Run a Monero Node
Table of Contents
Introduction⌗
With the ongoing network attacks in Monero, it’s a great time for users to dive into running their own node.
In this short post I’ll detail how to easily run a Monero node on a Linux server, the most common OS for virtual private servers (VPS). I would highly recommend running either Debian or Ubuntu for your Linux distribution, and this guide will assume you are running one of those.
I will also assume in this guide that you have purchased and SSH’d into the VPS/host of your choosing, but if you need help with those first steps here are a few good links to follow:
- Hosting services accepting Monero
- These are some options available for hosting a VPS while paying with Monero, and each come with pro’s and con’s.
- Hetzner Dedicated Servers
- A solid and cheap dedicated server provider based out of Germany, they do not accept Monero (yet!) but are a great choice for a high-performance node.
- Simple Linode deployment guide
- If you use Linode, please consider using my referral link so we both get free credits.
If you’re using your own hardware at home, this guide will still generally apply to you assuming you are running Ubuntu/Debian.
Recommended hardware⌗
-
Full Node
- 2+ vCPUs/cores
- 4GB+ RAM
- 175GB+ SSD
-
Pruned Node1
- 2+ vCPUs/cores
- 4GB+ RAM
- 75GB+ SSD
Why run your own Monero node?⌗
The Monero network relies on a distributed web of Monero nodes, each of which validate transactions, propagate transactions to the rest of the network, and helps new nodes easily and quickly synchronize to the current state of the network.
Running a Monero node for yourself not only helps to give you the stronger network-level privacy guarantees, but also helps to increase the decentralization, stability, and speed of the Monero network.
Each node can expose two different services, each of which has a positive impact on the network in a unique way:
- Peer-to-Peer (p2p) port (default 18080): this port allows other nodes on the network to connect to your node to download the blockchain and to send you any transactions they validate that you do not yet have. It also increases overall network privacy, as your node participates in the Dandelion++ propagation of transactions.
- Remote Procedure Call (RPC) port (default 18089 for restricted): Exposing this port (especially with the
public-node
arg) allows other users on the network, especially those using mobile wallets or the GUI wallet in “Simple” mode, to connect to your node to sync their wallets, without needing to run their own full node locally.
In this guide I have only given configuration files and Docker commands that expose the p2p port, as that is a key help to the network. Feel free to use one of the configuration files utilizing the public-node
arg listed below if you’d also like to advertise your restricted RPC port.
You can choose to either setup a node via systemd and binaries or deploy monerod
as a Docker container below.
Deploying via Docker has a few key benefits, namely a simple and cross-OS compatible install along with automatic updates via Watchtower.
Note: If you’d love to deploy a node but this guide is still a bit too advanced for you, checkout xmrcannon.net, a great community resource that allows you to pay in Monero to have a node spun up for you.
Update and install required packages⌗
First we need to install a few tools we will need later:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y
sudo apt-get install -y ufw
Then install Docker:
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh
Note: This command downloads a script and runs as root directly from Docker. Please make sure you are comfortable doing this, and be wary of doing this on a personal computer. If you’d like to avoid that, please follow the official docs here to install from the repository.
Initial Hardening via UFW⌗
We will want to make sure that the system is hardened in a simple way by making sure that the firewall is locked down to only allow access to the ports necessary for SSH and monerod
, using UFW.
A great intro to getting started with UFW is available on DigitalOcean.
Run the following commands to add some basic UFW rules and enable the firewall:
# Deny all non-explicitly allowed ports
sudo ufw default deny incoming
sudo ufw default allow outgoing
# Allow SSH access
sudo ufw allow ssh
# Allow monerod p2p port
sudo ufw allow 18080/tcp
# Allow monerod restricted RPC port
sudo ufw allow 18089/tcp
# Enable UFW
sudo ufw enable
Download and run monero via Docker⌗
Choose the proper command set below depending on if you want to run a full node or a pruned node and whether you want to advertise your public restricted RPC node to allow other users to sync their wallets using your node or not:
An alternative Docker implementation is also available on Github, which even includes native Grafana visualizations. This guide will focus on being extremely simple, so I’ll stick to just monerod
here.
