[[!meta title="Using I2P"]]

[I2P](https://geti2p.net/) is an alternative anonymity network to Tor
which supports most common Internet activities like web browsing,
email, filesharing etc. Unlike Tor, whose main focus arguably is on
accessing sites from the "normal" Internet, I2P is more oriented
towards being a closed [[!wikipedia darknet]], separate from the
"normal" Internet. Anyone running I2P can run an anonymous server, a
so called Eepsite, that is only accessible within I2P using the `.i2p`
top level domain (similar to `.onion` for Tor hidden services). For
instance, the I2P homepage can also be accessed through I2P via
<http://i2p-projekt.i2p>.

<div class="note">

<p>I2P doesn't go through Tor.</p>

</div>

[[!toc]]

Starting I2P
============

*I2P* is not enabled by default when Tails starts. To start I2P, add the <span
class="command">i2p</span> boot option to the <span class="application">boot
menu</span>. For detailed instructions, see the documentation on
[[using the <span class="application">boot menu</span>|first_steps/startup_options#boot_menu]].

When added to the boot options, *I2P* will be started automatically once the time has been synchronized.
Unlike previous versions of Tails, the router console will not be opened automatically.

The I2P router console can be accessed from within <span class="application">I2P
Browser</span>. From the desktop, choose <span class="menuchoice">
       <span class="guimenu">Applications</span>&nbsp;▸
       <span class="guisubmenu">Internet</span>&nbsp;▸
       <span class="guimenuitem">I2P Browser</span></span>.

The router console shows I2P's current status, links to many useful I2P resources
(forums, email, filesharing, etc.) and offers the possibility to
shutdown I2P. Starting with Tails 1.2, `.i2p` addresses are only accessible
from within <span class="application">I2P Browser</span>. Internet resources cannot be reached from within
<span class="application">I2P Browser</span>.

Exchanging files with <span class="application">I2P Browser</span>
==================================================================

It is [[!tails_ticket 8280  desc="difficult to exchange files"]] between
<span class="application">I2P Browser</span> and the `amnesia` user. But you can
do that from the command line. To do so, you need to add an [[administration
password|doc/first_steps/startup_options/administration_password]] when starting
Tails.
The home directory of <span class="application">I2P Browser</span>
is located in **/var/lib/i2p-browser/chroot/home/i2pbrowser/**.

You might have to check the permissions of the files that you want to exchange
with <span class="application">I2P Browser</span>. They need to belong to
the `i2pbrowser` user to be accessible from inside <span
class="application">I2P Browser</span>. Execute the following command to change
the ownership of your file, replacing `[file]` with the name of your file:

    sudo chown i2pbrowser /var/lib/i2p-browser/chroot/home/i2pbrowser/Downloads/[file]

They need to belong to the `amnesia` user to be accessible from outside
<span class="application">I2P Browser</span>. Execute the following command to
change the ownership of your file, replacing `[file]` with the name of your file:

    sudo chown amnesia /var/lib/i2p-browser/chroot/home/i2pbrowser/Downloads/[file]
