This masternode installation script vastly simplifies the setup of a sQuorum masternode running on a virtual private server (VPS), and it also adds a number of other powerful features, including:
- IPv6 Support
- Installs 1-100 (or more!) sQuorum masternodes in parallel on one VPS, with individual squorum.conf and data directories
- It can install masternodes for other coins on the same VPS as sQuorum
- 100% auto-compilation and 99% of configuration on the masternode side of things
- Automatically compiling from the latest sQuorum release tag, or another tag can be specified
- Some security hardening is done, including firewalling and a separate user, increasing security
- Automatic startup for all masternode daemons
Some notes and requirements:
- Script has only been tested on Vultr & DO, but should work almost anywhere where IPv6 addresses are available
- Currently only Ubuntu 16.04 Linux is supported
- This script needs to run as root or with sudo, the masternodes will and should not!
- You may want to do the "Configure sQuorum Wallet" section first as it'll simplify masternode setup.
- If you're transferring collateral from local wallet to the same wallet and are setting up multiple masternodes, use the "Add recipient" button to transfer the SQR. It's faster and also makes sure the 1000SQR transfers stay in one piece.
- This script includes pimpmynode by AKcryptoGUY and TeelaBrown. It will modify the VPS welcome message. If you don't want this, there is a 'vanilla' version of Nodemaster for sQuorum here: https://github.com/trollboxteela/vps
This project was forked from https://github.com/phoreproject/vps (and comes with their screenshots) @marsmensch (Florian) is the primary author behind this VPS installation script for masternodes. If you would like to donate to him, you can use the BTC address below
Have fun, this is crypto after all!
BTC 33ENWZ9RCYBG7nv6ac8KxBUSuQX64Hx3x3
This guide uses Vultr as a VPS hosting provider, but other providers that allow direct root SSH login access and offer Ubuntu 16.04 will work as well.
First, create a new VPS by clicking that small "+" button.
You can choose any location. You may wish to have it hosted in a city/country near you, or choose a different area to help with the global decentralization of the sQuorum masternode network.
Select Ubuntu 16.04.
The 25 GB SSD / 1024MB Memory instance is enough for 2-3 masternodes. You may need more memory as the sQuorum blockchain grows over time, or if you want to run more masternodes.
Toggle "Enable IPv6" to activate that feature--at Vultr there is no additional cost for this.
You may wish to enable DDOS Protection to protect your masternodes against a potential denial of service attack, especially if you are running multiple masternodes from one VPS. Vultr charges an additional fee for this.
Choose how many instances you want and click "Deploy Now".
If you are running your wallet from Windows, install PuTTY while the server is being set up. You can download PuTTY from here: http://www.putty.org/. Skip this step if you are using a Mac--you will use the built in Terminal application instead.
Once PuTTY is installed, return to the Vultr dashboard to get the login details by clicking on the ... to the right of your server, and select Server Details.
Windows 10 users can access their VPS through the command line. Find out how to do that here: https://www.heliumlabs.org/docs/ssh-in-windows-10-no-more-putty
Copy your password for SSH access from the server details page.
Now open PuTTY to add the server.
Enter the IP address in the Host Name field, and enter the server name you wish to use for this VPS (e.g., MN01) to Saved Sessions. Click save.
Click the open button. When the console has opened, click Yes in the PuTTY Security Alert box.
Now enter your server login details provided in your Vultr account. You cannot Ctrl+V to paste in the console. Either right click the mouse or type shift+insert (sometimes on keyboard it will just be INS key)
User: root Password: (paste or type password)
When you paste it will not display, so don't try to paste again. Just paste once and press Enter.
For Mac users, open Terminal (e.g., Press Command-Space and type Terminal and press Enter). Then type:
ssh -l root <IP address>
Login to your newly installed node as "root".
Enter this command to copy the Masternode installation script and install a single sQuorum Masternode:
git clone https://github.com/heliumchain/vps.git && cd vps && ./install.sh -p squorum
If you have your masternode private key, please use this (you can generate masternode private key with Step 2 below).
git clone https://github.com/heliumchain/vps.git && cd vps && ./install.sh -p squorum -k **PRIVATE KEY**
Replace **PRIVATE KEY**
with your own masternode privkey.
Using this command, you can skip "Configure masternode configuration files" below, because the command abopve adds the masternode private key to the masternode configuration files.
This prepares the system and installs the sQuorum Masternode daemon. This includes downloading the latest sQuorum masternode release, creating a swap file, configuring the firewall, and compiling the sQuorum Masternode from source. This process takes about 10-15 minutes.
While that is underway, go back to your local desktop and open squorum-qt.
