MASQ CLI Testing - Windows

This guide will allow you to set up for testing MASQ development cards, using Command Line Interface (CLI) for Windows - written by the trusty Testing Manager Stew

Command Line Interface testing is where we test the basic functionality and changes made by the developers. It can be a tricky and fiddly thing to master, it takes no prisoners for errors or mistyping and can be frustrating. Like anything, it takes patience and practice. Do not be put off by it, just keep at it and reach out to testers in Discord if you have issues.

I have laid this document out as I do things. You may decide I do things in a stupid way or maybe I missed something. I’ve been doing this a while but I will endeavour to start it from the beginning to get you to a point where you can at least start the node (not fully functional) for testing purposes.
If you have previously tested MASQ Node you need to DELETE ALL OLD NODE DATABASE FILES BEFORE you start again (node-data.db)
Steps Outlined in this Guide
Downloading latest stable Binaries from GitHub Actions
Extracting them to your local disk
Start the Command Line Interface (CLI)
Initialize the MASQDaemon
Setting Configuration for MASQ Node
Starting masq Node Process
Setting Up MASQ Binaries
Create a new folder called Masq on your C drive:


Navigate to your C: drive
Right click the mouse, Scroll down to New then Folder and click it.
Rename that folder Masq 
Download the latest Binaries for the MASQ Node software here:
Actions · MASQ-Project/Node
GitHub
You will need to be logged into GitHub to access the artifacts on the bottom of each workflow run page
Binaries are different versions of the software that change each time a new feature or fix is added. The simplest way to get started it to pick a set of Binaries which show a green tick like this:
As of 15 Feb 2022, that last stable build in Actions can be found here:
​https://github.com/MASQ-Project/Node/actions/runs/1843245732​
Once you have clicked on a Binary you will see the Binaries for the 3 operating systems. We obviously want the Windows version, as we are using Windows in this guide.
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Click on the Windows version and the download will begin.
Go to downloads and cut/paste the downloaded zip file into your recently created Masq folder.
You should now have this:
Right click the file, select Extract here and you will get the below:
Go into the folders in this order : generated>bin and you will see:
These are the files you want for testing. Copy and paste into your Masq folder. You should see something like this:
Now we have the Binaries and we are ready to start using CLI.
Start the Command Line Interface (CLI)
To run MASQ Node from CLI you will need to use a command line console or terminal window with elevated privileges
Using the Windows search bar type:   command
On the right hand side, click 'Run as Administrator' and click Yes on the confirmation message that pops up. You should see this:
We now have to navigate to the Masq folder you created earlier using this CLI. These commands assume you have created the Masq folder in the same location as I did above. Creating that folder elsewhere will mean the below command may not work and you will have to navigate to the Masq folder in the location you created it.
Type: cd/
Press Enter
Type: cd Masq
Press Enter
CLI should now show you are in the right place:
Initialize the Daemon (MASQNode binary)
 The daemon service is currently the MASQNode binary file under the bin directory
In CLI type : MASQNode --initialization
Press Enter
You may get a pop up window where your Antivirus scans the file, wait for that to finish
We now need to open another CLI window as we did before, but this time do not type anything yet.
You should now have 2 CLI open that look like this:
At this point, there is no need to touch the one that is running the Daemon
Ignore the first window (left) for now. Let's concentrate on the right hand side window.
This CLI window is currently doing nothing but we have navigated to the Masq folder ready to look at how we set-up and start a Node.
In this CLI window type: masq
Press Enter
We are now in interactive mode which makes your life easier (you can stay in standard mode but that requires a few more commands and you will get to know this as you test).
Setting Configuration for MASQ Node
Type: setup
Press Enter
You should see the below:
A breakdown of what these are and how you configure them can be found below:
Configuring MASQ Node
The above link shows that there are several things you can configure along with the status of them.
This guide will not be going through each one but will give you the easiest way to get CLI up and running and start a Node for testing with the minimum information required.

The screenshot of setup shows a message:
1
ERRORS:
2
neighborhood-mode      Node cannot run as --neighborhood-mode standard without --ip specified
Copied!
This is telling us to set a value for ip. In the most basic way, we can supply a value which satisfies the requirements but does have to be your actual public ip address. Remember we are not setting up a fully functional Node, we are simply doing the basics to allow testing.
In order to specify an --ip type: setup --ip 1.2.3.4
Press Enter
You should see this:
This shows us the setup list again but now the STATUS alongside ip is Set to 1.2.3.4 and the ERRORS message has disappeared.
Starting masq Node Process
We can now start the Node by typing… Wait for it. start
In Windows, you may see an admin prompt asking you to allow 'masqnode' process through Windows firewall. Allow that so the Node software can connect to the network
Press Enter
If you have followed all the above correctly you should see something like this:
You should also see some action on the Daemon CLI screen which we opened, started and then left alone. 
Congratulations you have taken the first step to testing on CLI!

There is much more to learn about parameters which can be found on the link provided earlier. If you would like to look around and make yourself familiar with things you can use the help commands which are available on 2 places as some things can only be done at certain stages:

If you have not yet started the Node using start, you can use: setup --help 
If you have started your Node successfully you can use : help
Subverting DNS
To consume over MASQ Network you need to:
Proxy your browser to 127.0.0.1:80 and 127.0.0.1:443 (this is for HTTP and HTTPS traffic) - preferred option
Subvert your DNS to 127.0.0.1
To subvert your DNS, find your network adaptor settings (usually its in the system settings of your machine) and change your DNS from 'Automatic' to manually use 127.0.0.1
If you can disable IPv6 as an option is recommended to do this as well.
Shutting down Node and Reverting DNS
The cleanly shutdown node, in your Node terminal (not the Daemon terminal), type shutdown in interactive mode, or masq shutdown from a terminal if you aren't in interactive mode.
Ensure that you revert your environment DNS back to Automatic or your default settings before you subverted them, or you will not regain connection to the internet.