System configuration

You are now on the command line of your own Bitcoin node. Let’s start with the configuration.

Defaults

This guide have no defaults in mind, you can choose whathever tools you want

However, from Microbolt we recommend EDITOR=vim and SU=doas

Define which text editor, root privileges tool and compile flags defaults you want

vi /etc/profile.d/defaults.sh

/etc/profile.d/defaults.sh

# Text editor
export EDITOR=vim # or notepad,vi,neovim,emacs,nano,micro...
# Root privileges tool
export SU=doas # or sudo...
# Compile flags
export CC="clang"
export CXX="${CC}++"
export CFLAGS="-O3 -pipe -march=native -fPIE"
export CXXFLAGS="$CFLAGS"
export LDFLAGS="-pie -Wl,--as-needed"
export MAKEFLAGS="-j$(nproc)"
# Environment variables
export CARGO_HOME="./.cargo"
export npm_config_cache="./npm-cache"
export npm_config_devdir="./.gyp"
export ROCKSDB_INCLUDE_DIR=/usr/include
export ROCKSDB_LIB_DIR=/usr/lib
export PROTOC=protoc-c

Source the changes

. /etc/profile.d/defaults.sh

Install

⚠️

Your choice may need additional steps, it’s your responsibility

apk add $EDITOR $SU

Install other necessary tools

apk add logrotate

Add the admin user

We will use the primary user satoshi instead of root to make this guide more universal.

Create a new user called `satoshi` with your `password [A]`

adduser satoshi

Make this new user a superuser by adding it to the `wheel` user group

adduser satoshi wheel

Allow members of the wheel group to use root privileges with `$SU`

sed 's/# permit persist :wheel/permit persist keepenv :wheel/' /etc/doas.conf > _
mv -f _ /etc/doas.conf

Log out

exit

Log in with `satoshi` admin user

ssh satoshi@nakamoto01

System update

Do this regularly every few weeks/months for security-related updates.

Update the operating system and all installed software packages

$SU apk update

Upgrade the Alpine Package Manager itself

$SU apk add --upgrade apk-tools

Upgrade all installed packages

$SU apk upgrade --available

All services that have been upgraded need to be restarted, to begin using the upgraded version

$SU rc-service <service> restart

If the kernel is upgraded, it’s required to reboot to begin using the upgraded version

sync && reboot

Check drive performance

Performant unit storage is essential for your node.

Let’s check if your drive works well as-is.

Your disk should be detected as /dev/<drive>. Check if this is the case by listing the names of connected block devices

blkid

Install the software to measure the performance of your <drive>

$SU apk add hdparm

Measure the speed of your drive

$SU hdparm -t --direct /dev/<drive>

output

/dev/sda:
 Timing O_DIRECT disk reads: 690 MB in  3.00 seconds = 229.82 MB/sec

If the measured speeds are more than 150 MB/sec, you’re good

Remote access Security