If you wish to install more than one masternode on the same VPS, you can add a -c parameter to tell the script how many to configure, so for example this would install three sQuorum masternodes (all entered on one line):
git clone https://github.com/heliumchain/vps.git && cd vps && ./install.sh -p squorum -c 3
If you already have your masternode private keys, you can add them as shown below (all entered on one line):
git clone https://github.com/heliumchain/vps.git && cd vps && ./install.sh -p squorum -c 3 --key **PRIVATE KEY 01** --key2 **PRIVATE KEY 02** --key3 **PRIVATE KEY 03**
Replace every **PRIVATE KEY 01**
etc entry by your masternode privkey. So
git clone https://github.com/heliumchain/vps.git && cd vps && ./install.sh -p squorum -c 3 --key1 7QgVciKfm43fdRxQFLKYn76f3d78phUWRWajUfWGMMHUv5SuUt5 --key2 7RNz4BvxsadGYedHr5KTZ9Wha45gbEbmg9eaXuwXjwuNJZBPsJC --key3 7Qy9bPyZExu78fd5eowoGKxpu7ExvKzsFxjeaaNEXBPRsoYukN
Using this command, you can skip the step for "Configure masternode configuration files", because the command above adds the masternode private keys to the masternode configuration files.
Note that you can only install 10 masternodes at a time using this command.
If you are upgrading your masternode(s) to a new release, you should first remove the old version of the VPS script so that the new one you download is tagged with the latest version, and then you add a -u parameter to upgrade existing nodes:
rm -rf /root/
git clone https://github.com/heliumchain/vps.git && cd vps && ./install.sh -p squorum -u
The project is configured to use the latest official release of the sQuorum masternode code, and we will update this project each time a new release is issued, but without downloading the latest version of this project and using the -u parameter, the script will not update an existing sQuorum node that is already installed.
You can add masternodes to a VPS that already has several running. You can do this by following the below steps. It will not affect the masternodes that are already running on your VPS.
Open your local wallet's debug console and run createmasternodekey
for each new masternode. Send the collateral transactions and note the getmasternodeoutputs
for every transaction.
Login to your VPS and run the Nodemaster script:
cd vps
sudo ./install.sh -p squorum -c *
Where *
is total number of masternode desired on the VPS. This adds folders and files to run new nodes. Running the script again doesn't touch the squorum daemon or previous installed nodes.
Edit /etc/masternodes/squorum_n*.conf
and add the masternodeprivkey
for every new node. Copy assigned VPS_IP found in every .conf. *
here is the number of every new node. Nodemaster numbers them squorum_n1, squorum_n2, squorum_n3 etcetera.
Edit your local masternode.conf and add a line for every new masternode with:
"alias" "VPS_IP" "masternodeprivkey" "txhash" "index"
Save and restart the wallet.
On your VPS, start every new masternode with:
sudo systemctl enable squorum_n*
sudo systemctl start squorum_n*
Start the new masternodes from the masternodes on your local wallet.
Once the wallet is open on your local computer, generate a new receive address and label it however you want to identify your masternode rewards (e.g., sQuorum-MN-1). This label will show up in your transactions each time you receive a block reward.
Click the Request payment button, and copy the address.
Now go to the Send tab, paste the copied address, and send exactly 1000 SQR to it in a single transaction. Wait for it to confirm on the blockchain. This is the collateral transaction that will be locked and paired with your new masternode. If you are setting up more than one masternode at one time, repeat this process for each one. Or better yet, use the Add Recipients button to send everything at once.
Go to the [Tools > Debug Console] and enter these commands below:
createmasternodekey
This will produce a masternode private key:
Copy this value to a text file. It will be needed for both the squorum configuration file on the masternode VPS, and the masternode configuration file on the computer with the controlling sQuorum wallet.
If you are setting up multiple masternodes, repeat this step for each one. Each time you run the createmasternodekey command it will give you a new private key--it doesn't matter which one you use, but it is important that it is unique for each masternode and that the VPS sQuorum configuration file and wallet masternode configuration file match (see below).
This will give you the rest of the information you need to configure your masternode in your sQuorum wallet--the transaction ID and the output index.
getmasternodeoutputs
The long string of characters is the Transaction ID for your masternode collateral transaction. The number after the long string is the Index. Copy and paste these into the text file next to the private key you generated in Step 2.
If you have multiple masternodes in the same wallet and have done the 1000 SQR transactions for each of them, getmasternodeoutputs will display transaction IDs and indexes for each one. You can choose which private key to go with each transaction ID and index, as long as they are all different, and you make sure the corresponding lines in masternode.conf and the VPS squorum configuration files match (see below).
When the script finishes, it will look similar to this:
You only have a few steps remaining to complete your masternode configuration.
Since this installation method supports multiple masternodes, the squorum configuration files have a node number added to them (e.g., squorum_n1.conf, squorum_n2.conf), stored in the /etc/masternodes directory. If you have a single masternode on the VPS, you will only need to edit /etc/masternodes/squorum_n1.conf.
To open squorum_n1.conf for editing, enter these commands:
sudo apt-get install nano
nano /etc/masternodes/squorum_n1.conf
The next step adds your masternode private key.