If you would like to inspect the source code behind the image used here or build it yourself, please see the below links:
Docker Hub Images Source Repository
Note: My recommended commands are automatically expanded below, but feel free to choose one of the other 3 options as needed.
sudo docker run -d --restart unless-stopped --name="monerod" -p 18080:18080 -p 18089:18089 -v bitmonero:/home/monero sethsimmons/simple-monerod:latest --rpc-restricted-bind-ip=0.0.0.0 --rpc-restricted-bind-port=18089 --no-igd --no-zmq --enable-dns-blocklist
sudo docker run -d \
--name watchtower --restart unless-stopped \
-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
containrrr/watchtower --cleanup \
monerod
sudo docker run -d --restart unless-stopped --name="monerod" -p 18080:18080 -p 18089:18089 -v bitmonero:/home/monero sethsimmons/simple-monerod:latest --rpc-restricted-bind-ip=0.0.0.0 --rpc-restricted-bind-port=18089 --public-node --no-igd --no-zmq --enable-dns-blocklist
sudo docker run -d \
--name watchtower --restart unless-stopped \
-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
containrrr/watchtower --cleanup \
monerod
sudo docker run -d --restart unless-stopped --name="monerod" -p 18080:18080 -p 18089:18089 -v bitmonero:/home/monero sethsimmons/simple-monerod:latest --rpc-restricted-bind-ip=0.0.0.0 --rpc-restricted-bind-port=18089 --no-igd --no-zmq --enable-dns-blocklist --prune-blockchain
sudo docker run -d \
--name watchtower --restart unless-stopped \
-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
containrrr/watchtower --cleanup \
monerod
sudo docker run -d --restart unless-stopped --name="monerod" -p 18080:18080 -p 18089:18089 -v bitmonero:/home/monero sethsimmons/simple-monerod:latest --rpc-restricted-bind-ip=0.0.0.0 --rpc-restricted-bind-port=18089 --public-node --no-igd --no-zmq --enable-dns-blocklist --prune-blockchain
sudo docker run -d \
--name watchtower --restart unless-stopped \
-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
containrrr/watchtower --cleanup \
monerod
To watch the logs for monerod
, simply run:
sudo docker logs --follow monerod
Updating your Monero node⌗
As we are running Monero in a Docker container and have deployed Watchtower along with it, the node will automatically be restarted with the latest version of monerod
whenever a new version is tagged in Github.
Nothing else needs to be done manually!
Sending commands to your node⌗
monerod
supports sending commands locally, allowing you get additional info on the status of monerod
, set bandwidth limits, set peer limits, etc.
A full list of commands as of v0.17.1.8
can be found below, or by running monerod help
:
Monero 'Oxygen Orion' (v0.17.1.8-release)
Commands:
alt_chain_info [blockhash]
apropos <keyword> [<keyword> ...]
ban [<IP>|@<filename>] [<seconds>]
banned <address>
bans
bc_dyn_stats <last_block_count>
check_blockchain_pruning
diff
exit
flush_cache [bad-txs] [bad-blocks]
flush_txpool [<txid>]
hard_fork_info
help [<command>]
hide_hr
in_peers <max_number>
is_key_image_spent <key_image>
limit [<kB/s>]
limit_down [<kB/s>]
limit_up [<kB/s>]
mining_status
out_peers <max_number>
output_histogram [@<amount>] <min_count> [<max_count>]
pop_blocks <nblocks>
print_bc <begin_height> [<end_height>]
print_block <block_hash> | <block_height>
print_cn
print_coinbase_tx_sum <start_height> [<block_count>]
print_height
print_net_stats
print_pl [white] [gray] [pruned] [publicrpc] [<limit>]
print_pl_stats
print_pool
print_pool_sh
print_pool_stats
print_status
print_tx <transaction_hash> [+hex] [+json]
prune_blockchain
relay_tx <txid>
rpc_payments
save
set_bootstrap_daemon (auto | none | host[:port] [username] [password])
set_log <level>|<{+,-,}categories>
show_hr
start_mining <addr> [<threads>|auto] [do_background_mining] [ignore_battery]
status
stop_daemon
stop_mining
sync_info
unban <address>
update (check|download)
version
When you want to run a command, simply run sudo docker exec monerod /usr/local/bin/monerod name_of_command
and it will automatically connect to the daemon, run the command, and print the output of that command to the terminal.
