1 How to run your own Electrum server
2 ===================================
7 This document is an easy to follow guide to installing and running your own
8 Electrum server on Linux. It is structured as a series of steps you need to
9 follow, ordered in the most logical way. The next two sections describe some
10 conventions we use in this document and hardware, software and expertise
13 The most up-to date version of this document is available at:
15 https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum-server/blob/master/HOWTO.md
20 In this document, lines starting with a hash sign (#) or a dollar sign ($)
21 contain commands. Commands starting with a hash should be run as root,
22 commands starting with a dollar should be run as a normal user (in this
23 document, we assume that user is called 'bitcoin'). We also assume the
24 bitcoin user has sudo rights, so we use '$ sudo command' when we need to.
26 Strings that are surrounded by "lower than" and "greater than" ( < and > )
27 should be replaced by the user with something appropriate. For example,
28 <password> should be replaced by a user chosen password. Do not confuse this
29 notation with shell redirection ('command < file' or 'command > file')!
31 Lines that lack hash or dollar signs are pastes from config files. They
32 should be copied verbatim or adapted, without the indentation tab.
37 **Expertise.** You should be familiar with Linux command line and
38 standard Linux commands. You should have basic understanding of git,
39 Python packages. You should have knowledge about how to install and
40 configure software on your Linux distribution. You should be able to
41 add commands to your distribution's startup scripts. If one of the
42 commands included in this document is not available or does not
43 perform the operation described here, you are expected to fix the
44 issue so you can continue following this howto.
46 **Software.** A recent Linux distribution with the following software
47 installed: `python`, `easy_install`, `git`, a SQL server, standard C/C++
48 build chain. You will need root access in order to install other software or
49 Python libraries. You will need access to the SQL server to create users and
52 **Hardware.** Running a Bitcoin node and Electrum server is
53 resource-intensive. At the time of this writing, the Bitcoin blockchain is
54 3.5 GB large. The corresponding SQL database is about 4 time larger, so you
55 should have a minimum of 14 GB free space. You should expect the total size
56 to grow with time. CPU speed is also important, mostly for the initial block
57 chain import, but also if you plan to run a public Electrum server, which
58 could serve tens of concurrent requests. See step 6 below for some initial
64 ### Step 0. Create a user for running bitcoind and Electrum server
66 This step is optional, but for better security and resource separation I
67 suggest you create a separate user just for running `bitcoind` and Electrum.
68 We will also use the `~/bin` directory to keep locally installed files
69 (others might want to use `/usr/local/bin` instead). We will download source
70 code files to the `~/src` directory.
72 # sudo adduser bitcoin
77 If you don't see `/home/bitcoin/bin` in the output, you should add this line
78 to your `.bashrc`, `.profile` or `.bash_profile`, then logout and relogin:
80 PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"
82 ### Step 1. Download and install Electrum
84 We will download the latest git snapshot for Electrum and 'install' it in
87 $ mkdir -p ~/src/electrum
89 $ git clone https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum-server.git server
90 $ chmod +x ~/src/electrum/server/server.py
91 $ ln -s ~/src/electrum/server/server.py ~/bin/electrum
93 ### Step 2. Donwnload Bitcoind from git & patch it
95 In order for the latest versions of Electrum to work properly we will need to use the latest
96 build from Git and also patch it with an electrum specific patch.
98 $ cd src && git clone git://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin.git
100 $ patch -p2 < ~/src/electrum/server/patch/patch
101 $ cd src && make -f makefile.unix
103 ### Step 3. Configure and start bitcoind
105 In order to allow Electrum to "talk" to `bitcoind`, we need to set up a RPC
106 username and password for `bitcoind`. We will then start `bitcoind` and
107 wait for it to complete downloading the blockchain.
110 $ $EDITOR ~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
112 Write this in `bitcoin.conf`:
114 rpcuser=<rpc-username>
115 rpcpassword=<rpc-password>
122 Allow some time to pass, so `bitcoind` connects to the network and starts
123 downloading blocks. You can check its progress by running:
127 You should also set up your system to automatically start bitcoind at boot
128 time, running as the 'bitcoin' user. Check your system documentation to
129 find out the best way to do this.
131 ### Step 4. Install Electrum dependencies
133 Electrum server depends on various standard Python libraries. These will be
134 already installed on your distribution, or can be installed with your
135 package manager. Electrum also depends on two Python libraries which we wil
136 l need to install "by hand": `Abe` and `JSONRPClib`.