What you need to change is only masternode private key. (We recommend using IPv6 which is the default, but if you choose IPv4 when you ran the installation script, please edit #NEW_IPv4_ADDRESS_FOR_MASTERNODE_NUMBER to your VPS IP address). After typing the nano command, you will see something similar to this.
Copy the masternode private key from the text file you saved it in, and replace HERE_GOES_YOUR_MASTERNODE_KEY_FOR_MASTERNODE_squorum_1 with that private key (It starts with a 7.
While you have this file opened, copy the information that follows after masternodeaddr=, starting with the open bracket. This is the masternode's IPv6 address and port, and will be needed for the wallet's masternode.conf file.
Once you have your masternode private key entered, press Ctrl+X . Then press Y to save, and press Enter to exit.
Finally, close and restart your sQuorum wallet so that it will have the new masternode configuration.
A script for starting all masternodes on the VPS has been created at /usr/local/bin/activate_masternodes_squorum.sh. Run this command after your masternode configuration written above.
/usr/local/bin/activate_masternodes_squorum
The masternode daemons will start and begin loading the sQuorum blockchain.
To activate your nodes from your wallet, one of the last steps is to add a line for the masternode in the masternode.conf file. This file has the following format, with each value separated with a space:
- alias IP:Port masternodeprivatekey collateral_transaction_ID collateral_output_index
- alias - A short name you use to identify the masternode, you can choose this name as long as it is without spaces (e.g., sQuorum-MN-1)
- IP:Port - The IP address (either IPv6 or IPv4) and the Port where the masternode is running, separated by a colon (:). You copied this from the squorum.conf file on the VPS.
- collateral_transaction_ID: This is the transaction ID you copied from getmasternodeoutputs.
- collateral_output_index: This is the index you copied from getmasternodeoutputs.
From the wallet menu, edit the local wallet masternode.conf file. [Tools > Open Masternode Configuration File] Add the MN conf line, like the example below to the masternode.conf file. Save it, and close the file. It will look like the following example, using your values for each of the fields above. A common mistake is mixing up the private key and the collateral transaction ID--to make this easier, the private key usually begins with an 8.
example.
sQuorum-MN-1 [2001:19f0:5001:ca6:2085::1]:11771 88xrxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx7K 6b4c9xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx7ee23 0
The image below shows another example using an IPv4 IP address. If you followed this guide you are probably using an IPv6 address that looks like the line above.
If you are running multiple masternodes, you need to add one of these lines for each masternode, and make sure the private key on each line matches the corresponding private key you entered in the VPS squorum configuration file for that masternode.
The masternode cannot complete activation until it is fully synced with the sQuorum blockchain network.
To check the status of your masternode, please enter this command in the VPS terminal.
/usr/local/bin/squorum-cli -conf=/etc/masternodes/squorum_n1.conf getinfo
If you have multiple masternodes on the same VPS, you can change n1 to n2 etc. So for node number two type:
/usr/local/bin/squorum-cli -conf=/etc/masternodes/squorum_n2.conf getinfo
Etcetera.
The output will look like this:
{
"version": 1000000,
"protocolversion": 71030,
"services": "NETWORK/BLOOM/",
"walletversion": 61000,
"balance": 0.00000000,
"zerocoinbalance": 0.00000000,
"blocks": 1001863,
"timeoffset": 0,
"connections": 9,
"proxy": "",
"difficulty": 18026.56727693974,
"testnet": false,
"moneysupply": 13623134.86762197,
"keypoololdest": 1597191363,
"keypoolsize": 1001,
"paytxfee": 0.00000000,
"relayfee": 0.00010000,
"staking status": "Staking Not Active",
"errors": ""
}
We're looking at the blocks, and need that to be the latest block in the blockchain. You can check your local wallet to see the latest block by hovering over the green check mark.
Once your masternode has synced up to the latest block, go to next step. The syncing process may take 15-30 minutes or more as the sQuorum blockchain grows. You can keep checking progress with the command above, by pressing the up arrow and Enter to repeat it.
Go to the debug console of your sQuorum wallet [Tools->Debug Console] and enter the following command, replacing mn-alias with the name of the masternode in the Alias column of the Masternodes tab:
startmasternode alias false mn-alias
You may need to unlock the wallet [Settings->Unlock Wallet] before you run this command, entering your passphrase. You can lock the wallet after it is finished.
If everything was setup correctly, after entering the command you will see something like this:
{
"overall" : "Successfully started 1 masternodes, failed to start 0, total 1",
"detail" : {
"status" : {
"alias" : "squorum-mn01",
"result" : "successful"
}
If you are setting up multiple masternodes, repeat this for each one. You can now close the debug console, return the Masternodes tab and check the status:
It should say ENABLED, and within an hour, the timer in the Active column should start increasing.
Your sQuorum masternode is now set up and running! Depending on how many masternodes there are, it may take up to 72 hours before you see your first masternode reward--this is normal and rewards should come at more regular intervals after the first one.
Please open a GitHub Issue if there are problems with this installation method. If you can't figure it out just ask someone in the sQuorum channel.