Hosting Website on IPFS

Interplanetary File System (IPFS) is an open source, peer-to-peer distributed hypermedia protocol that acts as a sort of combination of Kodemila, BitTorrent, and Git to create a distributed subsystem of the Internet. The objects in IPFS are content addressed.

Install IPFS.

$ cd /tmp
$ wget https://dist.ipfs.io/go-ipfs/v0.4.17/go-ipfs_v0.4.17_linux-amd64.tar.gz
$ tar zxvf /tmp/go-ipfs_v0.4.17_linux-amd64.tar.gz

Update $PATH with ~/go-ipfs in .bash_profile

Intialize the repository. IPFS stores all its settings and internal data in a directory called $HOME/.ipfs

$ ipfs init

initializing IPFS node at $HOME/.ipfs
generating 2048-bit RSA keypair...done
peer identity: Qmcpo2iLBikrdf1d6QU6vXuNb6P7hwrbNPW9kLAH8eG67z
to get started, enter:

ipfs cat /ipfs/QmYwAPJzv5CZsnA625s3Xf2nemtYgPpHdWEz79ojWnPbdG/readme

$ ipfs cat /ipfs/QmYwAPJzv5CZsnA625s3Xf2nemtYgPpHdWEz79ojWnPbdG/readme

Run the IPFS node

$ ipfs daemon

API server listening on /ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/5001
Gateway (readonly) server listening on /ip4/127.0.0.1/tcp/8080
Daemon is ready

List peers with open connections

$ ipfs swarm peers

Web Console URL   : http://127.0.0.1:5001/webui
Local Gateway URL : http://127.0.0.1:8080/ipfs

Add website content to IPFS

$ ls mysite
img index.html
$ ipfs add -r mysite                       --> Choose CIDv1 by passing a version flag --cid-version 1
added QmcMN2wqoun88SVF5own7D5LUpnHwDA6ALZnVdFXhnYhAs mysite/img/spacecat.jpg
added QmS8tC5NJqajBB5qFhcA1auav14iHMnoMZJWfmr4k3EY6w mysite/img
added QmYh6HbZhHABQXrkQZ4aRRSoSa6bb9vaKoHeumWex6HRsT mysite/index.html
added QmYeAiiK1UfB8MGLRefok1N7vBTyX8hGPuMXZ4Xq1DPyt7 mysite/

The hash on last line is root CID of the website.

Visit your site on local gateway node at http:/127.0.0.1:8080/ipfs/<rootCID>
Next, you can also visit it on another ipfs node by opening https://gateway.ipfs.io/ipfs/<rootCID> or https://ipfs.infura.io/ipfs/<rootCID>
When you make changes to the content, add it again to IPFS. We can get the newest version of the site at any time by publishing to IPNS. Interplanetary Name System (IPNS) is a system for creating and updating mutable links to IPFS content.

Publish to IPNS

$ ipfs name publish <NEW_rootCID>
Published to $PEER_ID: /ipfs/<NEW_rootCID>

To get rid of hashes, add DNS TXT record containing name as _dnslink and target as dnslink=/ipns/$PEER_ID
Now you should be able to view your site at http://127.0.0.1:8080/ipns/your.domain or at http://gateway.ipfs.io/ipns/your.domain
Add DNS CNAME record target as gateway.ipfs.io so that you can visit your site at http://your.domain

Add content with CID v1. The rootCID will be pinned recursively by default.
$ ipfs add -r --cid-version 1 mysite

List all objects pinned in the local storage.

$ ipfs pin ls --type=all

List only rootCIDs. 

$ ipfs pin ls --type=recursive

Unpin the target folder.

$ ipfs pin rm <rootCID>

Perform garbage collection on the repository

$ ipfs repo gc

The rootCID hash was removed from local storage, the data still exists on IPFS. The stale content is removed from the IPFS network after a period of time. So if you wanted your data to stay permanently on the network you had to pin it or use a Pinning Service.

Remote Pinning Service

As the local IPFS node is not always available, routine garbage collection and the data to stay permanently, it might be helpful to use remote pinning service.

Create an account and get an API token for free using email on https://nft.storage/

Add remote service

$ ipfs pin remote service add nft_storage https://nft.storage/api NFT_KEY

List remote service

$ ipfs pin remote service ls

nft_storage https://nft.storage/api

Remove remote service. 

$ ipfs pin remote service rm nft_storage

Pin the content remotely. In WebUI, Files > enter cid > click Browse > Click ...More > Set pinning > Check nft_storage > Click on Apply

$ ipfs pin remote add <root_CID> --service nft_storage

Unpin CID remotely

$ ipfs pin remote rm --cid <cid> --service nft_storage

Check pin status. 

https://api.nft.storage/check/<cid>

Pin Status column at https://nft.storage/files/