DPOPS Manual Installation

Manual Installation

This guide hasn't been updated since May 2020. It is highly recommended to install the xcash-dpops program with the installer script provided here.

This guide is designed for people knowledgeable in Linux and who want to install everything from scratch. If you are not comfortable with the Linux distribution, or if you are following these steps without understanding what you are doing, you might make a mistake that will prevent the xcash-dpops program to run as intended.

1. Installation Directories

It is recommended to install the program the different programs needed for the xcash-dpops in the same folder, in the the /root/ directory or the /home/$USER/ if you are installing from a user different than root.

In the ~ directory, create the xcash-official directory and the xcash-wallets , systemdpid , and logs directory within. Additionally, create the .X-CASH directory that will store the X-Cash blockchain file.

mkdir -p ~/xcash-official/{xcash-wallets,logs,systemdpid}
mkdir -p ~/.X-CASH

2. Install Dependencies

First, update your system packages and install the necessary dependencies:

sudo apt update -y && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install build-essential cmake pkg-config libssl-dev git -y

If you want to install xcash-core from source, you will need to install these additional packages.

sudo apt install libboost-all-dev libzmq3-dev libunbound-dev libsodium-dev libminiupnpc-dev libunwind8-dev liblzma-dev libreadline6-dev libldns-dev libexpat1-dev libgtest-dev doxygen graphviz libpcsclite-dev screen p7zip-full -y

2.a) Installing MongoDB

You will need to get the latest stable version (current release) on the MongoDB website: https://www.mongodb.com/download-center/community

Version: Latest current release. OS: Ubuntu 18.04 Linux x64 (if you are using this version). Package: Server

Then click on All version binaries.

Copy the link address of the tgz file of the latest version available (disregarding debug symbols version) and use it to download the installation folder using this command (replacing the link with the most recent version).

Then, extract it and remove the downloaded file:

Lastly, add the MongoDB binaries folder to your path with the following command.

Replace $USER/xcash-official/mongodb-linux-x86_64-ubuntu1804-4.4.0-rc7-36-gcf4ac31/bin with the MongoDB binaries folder in your system.

Additionally, create the /data/db folder that will keep the delegates databases:

2.b) Building the MongoDB C Driver from source

First, download the latest stable version of the MongoDB C Driver. Go to the official GitHub repository and download the latest stable release. Get the tarball file in your installation folder:

Now, build the driver using the following commands (based on these instructions):

Then, update the links and cache of the newly installed library:

2.c) Building xcash-core from source

Clone the xcash-core repository to your installation folder and go to the downloaded folder:

Make sure to have all the dependencies installed, and build the binaries using make:

Once the build finishes, the binaries will be located in ~/xcash-official/xcash-core/build/release/bin

3. Build Instructions

At this point, all the dependencies should be installed and built. First, clone the xcash-dpops repository:

Go into the downloaded folder, and build using make:

Once the build is completed, you will get the xcash-dpops Has Been Built Successfully message. Now that the program is built, you will need to generate a wallet to be used for the delegate and set up the different units for systemd to organize how your server manages the different services.

4. Generate a Wallet

You will need to create a wallet to register as a delegate, to receive the block reward if you are elected as a top delegate and if you are a shared delegate, the payments will be sent from this wallet as well.

To generate a new wallet, use the following command:

Replace <WALLET_NAME>, <PASSWORD> and the <REMOTE_NODE> with the parameters of your choice.

The wallet synchronization can take time the first time. It will depend on which remote node you chose, and your servers internet connection.

Make sure that you write down your mnemonic key and store it in a secure place as it will be the only way to restore your wallet in case of a problem. Failing to do so will result in loss of funds.

The wallet files will be located in ~/xcash-official/xcash-wallets/

5. Setup The Services

In systemd, a unit refers to any resource that the system knows how to operate on and manage. This is the primary object that the systemd tools know how to deal with. These resources are defined using configuration files called unit files.

On this guide, we will set up the different unit files to manage the programs needed to run your delegate node. The unit files template are present in the xcash-dpops/scripts/systemd folder, but will need to be adjusted with your delegate information.

5.a) Initialization

Create two empty PID files in the systemdpid folder previously created, that will manage the corresponding services:

5.b) mongodb Service

Edit the systemd unit file mongodb.service from in the xcash-dpops/scripts/systemdfolder :

You will get the following **unit**file:

In the file, replace the following if needed:

  • User: User of the system (most likely root)

  • PIDFile: The path to mongod.pid file that you created at the initialization step.

  • ExecStart:

    • Replace the path to the mongod file.

    • Replace the path to the database directory (/data/db as per the instructions)

5.c) xcash-daemon Service

Edit the systemd unit file xcash-daemon.service from in the xcash-dpops/scripts/systemdfolder :

You will get the following **unit**file:

In the file, replace the following if needed:

  • User: User of the system (most likely root)

  • PIDFile: The path to xcash-daemon.pid file that you created at the initialization step.

  • ExecStart:

    • Replace the path to the xcashd file.

    • Replace the path to the xcash-daemon_Log.txt file.

    • Replace the path to the xcash-daemon.pid file.

