Running Monerod via Systemd¶
The end goal
You will publicly offer the following services, where xxx.yyy.zzz.vvv is your server IP address.
- xxx.yyy.zzz.vvv:18080 - clearnet P2P service (for other nodes)
- xxx.yyy.zzz.vvv:18089 - clearnet RPC service (for wallets)
Why run this specific setup?¶
You will be able to connect your desktop and mobile Monero wallets to your own trusted Monero node, in a secure and private way over Tor.
Running as a systemd service will allow your node to always remain synced, as opposed to intermittently running node.
Public RPC service - The public-node
config option will broadcast your RPC port to your peers, providing a service for anyone to use your node to connect their wallets to the Monero network. This is useful to users who don't run their own nodes. You may enable it by removing the #
from #public-node
in the config.
Public RPC may be resource intensive
Providing Public RPC via the flag public-node=1
may use a sizeable amount of resources on your PC.
Assumptions¶
You possess:
- Basic understanding of Linux administration
- Root access to a Linux server
- Recommended 4 GB+ RAM
- Recommended available SSD storage of
- 550.0 GB+ for the full node
- 200.0 GB+ for the pruned
Current blockchain size as of 2024-09-19
The current blockchain sizes are approximately:
Full node: 220 GB
Pruned node: 80 GB
Some commands assume Ubuntu but you will easily translate them to your distribution.
Install Monero¶
-
Create
monero
user and group:useradd --system monero
-
Create monero config, data and log directories:
mkdir -p /etc/monero # config mkdir -p /var/lib/monero # blockchain mkdir -p /var/log/monero # logs chown monero:monero /etc/monero chown monero:monero /var/lib/monero chown monero:monero /var/log/monero
Feel free to adjust above to your preferred conventions, just remember to adjust the paths in the
systemd
andmonerod
config files accordingly. -
Extract the binaries (adjust filename if necessary):
tar -xvf monero-linux-x64-v0.18.3.4.tar.bz2 rm monero-linux-x64-v0.18.3.4.tar.bz2
-
Move binaries to /usr/local/bin/:
mv monero-x86_64-linux-gnu-v0.18.3.4/* /usr/local/bin/. chown monero:monero /usr/local/bin/monero*
Monerod Config¶
-
Create
/etc/monero/monerod.conf
as shown below:# /etc/monero/monerod.conf # # Configuration file for monerod. For all available options see the MoneroDocs: # https://docs.getmonero.org/interacting/monerod-reference/ # Data directory (blockchain db and indices) data-dir=/var/lib/monero/bitmonero # Blockchain storage location # Optional pruning #prune-blockchain=1 # Pruning saves 2/3 of disk space w/o degrading functionality but contributes less to the network #sync-pruned-blocks=1 # Allow downloading pruned blocks instead of prunning them yourself # Centralized services check-updates=disabled # Do not check DNS TXT records for a new version enable-dns-blocklist=1 # Block known malicious nodes # Log file log-file=/var/log/monero/monero.log log-level=0 # Minimal logs, WILL NOT log peers or wallets connecting max-log-file-size=2147483648 # Set to 2GB to mitigate log trimming by monerod; configure logrotate instead # P2P full node #p2p-bind-ip=0.0.0.0 # Bind to all interfaces (the default) #p2p-bind-port=18080 # Bind to default port #no-igd=1 # Disable UPnP port mapping # RPC open node #public-node=1 # Advertise to other users they can use this node for connecting their wallets rpc-restricted-bind-ip=0.0.0.0 # Bind to all interfaces (the Open Node) rpc-restricted-bind-port=18089 # Bind to a new RESTICTED port (the Open Node) # RPC TLS rpc-ssl=autodetect # Use TLS if client wallet supports it (Default); A new certificate will be regenerated every restart # ZMQ #zmq-rpc-bind-ip=127.0.0.1 # Default 127.0.0.1 #zmq-rpc-bind-port=18082 # Default 18082 zmq-pub=tcp://127.0.0.1:18083 # ZMQ pub #no-zmq=1 # Disable ZMQ RPC server # Mempool size max-txpool-weight=2684354560 # Maximum unconfirmed transactions pool size in bytes (here ~2.5GB, default ~618MB) # Database sync mode #db-sync-mode=safe:sync # Slow but reliable db writes # Network limits out-peers=24 # This will enable much faster sync and tx