Install on Windows

Nardeboon for Windows is an installer that sets up three things: the nardeboond service, which keeps the computer on its network from the moment Windows starts; the Nardeboon app, by the clock; and the nardeboon CLI, on PATH. It supports Windows 10 and 11, on x64 and ARM.

Install

Download the installer for your computer from the download page and open it. Windows asks for an administrator, as it does for any program that sets up a service.

The installer isn't signed yet, so Windows may say it doesn't know the publisher: choose More info, then Run anyway. Nardeboon itself installs only updates that Nardeboon signed.

Join your network

Once it's installed, Nardeboon opens by the clock. Choose Sign in: your browser opens, you sign in with your account, and the computer joins your network.

To join with an auth key, choose Use an auth key instead in the app, or run this in any terminal:

nardeboon up --auth-key "<key>"

The CLI needs no administrator: anyone signed in to the computer can use Nardeboon, from the app or a terminal. nardeboon status shows the connection, nardeboon down disconnects, and nardeboon logout signs the computer out of its network.

What it sets up

• The service, nardeboond, runs as SYSTEM, starts with Windows and comes back by itself after a failure. Its log is C:\ProgramData\Nardeboon\nardeboond.log, which only administrators can read. nardeboon bugreport saves what's needed to look into a problem, with no keys or secrets in it.
• The app starts with Windows for everyone signed in to the computer. Each person can turn that off in its settings.
• Names. Windows asks Nardeboon for your network's names, so ping laptop reaches a device by its name. Other names resolve as before. See DNS and device names.
• An exit node, when you use one. Everything the computer sends to the internet goes through it, and nothing gets out around it: not while the exit node is offline, nor if Nardeboon stops unexpectedly, until it's back. Nardeboon does this with filters of Windows's own, which go when you stop using the exit node or turn Nardeboon off. See Exit nodes.
• The firewall. Nardeboon lets in what its peers send it, and their pings. Anything else a device of your network starts, such as a shared folder or a remote desktop, is for Windows to allow, as on any private network: Nardeboon's network is on Windows's Private profile. Your network's access rules apply first.

Updates

Nardeboon updates itself, as on Linux. It installs only a release that Nardeboon signed, quietly and without restarting the computer, and the app opens again on the new version once its window is closed. nardeboon update check shows what's installed and what's next.

Remove

Remove Nardeboon in Settings → Apps → Installed apps. The device's identity stays in C:\ProgramData\Nardeboon, so installing it again brings the same device back. Delete that folder to forget it, and remove the device in the dashboard.