crossfire/README.md

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crossfire: distributed brute force infrastructure

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# crossfire

distributed brute force infrastructure

takes the difficulty out of creating custom brute force jobs

## status

### base
- 🚧 input space manipulation functions
    - ✅ data types: using data/integer-set, pattern (vector of integer-set)
    - ✅ basic manipulation functions
    - ✅ representation of input space as a flat integer
- 🚧 #lang for configuration/definitions
    - (input) mode
        - stdio: user program gets input by stdio, integers separated by space, one per line
        - callback: input generator compiled into user program, user main calls `crossfire_main`
            with callback function that returns true or false
        - other modes??
    - SMP: performed by crossfire or performed by the user code
        - "performed by user code" can also mean GPU, for example
- 🚧 codegen for input generator (in C)
    - ✅ stdio mode
    - 🚧 callback mode
    - success reporting mechanism
    - low priority: configurable "character" type -- currently a "character" is a uint64\_t

### server: distribute jobs to workers
- ✅ base definitions of input classes and how to divide them
- ✅ dynamic slicing and scheduling based on agents' reported work rate
- low priority: randomized input space distribution
- low priority: store common configuration templates for clients
- low priority: track upload/download progress
- streaming interface for file transfers
- ✅ accept submitted projects (with client-compiled input generator) and distribute to agents
    - ✅ low priority: support for multiple architectures
- ✅ agent authentication
- ✅ client authentication

### agent: accept and run jobs
- ✅ securely connect to server
- ✅ retrieve assigned tasks
- handle smp correctly
- ✅ report completions
- 🚧 report errors
- ✅ report successes
- low priority: defer to external brute force program (eg, hashcat on GPU)
    - this could be implemented on top of the existing project format
- low priority: support finding _all_ matching inputs for a project, rather than just the first one
    - the architecture currently doesn't stop on the first match so it could be a thing

### client: submit jobs and view progress
- ✅securely connect to server
- command line interface
    - `crossfire new`: create new crossfire project
    - `crossfire test`: test project locally, replicates configuration of server with single local
        agent to debug issues
    - low priority: `crossfire node-test`: submit a mini-task to a node that has the necessary
        resources to debug issues
    - `crossfire submit`: submit task to server
    - `crossfire cancel`: cancels submitted task
    - `crossfire status`: check status of task (or network as a whole)
- low priority: gui interface (racket/gui & framework time)

## misc

### porting

currently only linux is supported for the server and agent. the server might run on macOS but it's
not guaranteed. if you are interested in porting this to a new platform, take a look at
`agent-deployment` for the embedded build of racket for the all-in-one agent binary, and perhaps
create additional makefiles for other platforms. additionally, platform-specific racket code is
marked with an `XXX` comment