awareness; the default 8 is suboptimal nowadays in-peers=48 # The default is unlimited; we prefer to put a cap on this limit-rate-up=1048576 # 1048576 kB/s == 1GB/s; a raise from default 2048 kB/s; contribute more to p2p network limit-rate-down=1048576 # 1048576 kB/s == 1GB/s; a raise from default 8192 kB/s; allow for faster initial sync # Tor/I2P: broadcast transactions originating from connected wallets over Tor/I2P (does not concern relayed transactions) #tx-proxy=i2p,127.0.0.1:4447,16.disable_noise # I2P #tx-proxy=tor,127.0.0.1:9050,16,disable_noise # Tor # Tor/I2P: tell monerod your onion address so it can be advertised on P2P network #anonymous-inbound=PASTE_YOUR_I2P_HOSTNAME,127.0.0.1:18085,64 # I2P #anonymous-inbound=PASTE_YOUR_ONION_HOSTNAME:18084,127.0.0.1:18084,64 # Tor # Tor: be forgiving to connecting wallets disable-rpc-ban=1
Systemd¶
-
Create
/etc/systemd/system/monerod.service
as shown below.# /etc/systemd/system/monerod.service [Unit] Description=Monero Daemon After=network-online.target [Service] ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/monerod --detach --config-file /etc/monero/monerod.conf --pidfile /run/monero/monerod.pid ExecStartPost=/bin/sleep 0.1 PIDFile=/run/monero/monerod.pid Type=forking Restart=on-failure RestartSec=30 User=monero Group=monero RuntimeDirectory=monero StandardOutput=journal StandardError=journal [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target
-
Enable the monerod service:
systemctl daemon-reload systemctl enable monerod systemctl restart monerod
-
Verify it is up:
systemctl status monerod
-
Verify it is working as intended:
tail -n100 /var/log/monero/monero.log
Open firewall ports¶
If you use a firewall (and you should), open 18080
and 18089
ports for incoming TCP connections. These are for the incoming clearnet connections, P2P and RPC respectively.
You do not need to open any ports for Tor.
For example, for popular ufw firewall, that would be:
ufw allow 18080/tcp
ufw allow 18089/tcp
To verify, use ufw status
. The output should be similar to the following (the 22
being default SSH port, unrelated to Monero):
To Action From
-- ------ ----
22/tcp LIMIT Anywhere
18080/tcp ALLOW Anywhere
18089/tcp ALLOW Anywhere
22/tcp (v6) LIMIT Anywhere (v6)
18080/tcp (v6) ALLOW Anywhere (v6)
18089/tcp (v6) ALLOW Anywhere (v6)
Tor & I2P¶
Tor Setup
The end goal
To enable the following services:
- yourlongv3onionaddress.onion:18084 - onion P2P service (for other onion nodes)
- yourlongv3onionaddress.onion:18089 - onion RPC service (for wallets connecting over Tor)
Onion service for P2P network is useful for other full node users as it allows them to broadcast transactions over Tor (using --tx-proxy
option).
Onion service for wallet interface is useful for wallet users connecting over Tor because it mitigates Clearnet and Tor exit node MiTM risks (which are very real). By connecting wallet to an onion service, no MiTM attack is realistic because onion connections are end-to-end encrypted.
Why different P2P ports for clearnet and onion?
A: The data served by the Onion p2p port differs from clearnet P2P. A different port is required.
- Elevate to root:
sudo su -
-
Add the following lines to
/etc/tor/torrc
:HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/monerod HiddenServicePort 18089 127.0.0.1:18089 # interface for wallet ("RPC") HiddenServicePort 18084 127.0.0.1:18084 # interface for P2P network
- Enable Tor service:
systemctl enable tor systemctl restart tor
- View/Copy your new Onion Address:
cat /var/lib/tor/monerod/hostname
- Copy the result into your Monero config file , enabling these options: Replace
anonymous-inbound=yourlongv3onionaddress.onion:18084,127.0.0.1:18084 tx-proxy=tor,127.0.0.1:9050,disable_noise
yourlongv3onionaddress.onion
with your onion address. - The node is now available on Tor. You can check that the service is working by using curl:
curl -x socks5h://127.0.0.1:9050 http://yourlongv3onionaddress.onion:18089/get_info
Backup Onion keys
You may want to backup your keys folder (/var/lib/tor/monerod
) to secure control over your onion address.
How Tor onion services work?
