varde(8)

# NAME

varde-daemon - content-addressed blob mirror daemon on iroh

# SYNOPSIS

*varde-daemon* [_OPTIONS_]

# DESCRIPTION

varde owns a content-addressed blob store and mirrors content between
consenting peers. Applications talk to it over a unix socket speaking
JSON Lines (one request per line, one response per line); *varde-ctl*(1)
is the reference client.

Discovery is open; replication is explicit. The daemon advertises itself
via mDNS on the local network (identifiable, never camouflaged), but
content is only served to peers on the trust allowlist, plus content
deliberately published per-pin (*open-lan*) or via ticket export. All
fetched data is BLAKE3-verified regardless of source.

Default traffic posture: LAN only (no relay), upload capped at 10 MiB/s,
UDP sockets marked DSCP CS1 (best effort), and all transfers stop while
NetworkManager reports the connection as metered.

# OPTIONS

*--config* _PATH_
	Config file. Default: _/etc/varde/config.toml_ in system mode,
	_$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/varde/config.toml_ in user mode. The default file
	may be absent; an explicitly named one must exist.

*--store* _PATH_
	Store directory override.

*--socket* _PATH_
	API socket path override.

*--system*, *--user*
	Force system-mode or user-mode default paths. Default: system when
	running as root, user otherwise.

*--version*, *--help*
	Print version or usage and exit.

# CONFIGURATION

See the commented example at _/etc/varde/config.toml_. Precedence:
flags > *VARDE_\** environment variables (*VARDE_CONFIG*, *VARDE_STORE*,
*VARDE_SOCKET*, *VARDE_MAX_UPLOAD*, *VARDE_MAX_DOWNLOAD*,
*VARDE_DISCOVERY*, *VARDE_WAN_UPLOAD*) > config file > defaults.

# FILES

_/var/lib/varde_ (system), _$XDG_DATA_HOME/varde_ (user)
	Store directory: iroh-blobs store under _blobs/_, pins and trust in
	_meta.json_, endpoint key in _secret.key_ (mode 0600).

_/run/varde/varde.sock_ (system), _$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/varde.sock_ (user)
	API socket. systemd socket activation (LISTEN_FDS) is supported;
	without it the daemon binds the socket itself.

# NOTES

Materialization attempts a reflink (FICLONE) before falling back to a
byte copy; store directory and materialization targets must share a
filesystem (btrfs/XFS) for reflinks to work. Store files are immutable
and never hardlinked out.

DSCP marking may require CAP_NET_ADMIN on some systems and is silently
skipped where unavailable.

# SEE ALSO

*varde-ctl*(1)