced by calling net.i2p.data.Base64 encode FILE on a 32x32 png image file.

Installer Properties

The following properties are used by the plugin installer:

• type - app/theme/locale/webapp/… (unimplemented, probably not necessary)
• min-i2p-version - The minimum version of I2P this plugin requires
• max-i2p-version - The maximum version of I2P this plugin will run on
• min-java-version - The minimum version of Java this plugin requires
• min-jetty-version - supported as of 0.8.13, use 6 for Jetty 6 webapps
• max-jetty-version - supported as of 0.8.13, use 5.99999 for Jetty 5 webapps
• required-platform-OS - unimplemented - perhaps will be displayed only, not verified
• other-requirements - unimplemented, e.g. python x.y - not verified by the installer, just displayed to the user
• dont-start-at-install=true - Default false. Won’t start the plugin when it is installed or updated.
• router-restart-required=true - Default false. This does not restart the router or the plugin on an update, it just informs the user that a restart is required.
• update-only=true - Default false. If true, will fail if an installation does not exist.
• install-only=true - Default false. If true, will fail if an installation exists.
• min-installed-version - to update over, if an installation exists
• max-installed-version - to update over, if an installation exists
• depends=plugin1,plugin2,plugin3 - unimplemented
• depends-version=0.3.4,,5.6.7 - unimplemented

Translation Properties

• langs=xx,yy,Klingon,… - (unimplemented) (yy is the country flag)

Application Directories and Files

Each of the following directories or files is optional, but something must be there or it won’t do anything:

console/

• locale/ - Only jars containing new resource bundles (translations) for apps in the base I2P installation. Bundles for this plugin should go inside console/webapp/foo.war or lib/foo.jar
• themes/ - New themes for the router console. Place each theme in a subdirectory.
• webapps/ - (See important notes below about webapps) .wars - These will be run at install time unless disabled in webapps.config. The war name does not have to be the same as the plugin name. Do not duplicate war names in the base I2P installation.
• webapps.config - Same format as router’s webapps.config. Also used to specify additional jars in $PLUGIN/lib/ or $I2P/lib for the webapp classpath, with webapps.warname.classpath=$PLUGIN/lib/foo.jar,$I2P/lib/bar.jar

Note: Prior to release 1.7.0 (API 0.9.53), the classpath line was only loaded if the warname was the same as the plugin name. As of API 0.9.53, classpath setting will work for any warname.

Note: Prior to router version 0.7.12-9, the router looked for plugin.warname.startOnLoad instead of webapps.warname.startOnLoad. For compatibility with older router versions, a plugin wishing to disable a war should include both lines.

eepsite/

(See important notes below about eepsites)

• cgi-bin/
• docroot/
• logs/
• webapps/
• jetty.xml - The installer will have to do variable substitution in here to set the path. The location and name of this file doesn’t really matter, as long as it is set in clients.config - it may be more convenient to be up one level from here.

lib/

Put any jars here, and specify them in a classpath line in console/webapps.config and/or clients.config

clients.config file

This file is optional, and specifies clients that will be run when a plugin is started. It uses the same format as the router’s clients.config file. See the clients.config configuration file specification for more information about the format and important details about how clients are started and stopped.

• clientApp.0.stopargs=foo bar stop baz - If present, the class will be called with these args to stop the client. All stop tasks are called with zero delay. Note: The router can’t tell if your unmanaged clients are running or not.
• clientApp.0.uninstallargs=foo bar uninstall baz - If present, the class will be called with these args just before deleting $PLUGIN. All uninstall tasks are called with zero delay.
• clientApp.0.classpath=$I2P/lib/foo.bar,$PLUGIN/lib/bar.jar - The plugin runner will do variable substitution in the args and stopargs lines as follows:
  • $I2P - I2P base installation dir
  • $CONFIG - I2P config dir (typically ~/.i2p)
  • $PLUGIN - this plugin’s installation dir (typically ~/.i2p/plugins/appname)
  • $OS - the host operating system in the form windows, linux, mac
  • $ARCH - the host architecture in the form 386, amd64, arm64

(See important notes below about running shell scripts or external programs)

Plugin Installer Tasks

This lists what happens when a plugin is installed by I2P.