138 $ sudo easy_install jsonrpclib
140 $ git clone git://github.com/jtobey/bitcoin-abe.git
142 $ sudo python setup.py install
144 Please note that the path below might be slightly different on your system,
145 for example python2.6 or 2.8.
147 $ sudo chmod +x /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/Abe/abe.py
148 $ ln -s /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/Abe/abe.py ~/bin/abe
150 ### Step 5. Configure the database
152 Electrum server uses a SQL database to store the blockchain data. In theory,
153 it supports all databases supported by Abe. At the time of this writing,
154 MySQL and PostgreSQL are tested and work ok, SQLite was tested and *does not
155 work* with Electrum server.
160 mysql> create user 'electrum'@'localhost' identified by '<db-password>';
161 mysql> create database electrum;
162 mysql> grant all on electrum.* to 'electrum'@'localhost';
169 ### Step 6. Configure Abe and import blockchain into the database
171 When you run Electrum server for the first time, it will automatically
172 import the blockchain into the database, so it is safe to skip this step.
173 However, our tests showed that, at the time of this writing, importing the
174 blockchain via Abe is much faster (about 20-30 times faster) than
175 allowing Electrum to do it.
177 $ cp ~/src/bitcoin-abe/abe.conf ~/abe.conf
180 For MySQL, you need these lines:
183 connect-args = { "db" : "electrum", "user" : "electrum" , "passwd" : "<database-password>" }
185 For PostgreSQL, you need these lines:
191 $ abe --config ~/abe.conf
193 Abe will now start to import blocks. You will see a lot of lines like this:
195 'block_tx <block-number> <tx-number>'
197 You should wait until you see this message on the screen:
199 Listening on http://localhost:2750
201 It means the blockchain is imported and you can exit Abe by pressing CTRL-C.
202 You will not need to run Abe again after this step, Electrum server will
203 update the blockchain by itself. We only used Abe because it is much faster
204 for the initial import.
206 Important notice: This is a *very* long process. Even on fast machines,
207 expect it to take hours. Here are some benchmarks for importing
208 ~196K blocks (size of the Bitcoin blockchain at the time of this writing):
210 * System 1: ~9 hours.
211 * CPU: Intel Core i7 Q740 @ 1.73GHz
213 * System 2: ~55 hours.
214 * CPU: Intel Xeon X3430 @ 2.40GHz
215 * HDD: 2 x SATA in a RAID1.
217 ### Step 7. Configure Electrum server
219 Electrum reads a config file (/etc/electrum.conf) when starting up. This
220 file includes the database setup, bitcoind RPC setup, and a few other
223 $ sudo cp ~/src/electrum/server/electrum.conf.sample /etc/electrum.conf
224 $ sudo $EDITOR /etc/electrum.conf
226 Write this in `electrum.conf`:
228 # sample config for a public Electrum server
232 stratum_tcp_port:50001
233 stratum_http_port:8081
234 password = <electrum-server-password>
235 banner = Welcome to Electrum server!
239 # sample config for a private server (does not advertise on IRC)
243 stratum_tcp_port:50001
244 stratum_http_port:8081
245 password = <electrum-server-password>
246 banner = Welcome to my private Electrum server!
250 # database setup - MySQL
255 password = <database-password>
257 # database setup - PostgreSQL
264 user = <rpc-username>
265 password = <rpc-password>
267 ### Step 8. (Finally!) Run Electrum server
269 The magic moment has come: you can now start your Electrum server:
273 You should see this on the screen:
275 starting Electrum server
278 If you want to stop Electrum server, open another shell and run:
280 $ electrum-server stop
282 You should also take a look at the 'start' and 'stop' scripts in
283 `~/src/electrum/server`. You can use them as a starting point to create a
284 init script for your system.
286 ### 9. Test the Electrum server
288 We will assume you have a working Electrum client, a wallet and some
289 transactions history. You should start the client and click on the green
290 checkmark (last button on the right of the status bar) to open the Server
291 selection window. If your server is public, you should see it in the list
292 and you can select it. If you server is private, you need to enter its IP
293 or hostname and the port. Press Ok, the client will disconnect from the
294 current server and connect to your new Electrum server. You should see your
295 addresses and transactions history. You can see the number of blocks and
296 response time in the Server selection window. You should send/receive some
297 bitcoins to confirm that everything is working properly.