A fresh onion address and corresponding key pair were created for you in /var/lib/tor/monero/.
This happens on restart whenever you add a new HiddenServiceDir
to the /etc/tor/torrc
config file.
The tor daemon will forward traffic from a virtual onion port to an actual localhost port, where some service is listening (in our case, this will be monerod
).
A single onion address can offer multiple services at various virtual ports.
I2P Setup
The end goal
To enable the following services:
- yourlongb32i2paddress.b32.i2p:18085 - i2p P2P service (for other i2p nodes)
- yourlongb32i2paddress.b32.i2p:18089 - i2p RPC service (for wallets connecting over i2p)
I2P service for P2P network is useful for other full node users as it allows them to broadcast transactions over I2P (using --tx-proxy
option).
I2P service for wallet interface is useful for wallet users connecting over I2P because it mitigates Clearnet and Tor exit node MiTM risks (which are very real). By connecting wallet to an I2P service, no MiTM attack is realistic because I2P connections are end-to-end encrypted.
Why different P2P ports for clearnet and i2p?
A: The data served by the i2p p2p port differs from clearnet P2P. A different port is required
- Elevate to root:
sudo su -
- Install i2pd:
apt install apt-transport-https wget -q -O - https://repo.i2pd.xyz/.help/add_repo | bash -s - apt update apt install i2pd
- Create a server tunnel for the Monero P2P and RPC ports:
cat << EOF > /etc/i2pd/tunnels.conf.d/monero-mainnet.conf [monero-node] type = server host = 127.0.0.1 # Anonymous inbound port port = 18085 inport = 0 keys = monero-mainnet.dat [monero-rpc] type = server host = 127.0.0.1 # Restricted RPC port port = 18089 keys = monero-mainnet.dat EOF
- Restart i2pd:
systemctl restart i2pd
-
Find the new b32 address of the node:
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:7070/?page=i2p_tunnels | grep -Eo "[a-zA-Z0-9./?=_%:-]*" | grep "18089"
Go to the web console at 127.0.0.1:7070 -> I2P tunnels page.
Look for Server tunnels and you will see an address likeyourlongb32i2paddress.b32.i2p
next tomonero-node
. -
Copy the result into your Monero config file , enabling these options:
anonymous-inbound=yourlongb32i2paddress.b32.i2p,127.0.0.1:18085 tx-proxy=i2p,127.0.0.1:4447,disable_noise
Replace
yourlongb32i2paddress.b32.i2p
with your b32 address. -
The node is now available on i2p. You can check that the service is working by using curl:
curl -x socks5h://127.0.0.1:4447 http://yourlongb32i2paddress.b32.i2p:18089/get_info
(Optional) Register short and memorable .i2p domain on reg.i2p
Testing¶
Testing
On server
List all services listening on ports and make sure it is what you expect:
sudo netstat -lntpu
The output should include these (in any order); obviously the PID values will differ.
Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address Foreign Address State PID/Program name
...
tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:18080 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 259255/monerod
tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:18089 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 259255/monerod
tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:18084 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 259255/monerod
tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:9050 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 258786/tor
On client machine
Finally, we want to test connections from your client machine.
Install tor
and torsocks
on your laptop, you will want them anyway for Monero wallet.
Just for testing, you will also need nmap
and proxychains
.
Test clearnet P2P connection:
nmap -Pn -p 18080 YOUR_IP_ADDRESS_HERE
Test clearnet RPC connection:
curl --digest -X POST http://YOUR_IP_ADDRESS_HERE:18089/json_rpc -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":"0","method":"get_info"}' -H 'Content-Type: application/json'
Test onion P2P connection (skip if you don't have proxychains):
proxychains nmap -Pn -p 18084 YOUR_ONION_ADDRESS_HERE.onion
Test onion RPC connection:
curl -x socks5h://127.0.0.1:9050 --digest -X POST http://YOUR_ONION_ADDRESS_HERE.onion:18089/json_rpc -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":"0","method":"get_info"}' -H 'Content-Type: application/json'`
Debugging¶
Debugging
Tor:
- Status:
systemctl status tor@default
- Logs:
journalctl -xe --unit tor@default
Monerod:
- Status:
systemctl status monero
- Logs:
tail -n100 /var/log/monero/monero.log
- Logs more info: change
log-level=0
tolog-level=1
inmonero.conf
(remember to revert once solved)