Cat Hash - Where to Find? Newbie (Ubuntu)

Help
1

Hi people,

I initialised an IPFS node a few months ago and should have received a hash…something like cat / etc.

I didn’t make note of the hash. I have IPFS desktop up and running. How do I get the hash?

Cheers.

2

You get hashes by adding files to IPFS, not initializing a node.

Initializing nodes gives you peer ID. If you want you can see it the main page of the webui.

3

I think they might be talking about the CID displayed after an “ipfs init” “to get started…”

There’s nothing special about that file. I think it’s just a read me that protocol labs makes sure is avaiable on the network to test that it’s working.

It’s shown in the docs here

4

Ah yes, I think you are right, I’m using ipfs init -e that why I don’t have it.

I think it’s just a read me that protocol labs makes sure is avaiable on the network to test that it’s working.

Actually this doesn’t test the network, because unless you have used ipfs init -e your node inits it’s datastore with this file already pinned, so you don’t crawl the network or anything like that, it justs pulls it out of your drive.

5

Thanks guys. There’s a reference to what I’m talking about on the following page:

But when I go to initialise so that I can see the hash, I get the following error:

“Error: ipfs configuration file already exists!
Reinitializing would overwrite your keys.”

Web reference:

ipfs init

> initializing ipfs node at /Users/jbenet/.ipfs
> generating 2048-bit RSA keypair...done
> peer identity: Qmcpo2iLBikrdf1d6QU6vXuNb6P7hwrbNPW9kLAH8eG67z
> to get started, enter:
>
>   **ipfs cat /ipfs/QmYwAPJzv5CZsnA625s3Xf2nemtYgPpHdWEz79ojWnPbdG/readme**
6

Yes this because you are trying to create a new node on top of your old one.

The hash you are searching is literally : QmYwAPJzv5CZsnA625s3Xf2nemtYgPpHdWEz79ojWnPbdG (copied from the docs), it’s the same for everyone.

7

Thanks Jorropo. That was the quickest reply I’ve ever seen!

1 Like
8

Actually, I’m going through this video and the guy uses the has from 3:06 to 3:08. His hash is different.

Is the hash just related to a website or something? Sorry if these questions are a bit dumb, but I’m completely new to this.

9

Ahhh…starting to make sense. The hash is the equivalent of an IP address, no? :slight_smile:

10

I guess he has an old version of IPFS

11

Not at all, the hash is generated from the content, it’s the fingerprint of the content, a single hash match only one contents (so you know no one can cheat you).

12

Makes sense. Thanks for your help.