A few of my most commonly used commands are:
sudo docker exec monerod /usr/local/bin/monerod status
: get a short output on the status ofmonerod
, including peer counts (both out and in), block height, sync status, and versionsudo docker exec monerod /usr/local/bin/monerod sync_info
: print a list of peers with info on their status and what syncing your node is doing with themsudo docker exec monerod /usr/local/bin/monerod print_net_stats
: print network statistics sincemonerod
started, including received and sent traffic total, average rates, and the limits setsudo docker exec monerod /usr/local/bin/monerod update check
: check if an updated version ofmonerod
has been released
Port forwarding⌗
If you decide to use this guide on a device on your home network, you will need to be sure to port forward 18080/tcp
and 18089/tcp
through your router or use an anonymity network like Tor.
A good central site with a lot of guides for specific routers can be found at portforward.com. Just make sure to select your proper router make and model, and then open 18080/18089 for TCP only.
Using anonymity networks⌗
Tor⌗
NOTE: This section will be updated soon with a Dockerized way to perform the same steps, but feel free to follow these in the meantime.
If you would like to also expose your RPC port over Tor as a Hidden Service, follow these few commands and you’re all set. This allows you to access your RPC port entirely over Tor without ever even needing to go through exit nodes.
Install Tor⌗
# Install the Tor daemon
sudo apt-get install tor
# Enable Tor to start on boot
sudo systemctl enable tor
Create the necessary directory⌗
sudo mkdir /var/lib/tor/hidden_service
sudo chown debian-tor:debian-tor /var/lib/tor/hidden_service
Edit the torrc configuration file⌗
# Add configuration lines to /etc/tor/torrc to enable the HiddenService for restricted RPC
echo "## Tor Monero RPC HiddenService
HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/hidden_service/monero-rpc
HiddenServicePort 18089 127.0.0.1:18089" | sudo tee -a /etc/tor/torrc
Restart Tor and get the HiddenService address⌗
sudo systemctl restart tor
sudo cat /var/lib/tor/hidden_service/monero-rpc/hostname
The string that gets output from the last command is your new Monero RPC Hidden Service, and remember to use port 18089
when connecting to it, still!
Note: To test connectivity, simply visit http://replacewithnewonionaddress:18089/get_info
in the Tor browser and make sure you get a block of text back.
Connecting to your new remote node⌗
This will depend on the wallet you’ve chosen to use, but usually just entails specifying the IP address of your node (either your home IP address or that of your VPS-provided host) or Onion address.
An example of how to do this in the main desktop wallet is provided here.
A few helpful Linux CLI tools⌗
A few of my favorite tools for general Linux CLI usage are below, hopefully they will help you out getting more comfortable with the CLI or keeping a closer eye on your node!
- Oh My Zsh
- A great replacement for bash/sh shells, Oh My Zsh gives much better highlighting, features, and has automatic updates over git
- vnstat
- A simple CLI tool to watch and view bandwidth usage numbers
- htop
- Gives a great overall picture of system resource usage by process, and is much more readable than
top
- Gives a great overall picture of system resource usage by process, and is much more readable than
- multitail
- a much more fully-featured way to view logs (especially more than one at a time)
Conclusion⌗
Hopefully this guide simplified the process of setting up a remote node on a VPS, and many more similar guides should be popping up shortly.
I used the commands and info in this guide to kick off a new remote node on Hetzner, feel free to utilize it for wallet sync, add it as a priority peer, etc:
node-1.sethsimmons.me:18089
(high-performance node on Hetzner in Frankfurt, Germany)
Also available as a Tor HiddenService at:
rbpgdckle3h3vi4wwwrh75usqtoc5r3alohy7yyx57isynvay63nacyd.onion:18089
Please reach out via Twitter, Matrix, or email if you have any questions, think a step needs clarification, or need further help getting up and running.
Thanks!
-
A pruned node allows you to run your own Monero node without requiring as much disk space. Please see the pruning Moneropedia entry for more info. ↩︎