/florolf-ipfs-gateway

Storing data in IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) and the file's hash in the blockchain utilizing IPFS HTTP client library.

Primary LanguageJavaScriptMIT LicenseMIT

IPFS Demo

Storing data in IPFS and the file's hash in the Ethereum blockchain.

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Goals for IPFS Blockchain Project

A blockchain smart contract system that integrates to IPFS.

  • Upload a file to IPFS from webpage and get the hash
  • Store hash on blockchain in smart contract
  • Read back hash from the smart contract
  • Retrieve file from IPFS using hash
  • Display on webpage

Problem

  • Storing data on Ethereum is expensive
  • Storing data in a central database is not distributed

Solution

  • IPFS is distributed
  • IPFS uses the cryptographic hash as the storage and lookup index
  • IPFS breaks the file into blocks and the blocks are stored all over the network
  • IPFS maintains an index to find the closest copies of all of the blocks to retrieve the file
  • Store the hash in the blockchain

Screenshot

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Tech Stack

Client: IPFS, React

Local IPFS

ipfs init
  • Check out the quick-start
  • In a new terminal window run
ipfs daemon

React interface to IPFS

  • Create your react app
npm install -g create-react-app
npx create-react-app ipfs
cd ipfs
npm install fs-extra
npm install ipfs
  • Connect to your local IPFS
  • Make an ipfs.js file
const ipfsApi = require(‘ipfs-api’);
const ipfs = new ipfsApi(‘localhost’, ‘5001’, {protocol:‘http’});
export default ipfs;

  • Upload file

    • Open file
    • Save to buffer
    • Call ipfs add
    • Save the hash that is returned

  • Retrieve file

    • Need the hash
    • Buffer to read to
    • Call ipfs get
    • Write buffer out to a file

Author

"Buy Me A Coffee"

Support

For support, email blockchain@alexandrebarros.com or join our Slack channel.

This project was bootstrapped with Create React App.

Appendix

Further Links