Freenet Node Hosting for Anonymous Publishing on VPS

Freenet stores content as immutable blocks distributed across participating nodes. When a user publishes content, the blocks are propagated through the network and stored on nodes that the network routes through during retrieval. Content that is frequently retrieved is cached on more nodes, making popular content more resilient. Content that is not retrieved decays off less-visited nodes over time as it is replaced by more popular content.

The key property for publishers is that once content is published and has spread to sufficient nodes, the publisher's own node can go offline without the content disappearing. The network continues serving it from other nodes. This is fundamentally different from Tor hidden services, where content disappears when the server goes offline. Freenet enables permanent anonymous publishing that survives the original publisher's departure from the network.

Freenet operates in two modes: opennet (connecting to any random nodes, easier setup) and darknet (connecting only to trusted friends' nodes, higher security). Darknet mode requires establishing trust relationships with node operators you know personally. Opennet is appropriate for general use; darknet provides stronger anonymity for high-threat publishing scenarios.

Freenet requires Java 11 or later. Install from the official distribution:

apt install default-jre
wget https://github.com/hyphanet/fred/releases/latest/download/new_installer.jar
java -jar new_installer.jar -console

The console installer prompts for installation directory, datastore size, and connection mode. Configure the datastore size based on the VPS disk space available and your intention to contribute to the network. More datastore space increases the node's value to the network and the amount of content it can cache. A minimum of 10GB is recommended; 50GB or more makes a meaningfully contributing node.

Freenet's web interface runs on http://127.0.0.1:8888 after installation. Access it through an SSH tunnel or configure a localhost-only nginx reverse proxy to access the interface. Do not expose the Freenet interface directly on public interfaces; it contains all your publishing activity and node configuration.

Freenet supports two types of content addresses: CHK (Content Hash Key) for immutable content and SSK (Signed Subspace Key) for updateable content published by a key pair. CHK addresses are deterministically derived from content; the same content always produces the same CHK address. SSK addresses are associated with a cryptographic key pair and allow the key holder to publish updates at the same address.

To publish a website (called a "freesite"), use Freesite Inserter or the built-in upload functionality. The freesite is split into blocks, each block is encrypted, and the blocks are inserted into the network. The root key of the freesite is the address users share to find the content. Initial insertion can take hours for large freesites as blocks propagate through the network.

Freesites cannot include dynamic content like database-driven applications. All content must be static HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and media files. For news publishing, documentation, books, and archival content, this limitation is acceptable. For interactive applications requiring user authentication and dynamic response, Freenet is not appropriate.