documentation

README.md

@@ -1,2 +1,153 @@
-# lsc
-License Shell Code (LSC) - an application to generate shell applications that need a license to run
+# License Shell Code (LSC)
+LSC is an application to generate shell applications that need a license to be run.
+
+## Why LSC?
+
+LSC is a proof of concept that enables to generate a signed script that needs a license (or password) to be run. It is just a generalization of the compression of _bash scripts_.
+
+Having a bash script in file `example`, compressing it is very simple. You can just see the next commands that create the `example` script and generates a gzipped version:
+
+```console
+$ cat > example <<EOT
+#!/bin/bash
+
+echo "hello world"
+EOT
+$ cat > compressedscript <<EOT
+#!/bin/bash
+eval "\$(echo "$(cat example | gzip | base64)" | base64 -d | gunzip)"
+EOT
+$ chmod +x compressedscript
+$ ./compressedscript
+hello world
+```
+
+LSC is just a generalization of that mechanism, that enables to encode the script using a password.
+
+**NOTES:** Providing your users with a LICENSE code give them a _more professional_ distribution, and a _more tailored_ solution. Getting the code also implies a knowledge of what they are doing and so it also includes a first barrier (both from the point of the knowledge and from the ethics).
+
+## Installation
+
+Get the proper package for your distribution in [this page]() and follow the instructions:
+
+**Ubuntu**
+
+```console
+$ apt update
+$ apt install ./lsc_0.1-0.deb
+```
+
+**Centos**
+
+```console
+$ yum update
+$ yum install ./lsc-0.1-0.noarch.rpm
+```
+
+**From source**
+
+You can also get the source code and use it:
+
+```console
+$ git clone https://github.com/dealfonso/lsc
+$ cd lsc
+$ ./lsc -N mynewapp /path/to/my/original/script
+```
+
+## Configuration
+You can adjust the template to use to generate the executables. At this moment, there are two templates included: `lsce.template` and `lscec.template` which stand for _LSC executable_ and _LSC executable compressed_.
+
+They are the same code, but the `lscec` version is the compressed version of the `lsce` one. That compressed version gives the end-user a _magic like_ feeling because of the compression.
+
+Feel free to create your own templates, if you want. They just need to include the tags `<<APPNAME>>` and `<<CODE>>` that will be substituted for the new application's ones.
+
+In order to adjust the template to use, you just need to modify the file `/etc/lsc/lsc.conf` and set the path to the template to use:
+
+```bash
+# The template file (it has to include the <<APPNAME>> and the <<CODE>> tags that will be replaced by lsc)
+TEMPLATE=/etc/lsc/lscec.template
+```
+
+## Example
+
+Imagine that you have the next code in a file named **example**:
+
+```bash
+#!/bin/bash
+
+echo "hello world"
+```
+
+Then you can apply **lsc** to generate the licensed code by issuing a command like the next one:
+
+```console
+$ lsc -N licensedexample example 
+using template 'lscec.template' found in file etc/lsc.conf
+Overwrite existing file licensedexample? (y/N) y
+b97c06f3-7aca-4ce4-9901-3d1a8b55095e
+
+Your new licensed application has been generated in file 'licensedexample'.
+Please take note of your license number, because you need it to run
+your application. The license number is unique for that application.
+Have in mind that if you lose that license, your application will be 
+unusable.
+
+In order to run your application, you can use the next command:
+
+LICENSE=b97c06f3-7aca-4ce4-9901-3d1a8b55095e ./licensedexample
+
+Otherwise you can create a config file in a common configuration place
+and put the next content:
+
+LICENSE=b97c06f3-7aca-4ce4-9901-3d1a8b55095e
+
+e.g. 
+  /etc/licensedexample.conf
+  ~/.licensedexample.conf
+```
+
+The result is a new file named **licensedexample** whose content is the next one:
+
+```bash
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# The encoded code
+LICENSEDCODE="U2FsdGVkX1/RCCmnB38BhWzuBym7nBqEEaMIuKe7ioRKG68jbywCI4zF/CGnktdsrmkrPtyttUxzxQ2zBMTtqYawGcmXGasniMOXlHIodRQ="
+# Config files where to find the LICENSE number
+CONFIGFILES="etc/licensedexample.conf etc/licensedexample/licensedexample.conf $HOME/.licensedexample.conf /etc/licensedexample.conf /etc/licensedexample/licensedexample.conf /etc/default/licensedexample.conf"
+
+RUNTIME="H4sIANj4mFsAA2VUa0/bMBT9nl9xMBFtYSGANqSpDaPqY6royrRKfFgXIE2c1iK1OycBBmO/fXbi
+pg/6pfZ9nHvPudeJcx5mTHAs76iUQtYbeLUAGs4FiH1JcHFwZr1Z8SpM0iAKBY/ZzEQmIgwS9AfD
+3qj9recR+5Qo60Qlr2wEngdC4AjswaFbHh8HBwozyyXHqcpL5yzOKtSb9o+xV4d9iUZlGxVG+3Vf
+/08u/bfK07ke9QdfPXIfBtlWkb9IaYRa6u4fH7rurLY23E7wK/N3jKXN3jS6t7Yb1e5JVWsIjivc
+qPvTnCW0kAXDJiKhTACLMdESDBX3f7idBM5L2/l555vDifP5zj/yjg9t+H4T2ZzyIg0Y9MdezauV
+eKoAWq1WgWP8sZCo17l30uStQokmPzpqNKrC+qcLvxbq2Nx/K9W3r4zWU4X8YEIjwak56oZhczWe
+37ALYGw3htWCgLAZF5LxGR6DJKdFSwrexNEkpVVKwcK+MiRuSOWgz0shM+Va0WLWTvL7aisRiljd
+uoEtx07UkhYklFiDTm80rtZuzUN32umDcZgkvSLjSrv1amvUPoEBqia6ib23g73Vc8JCylMtTc4j
+XS/WO6IxTeR6ChUby5B/DyLFApQ/Min4gvKMWCrH2keXhiKiuj70wfo+bA9GneuufoN1835Nu11t
+1u9gGqT0/COcCGcXcCP66PI8SZRDLFWtNFF1Qu11Apo6Z5/OnXCq7opAEZtmkTo6Is+quz47D5vC
+7ADPcv7CllvWBojufxAj4H9QshVhmEtJow94ojWVGKRpvtDk1FNWDCUFSxFgKcU0oQs8sWxeMDci
+laO3v8BRa3GyMZZ3avJ8MaVSo3GR6Q1mkR4KfWaZ+gCVyvaeaZhnG9JSFac4VgqT/zPG+Ck2BQAA"
+
+eval "$(echo "$RUNTIME" | base64 -d | gunzip)"
+```
+
+And now you can run the encoded application, provided that you provide the license number to it (whether in the environment LICENSE variable or in the config file):
+
+```console
+$ ./licensedexample 
+license number is not valid
+$ LICENSE=b97c06f3-7aca-4ce4-9901-3d1a8b55095e ./licensedexample
+license from environment
+hello world
+```
+
+## FAQ
+
+**Q:** Is it safe for redistributing code?
+
+**A:** No. Once you have the license number, the code can be obtained from the file. In case that you want a binary solution in which it is harder to get the code, you should use solutions like [shc](https://github.com/neurobin/shc).
+
+**Q:** In which scenario would it be interesting?
+
+**A:** If you want to put your code in a public repository, but do not want to let others to use it. For those who want to obfuscate (or make harder to get) your code. Maybe others.