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Run Two Instances on One Machine

Two identities, two daemons, one computer.

When you need this

Each KeibiDrop instance is one identity and connects to one peer. A second instance gives you a second identity: to test against yourself, to demo on a single laptop, to run CI, or to hold sessions toward two different peers from one server.

Give each instance its own state

KEIBIDROP_CONFIG_DIR moves the whole state directory: config file, identity, contacts. Set a different value per instance and the two never touch each other's keys:

KEIBIDROP_CONFIG_DIR=~/.config/kd-alice ...
KEIBIDROP_CONFIG_DIR=~/.config/kd-bob   ...

Give each instance its own sockets and ports

• Ports: each instance needs its own inbound and outbound port, all inside 26000-27000.
• kd only: each daemon needs its own KD_SOCKET, and clients select the daemon with the same variable.
• FUSE: if both instances mount, give them different mount_path values. For tests, KD_NO_FUSE=1 is simpler.
• Save paths: separate KD_SAVE_PATH values keep received files apart.

Complete example

# Instance 1
KEIBIDROP_CONFIG_DIR=/tmp/kd-alice \
KD_SOCKET=/tmp/kd-alice.sock \
KD_INBOUND_PORT=26001 KD_OUTBOUND_PORT=26002 \
KD_SAVE_PATH=/tmp/kd-alice-files KD_NO_FUSE=1 \
kd start

# Instance 2
KEIBIDROP_CONFIG_DIR=/tmp/kd-bob \
KD_SOCKET=/tmp/kd-bob.sock \
KD_INBOUND_PORT=26003 KD_OUTBOUND_PORT=26004 \
KD_SAVE_PATH=/tmp/kd-bob-files KD_NO_FUSE=1 \
kd start

# Address a specific daemon
KD_SOCKET=/tmp/kd-alice.sock kd status

The same variables work for keibidrop-cli and the desktop app (minus KD_SOCKET, which only kd uses). The full walkthrough that uses this setup is the kd tutorial; the variable list is in the configuration reference.