1. The .xpi2p file is downloaded.
2. The .sud signature is verified against stored keys. As of release 0.9.14.1, if there is no matching key, the installation fails, unless an advanced router property is set to allow all keys.
3. Verify the integrity of the zip file.
4. Extract the plugin.config file.
5. Verify the I2P version, to make sure the plugin will work.
6. Check that webapps don’t duplicate the existing $I2P applications.
7. Stop the existing plugin (if present).
8. Verify that the install directory does not exist yet if update=false, or ask to overwrite.
9. Verify that the install directory does exist if update=true, or ask to create.
10. Unzip the plugin in to appDir/plugins/name/
11. Add the plugin to plugins.config

Plugin Starter Tasks

This lists what happens when plugins are started. First, plugins.config is checked to see which plugins need to be started. For each plugin:

1. Check clients.config, and load and start each item (add the configured jars to the classpath).
2. Check console/webapp and console/webapp.config. Load and start required items (add the configured jars to the classpath).
3. Add console/locale/foo.jar to the translation classpath if present.
4. Add console/theme to the theme search path if present.
5. Add the summary bar link.

Console Webapp Notes

Console webapps with background tasks should implement a ServletContextListener (see seedless or i2pbote for examples), or override destroy() in the servlet, so that they can be stopped. As of router version 0.7.12-3, console webapps will always be stopped before they are restarted, so you do not need to worry about multiple instances, as long as you do this. Also as of router version 0.7.12-3, console webapps will be stopped at router shutdown.

Don’t bundle library jars in the webapp; put them in lib/ and put a classpath in webapps.config. Then you can make separate install and update plugins, where the update plugin does not contain the library jars.

Never bundle Jetty, Tomcat, or servlet jars in your plugin, as they may conflict with the version in the I2P installation. Take care not to bundle any conflicting libraries.

Don’t include .java or .jsp files; otherwise Jetty will recompile them at installation, which will increase the startup time. While most I2P installations will have a working Java and JSP compiler in the classpath, this is not guaranteed, and may not work in all cases.

For now, a webapp needing to add classpath files in $PLUGIN must be the same name as the plugin. For example, a webapp in plugin foo must be named foo.war.

While I2P has supported Servlet 3.0 since I2P release 0.9.30, it does NOT support annotation scanning for @WebContent (no web.xml file). Several additional runtime jars would be required, and we do not provide those in a standard installation. Contact the I2P developers if you need support for @WebContent.

Eepsite Notes

It isn’t clear how to have a plugin install to an existing eepsite. The router has no hook to the eepsite, and it may or may not be running, and there may be more than one. Better is to start your own Jetty instance and I2PTunnel instance, for a brand new eepsite.

It can instantiate a new I2PTunnel (somewhat like the i2ptunnel CLI does), but it won’t appear in the i2ptunnel gui of course, that’s a different instance. But that’s ok. Then you can start and stop i2ptunnel and jetty together.

So don’t count on the router to automatically merge this with some existing eepsite. It probably won’t happen. Start a new I2PTunnel and Jetty from clients.config. The best examples of this are the zzzot and pebble plugins.

How to get path substitution into jetty.xml? See zzzot and pebble plugins for examples.

Client Start/Stop Notes

As of release 0.9.4, the router supports “managed” plugin clients. Managed plugin clients are instantiated and started by the ClientAppManager. The ClientAppManager maintains a reference to the client and receives updates on the client’s state. Managed plugin clients are preferred, as it is much easier to implement state tracking and to start and stop a client. It also is much easier to avoid static references in the client code which could lead to excessive memory usage after a client is stopped. See the clients.config configuration file specification for more information on writing a managed client.

For “unmanaged” plugin clients, The router has no way to monitor the state of clients started via clients.config. The plugin author should handle multiple start or stop calls gracefully, if at all possible, by keeping a static state table, or using PID files, etc. Avoid logging or exceptions on multiple starts or stops. This also goes for a stop call without a previous start. As of router version 0.7.12-3, plugins will be stopped at router shutdown, which means that all clients with stopargs in clients.config will be called, whether or not they were previously started.

Shell Script and External Program Notes

To run shell scripts or other external programs, write a small Java class that checks the OS type, then runs ShellCommand on either the .bat or a .sh file you provide. A generalized solution for this was added in I2P 1.7.0/0.9.53, the “ShellService” which performs state tracking for a single command and communicates with the ClientAppManager.

External programs won’t be stopped when the router stops, and a second copy will fire up when the router starts. This can usually be mitigated using a ShellService to perform state tracking. If that is unsuitable to your use case, you could write a wrapper class or shell script that does the usual storage of the PID in a PID file, and check for it on start.

