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Federated nodes

A federated node is a Corteza instance (server) with the Federation feature enabled.

A node can expose data to its destination nodes (acts as an origin), or consume shared data from its origin nodes (acts as a destination).

A node can be both the origin and a destination.

Before we can exchange any data between the nodes, they need to go through the node pairing process.

Node pairing

Node pairing flow outline:

  1. the origin node registers a destination node,

  2. the origin node sends an invite to the destination node,

  3. the destination node accepts the invite, either via email or via other channel,

  4. the origin node accepts the handshake request sent by the destination node.

You can start the node pairing process from any node.
Registering a new node:

  1. navigate to the Corteza Admin,

  2. click on the "Nodes" under "Federation" in the navigation drawer,

  3. click on the "new" button,

  4. provide the requested data regarding node we wish to connect with,

  5. press the "Submit" button.

Send the invitation:

  1. navigate to the Corteza Admin,

  2. click on the "Nodes" under "Federation" in the navigation drawer,

  3. click on the node you wish to send the invitation for,

  4. click on the "Generate Federation Link" button,

    • either copy the invitation URL, or

    • insert the contact email where the invite should be sent to.

The generated invite URL includes a secure OTT token, so make sure to send it over a secure channel.
Accept the email invitation:

  1. click on the "Pair Federation Node" button,

  2. enter the received URL and confirm.

The node pairing will not proceed until you insert the pairing URL, and the other party accepts the handshake request.
Accept the invitation without email:

  1. navigate to the Corteza Admin,

  2. click on the "Nodes" under "Federation" in the navigation drawer,

  3. click on the …​ button, // @todo

  4. enter the received URL and confirm.

The node pairing will not proceed until you insert the pairing URL, and the other party accepts the handshake request.
Accept the node pair handshake request:

  1. navigate to the Corteza Admin,

  2. click on the "Nodes" under "Federation" in the navigation drawer,

  3. click on the node you wish to accept the request for,

  4. click on the warning icon to confirm the request.

This final step is done on the origin server (the one that initiated the handshake).