What is a router family?

A good way of contributing to I2P network is to run multiple high-capacity routers 24/7. If you wish to do that responsibly, you may want to setup your own router family. That is just a way to publicly identify all routers run by a single individual (or organisation). Other I2P users will be able to build more secure and reliable connections based on that information.

How does it work?

A private key is created and shared between your routers. Each router will then advertise itself as a member of a family, based on a cryptographic signature from this private key. You may also want to share a public family certificate with I2P community, so that others could verify signatures, making sure those routers are legit family members.

How to create a family?

The process is pretty simple by using I2P router console. Go to “I2P Internals” -> “Router Family” section and create a new family.
Then restart a router and you will be able to get your secret family key.
Keep it safe and use it to set up the rest of your family routers.