Installation Steps

1. Install Protocol Buffers compiler:

   # Linux
   sudo apt install -y protobuf-compiler
   
   
   # macOS
   brew install protobuf
   

2. Verify installation:

   protoc --version
   # Should show libprotoc 3.x.x or higher
   

3. Install Go plugins for protoc:

   go install google.golang.org/protobuf/cmd/protoc-gen-go@v1.27.1
   go install google.golang.org/grpc/cmd/protoc-gen-go-grpc@v1.2.0
   

4. Add Go installs to your PATH (add to your shell configuration file):

   For bash edit .bashrc, for zsh edit .zshrc:

   export PATH="$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin"
   

   Then restart your shell or run source ~/.bashrc (or equivalent).

5. Set up the project:

   # Starting in the chord/ directory with Go files and chord.proto:
   
   
   # Initialize the Go module
   go mod init chord
   
   
   # Create directory structure
   mkdir -p protocol
   mv chord.proto protocol/
   
   
   # Add gRPC dependencies
   go get google.golang.org/grpc@v1.45.0
   go get google.golang.org/protobuf@v1.27.1
   go mod tidy
   

6. Generate the gRPC code:

   protoc --go_out=. --go-grpc_out=. --go_opt=module=chord --go-grpc_opt=module=chord protocol/chord.proto
   

Running the Application

To build:

go build

To create a new Chord ring:

./chord create [-port PORT]

To join an existing Chord ring:

./chord join -addr ADDRESS [-port PORT]

Last Updated 03/31/2026