Quick Start Guide

This guide will help you get HoneyBee up and running quickly. We’ll deploy HoneyBee Core and connect a HoneyBee Node.

Prerequisites

• HoneyBee Core: Rust 1.75+ (nightly)
• HoneyBee Node: Go 1.21+
• For Honeypots: Python 3.7+ or PHP 7.4+, Git

Step 1: Deploy HoneyBee Core

Using Docker (Recommended)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/H0neyBe/honeybee_core.git
cd honeybee_core

# Build and run with Docker Compose
docker-compose up -d

# Check status
docker-compose ps

The Core will be available on:

• Node Port: 9001 (for node connections)
• Backend API: 9002 (for API access)
• WebSocket Proxy: 9003 (for WebSocket connections)

Using Cargo (Development)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/H0neyBe/honeybee_core.git
cd honeybee_core

# Build
cargo build --release

# Run
cargo run --release

Step 2: Deploy HoneyBee Node

Using Pre-built Binary

# Download from releases (when available)
# Or build from source (see below)

Building from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/H0neyBe/honeybee_node.git
cd honeybee_node

# Build
make build

# Generate configuration
./build/honeybee-node -gen-config

Configure the Node

Edit configs/config.yaml:

node:
  name: "my-first-node"
  type: "Full"

server:
  address: "localhost:9001"  # Core manager address

tls:
  enabled: false  # Set to true in production

auth:
  totp_enabled: false  # Set to true in production

honeypot:
  enabled: true
  base_dir: "~/.honeybee/honeypots"

Run the Node

./build/honeybee-node -config configs/config.yaml

You should see:

Starting HoneyBee Node...
Connected to server successfully
Registration accepted
Node started successfully, running...

Step 3: Verify Connection

Check the Core logs to see the node registration:

Node registered: my-first-node (ID: 12345)
Node status: Running

Step 4: Install a Honeypot

Once the node is connected, you can install honeypots. This is typically done via the Core’s API or CLI.

Example: Install Cowrie

The Core will send an InstallPot command to the node:

{
  "version": 2,
  "message": {
    "NodeCommand": {
      "node_id": 12345,
      "command": {
        "InstallPot": {
          "pot_id": "cowrie-01",
          "honeypot_type": "cowrie",
          "config": {
            "ssh_port": "2222",
            "telnet_port": "2223"
          },
          "auto_start": true
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

The node will:

1. Clone the Potstore repository
2. Install Cowrie with dependencies
3. Configure HoneyBee integration
4. Start the honeypot automatically

Step 5: Monitor Events

Once a honeypot is running, it will forward events to the Core. You can monitor these events via:

• Core Logs: Check Core console output
• Backend API: Query events via REST API (port 9002)
• WebSocket: Real-time updates via WebSocket (port 9003)

Next Steps

• Core Configuration - Configure HoneyBee Core
• Node Configuration - Configure your node
• Security Setup - Enable TLS and TOTP
• Honeypot Management - Manage honeypots
• Protocol Documentation - Understand the protocol

Troubleshooting

Node Won’t Connect

1. Verify Core is running: curl http://localhost:9002/health
2. Check Core address in node config
3. Check firewall rules
4. Enable debug logging: ./build/honeybee-node -config configs/config.yaml -debug

Honeypot Installation Fails

1. Ensure Python/PHP is installed
2. Check disk space
3. Verify Git is available
4. Review node logs for errors

See Troubleshooting Guide for more help.