Node settings

A node needs very little of its own: where the central service is, how to prove it may join, and where to keep its files. Everything else (ports, AE title, sources, destinations, routes) comes from the central service.

Where settings come from

Later sources override earlier ones:

1. appsettings.json next to the program, in a "Node" section.
2. The registry, HKLM\SOFTWARE\Routes\Node (Windows; written by the installer).
3. Environment variables, Routes__Node__<Setting>, such as Routes__Node__CentralUrl.
4. The command line, --Node:<Setting>=<value>.

Restart the node after changing them.

Settings

Setting	Installer property	Default	What it does
CentralUrl	CENTRALURL	https://localhost:5080/	The central service’s address. Several central servers: ; separated, the preferred one first; the node fails over to the next.
ApiKey	APIKEY		The enrollment key from Configuration › Node enrollment. Used to enroll; the node then gets a key of its own.
CentralCertificateThumbprints	CENTRALTHUMBPRINT		Thumbprints (SHA-1 or SHA-256) of central certificates to trust although the operating system does not, such as the self-signed one. ; separated.
CentralCertificatePath			A file with the central service’s certificate (PEM or DER), trusted like a thumbprint and read again when it changes (containers).
NodeName	NODENAME	the computer name	The node’s name in the console. Must be unique.
DataDirectory	DATADIR	%ProgramData%\Routes\Node\Data, /var/lib/routes/node	Everything in transit. One volume: see Data folders.
LogDirectory	LOGDIR	%ProgramData%\Routes\Node\Logs, /var/log/routes/node	A file a day, node-<yyyymmdd>.log, 30 kept.
LogLevel		Information	Verbose, Debug, Information, Warning or Error.
TlsCertificateThumbprint			This node’s DICOM TLS certificate in LocalMachine\My; overrides the console’s Node certificate.
TlsCertificatePath			The certificate as a file instead: PKCS#12 or PEM. Read again every hour, for renewals.
TlsCertificateKeyPath			The PEM private key, when it is not in the certificate file.
TlsCertificatePassword			The PKCS#12 file’s password, or the encrypted PEM key’s.
HeartbeatInterval		00:00:02	How often the node reports to the central service.
PortOffset		0	Added to every listen port, to run several nodes on one machine for testing. Routing still sees the configured ports.

Environment only

Variable	What it does
ROUTES_PROTECTION_KEY	Off Windows: a 32-byte key (base64) that protects the node’s key and secrets, instead of protection.key in the data folder.

The node’s key

When it first enrolls, a node receives a key of its own and keeps it, protected, in node-key.bin. From then on it signs in with that key, and the enrollment key can be changed without touching the node. A node that loses its data folder must be given a new key: Nodes › Reset key. See Adding nodes.