Other Plugin Guidelines

• See i2p.scripts monotone branch or any of the sample plugins on zzz’s page for the makeplugin.sh shell script. This automates most of the tasks for key generation, plugin su3 file creation, and verification. You should incorporate this script into your plugin build process.
• Pack200 of jars and wars is strongly recommended for plugins, it generally shrinks plugins by 60-65%. See any of the sample plugins on zzz’s page for an example. Pack200 unpacking is supported on routers 0.7.11-5 or higher, which is essentially all routers that support plugins at all.
• Plugins must not attempt to write anywhere in $I2P as it may be readonly, and that isn’t good policy anyway.
• Plugins may write to $CONFIG but keeping files in $PLUGIN only is recommended. All files in $PLUGIN will be deleted at uninstall.
• $CWD may be anywhere; do not assume it is in a particular place, do not attempt to read or write files relative to $CWD. For a ShellService, it is always the same as $PLUGIN.
• Java programs should find out where they are with the directory getters in I2PAppContext.
• Plugin directory is I2PAppContext.getGlobalContext().getAppDir().getAbsolutePath() + "/plugins/" + appname, or put a $PLUGIN argument in the args line in clients.config.
• All config files must be UTF-8.
• To run in a separate JVM, use ShellCommand with java -cp foo:bar:baz my.main.class arg1 arg2 arg3.
• As an alternative to stopargs in clients.config, a Java client may register a shutdown hook with I2PAppContext.addShutdownTask(). But this wouldn’t shut down a plugin when upgrading, so stopargs is recommended. Also, set all created threads to daemon mode.
• Do not include classes duplicating those in the standard installation. Extend the classes if necessary.
• Beware of the different classpath definitions in wrapper.config between old and new installations.
• Clients will reject duplicate keys with different keynames, and duplicate keynames with different keys, and different keys or keynames in upgrade packages. Safeguard your keys. Only generate them once.
• Do not modify the plugin.config file at runtime as it will be overwritten on upgrade. Use a different config file in the directory for storing runtime configuration.
• In general, plugins should not require access to $I2P/lib/router.jar. Do not access router classes, unless you are doing something special.
• Since each version must be higher than the one before, you could enhance your build script to add a build number to the end of the version.
• Plugins must never call System.exit().
• Please respect licenses by meeting license requirements for any software you bundle.
• The router sets the JVM time zone to UTC. If a plugin needs to know the user’s actual time zone, it is stored by the router in the I2PAppContext property i2p.systemTimeZone.

Classpaths

The following jars in $I2P/lib can be assumed to be in the standard classpath for all I2P installations, no matter how old or how new the original installation.

All recent public APIs in i2p jars have the since-release number specified in the Javadocs. If your plugin requires certain features only available in recent versions, be sure to set the properties min-i2p-version, min-jetty-version, or both, in the plugin.config file.

The following jars in $I2P/lib can be assumed to be present for all I2P installations, no matter how old or how new the original installation, but are not necessarily in the classpath:

Anything not listed above may not be present in everybody’s classpath, even if you have it in the classpath in YOUR version of i2p. If you need any jar not listed above, add $I2P/lib/foo.jar to the classpath specified in clients.config or webapps.config in your plugin.

Previously, a classpath entry specified in clients.config was added to the classpath for the entire JVM. However, as of 0.7.13-3, this was fixed using class loaders, and now, as originally intended, the specified classpath in clients.config is only for the particular thread. Therefore, specify the full required classpath for each client.

Java Version Notes

I2P has required Java 7 since release 0.9.24 (January 2016). I2P has required Java 6 since release 0.9.12 (April 2014). Any I2P users on the latest release should be running a 1.7 (7.0) JVM.

If your plugin does not require 1.7:

• Ensure that all java and jsp files are compiled with source=“1.6” target=“1.6”.
• Ensure that all bundled library jars are also for 1.6 or lower.

If your plugin requires 1.7:

• Note that on your download page.
• Add min-java-version=1.7 to your plugin.config

In any case, you must set a bootclasspath when compiling with Java 8 to prevent runtime crashes.

JVM Crashes When Updating

Note - this should all be fixed now.

The JVM has a tendency to crash when updating jars in a plugin if that plugin was running since I2P was started (even if the plugin was later stopped). This may have been fixed with the class loader implementation in 0.7.13-3, but it may not.

The safest is to design your plugin with the jar inside the war (for a webapp), or to require a restart after update, or don’t update the jars in your plugin.

Due to the way class loaders work inside a webapp, it may be safe to have external jars if you specify the classpath in webapps.config. More testing is required to verify this. Don’t specify the classpath with a ‘fake’ client in clients.config if it’s only needed for a webapp - use webapps.config instead.

The least safe, and apparently the source of most crashes, is clients with plugin jars specified in the classpath in clients.config.

None of this should be a problem on initial install - you should not ever have to require a restart for an initial install of a plugin.

References

• Configuration File Specification
• DSA Cryptography
• Updates Specification