5.d) xcash-rpc-wallet Service

Edit the systemd unit file xcash-rpc-wallet.service from in the xcash-dpops/scripts/systemdfolder :

You will get the following unit file:

In the file, replace the following if needed:

  • User: User of the system (most likely root)

  • ExecStart:

    • Replace the path to the xcash-wallet-rpc file.

    • Replace the path to the xcash-wallets folder, and replace WALLET by your delegate wallet name.

    • Replace PASSWORD with your delegate wallet password.

5.e) Firewall Service

Edit the systemd unit file firewall.service from in the **xcash-dpops/scripts/systemd**folder :

You will get the following unit file:

In the file, replace the following if needed:

  • User: User of the system (most likely root)

  • ExecStart: Replace the path to the firewall/firewall_script.sh file.

5.f) xcash-dpops Service

Edit the systemd unit file xcash-dpops.service from in the **xcash-dpops/scripts/systemd**folder :

You will get the following unit file:

In the file, replace the following if needed:

  • User: User of the system (most likely root)

  • WorkingDirectory: Replace the path of the xcash-dpops/build folder.

  • ExecStart:

    • Replace the path to the xcash-dpops file.

    • Replace BLOCK_VERIFIER_SECRET_KEY with your generated verifier secret key. This should be the first parameter.

The instructions to generate the block verifier secret key is given in the generate block verifier key guide. Make sure to update the file with your Block Verifier Secret Key and restart the service.

5.g) Install and reload

Now that you have prepared all the unit systemd files, you will need to copy all of them to the system folder:

Then, reload systemd to take the changes into account and run the services.

6. Generate a Block Verifier Key

The block verifier key is a unique identifier generated by a delegate and is used in the consensus process to sign messages and verify the information. As a delegate, you will need to generate a block verifier key before being able to register yourself in the system.

First of all, stop the currently running process of the xcash-dpops program.

Then, run the xcash-dpops program with the --generate-key option. The program is located in the xcash-dpops/build folder. Run the command:

You will be given a block verifier public key and block verifier private key.

Securely save the key you will be using! Once you have registered as a delegate with this key pair, you will be identified in the system with this. If you lose it, you will lose your delegate stats and will have to start over.

First of all, stop the currently running process of the xcash-dpops program.

Then, add your block verifier secret key as a parameter in the service. See the setup of the services guide to see how to edit the unit file.

Once done, make sure to save the new changes to systemctl by using the following command:

7. Test build

It is recommended to run the xcash-dpops test before you run the main program. The test will ensure that your system is compatible and that you have set up your system correctly.

To run the X-CASH DPOPS test, make sure to have already started the xcash-daemon, xcash-rpc-wallet and mongodb systemd services, and to have stopped the xcash-dpops systemd service if it was already running.

Navigate to the folder that contains the binary, rebuild the binary in debug mode then run the test

The test will return the number of passed and failed tests at the bottom of the console. The failed test need to be 0 before you run the node. If the output is not showing 0 for a failed test, then you need to scroll through the testing output and find what test failed (It will be red instead of green).

If this is a system compatibility test, then you will need to fix the system. If this is a core test that has failed, then you need to possibly rebuild, or contact us on the DPoPS testing section or go the Discord channel to get help from testers and the dev-team.

Shared delegates Manual Installation

If you plan on being a delegate but need to accept people vote to help you place in the top delegates spot and earn the right to forge blocks, you will need to run a shared delegate. The shared delegates website will automatically pay your voters taking into account their share.

Manual Setup

We recommend changing from a solo delegate to a shared delegate with the auto-installer script as described above. The manual process described below can be prone to error in the setup.

To run your node as a shared delegate, you just need to run the xcash-dpops program with the following added set of parameters:

With :

  • <fee> : Your delegate fee is the amount of the block reward you are keeping to yourself. The <fee> is expressed in percentage (%) and can take up to 6 decimals.

  • <amount> : The minimum amount of XCASH that can be sent to voters as part of their payment. Has to be an integer number.

Example

Will register as a shared delegate, taking a fee of 12.092032% from the block reward, and process payments to voters when they have accumulated to 10,000 XCASH.

Update the xcash-dpops program

To make sure that your node is running with the parameters, you should update the unit files and restart the service.

First, make sure to stop the running xcash-dpops service:

Then, edit the unit file:

And add the parameters to the ExecStart variable:

Make sure that the following parameter is in first place:

Make sure to update your public information when you change fees, and change shared_delegate_status to true if you are running a shared delegate node to let people know that they can vote for you.

Build the shared delegate website

The shared delegate website has been automatically installed if you installed it with the auto-installer script.

As a shared delegate, you will need to pay your voters a share of the block reward. We have designed a delegate pool website, which works similarly to a regular PoW pool website, where your voters can see their pending payments, your forging statistics and so on...

First, install the website dependencies:

NodeJS

Install nodeJS latest available version:

And update to the latest version using this tutorial.

npm

First, if you are installing from root user, you need to give the current permissions:

Install npm globally:

Angular & Uglify JS

Install Angular and UglifyJS globally:

Build

Once all dependencies are installed, clone the delegate pool website repository :

Go into the folder, install the dependencies, and build the website:

It will build in the **dist**folder.

Compress the .js files with Uglify-JS and move all of the contents of this folder to your xcash-dpops/ folder:

And you are done 🎉 Verify that you are listed in the delegate explorer, and start advertising your node to get people joining your cause and vote for you!

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