Part 1 - Server Setup

This section will help you set up and configure a server to prepare it for running a Pocket node.

Setup a server

The first thing you’ll need to run a Pocket node is a server. For this guide, we’ll be using a virtual machine on the Linode cloud service, but you can use any cloud service you like, or run a server of your own.

Pocket has no affiliation with Linode and does not recommend any one provider over another. The general steps outlined here should work for most cloud providers.

Let’s start by creating a Linode instance (a virtual machine).

1. Create a Linode instance

To create a Linode instance ("Linode"), do the following:

1. Sign up for a Linode account and log in.

2. Create a new Linode with the following specifications:

   • Image / Distribution: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

   • Region: Atlanta, GA

   • Linode Plan: Dedicated 16 GB - 8 CPU, 320 GB Storage, 16 GB RAM

   • Linode Label: pokt001

3. Wait for the Linode to be created and show up as running in the web interface.

For a more detailed guide on setting up a Linode instance, see the Linode docs. Also, note that the Atlanta, GA region was selected for this guide because it supports NVMe storage which is preferable for running Pocket and many other blockchain nodes. Check to see which other regions support NVMe storage.

2. Add a storage volume

The Pocket blockchain is large and growing quickly, and the snapshot we’ll be downloading in a later step is too large to fit on this Linode instance.

Because of this, we’ll need to create a secondary storage volume. Our recommendation is at least 1.5TB to begin with. But as you'll need more space in the future, you may opt for a larger volume or one that can be increased later.

1. In your Linode account, click Volumes and then Create Volume.

2. Create a volume with the following specifications:

   • Label: poktuserdir

   • Size: 1500GB

   • Region: [Same as your instance]

   • Linode: pokt001

3. Configure DNS

Now that the Linode instance is created and running, you’ll need to set up a DNS (Domain Name Service) record that points to the IP address of the Linode instance.

Pocket nodes require a DNS name. DNS names are used to map an IP address to more human-friendly names. So rather than referencing a server with an address like 134.23.153.21 we can use a name like pokt001.pokt.run.

Most domain registrars allow you to add DNS records. Please refer to the DNS setup documentation for your provider.

Specifically, you’ll need to add an A record for the domain name. For the exact steps, consult the DNS documentation for your provider. Then create a record with the following information:

• Name: pokt001

• Type: A

• Value: [Linode_IP_Address]

• TTL: 300

After setting up your DNS record, wait a few minutes for it to propagate. Then use the following command to check that the DNS record is working:

The examples in this tutorial will use pokt001 as the server on the pokt.run domain, so pokt001.pokt.run will be used as the DNS name. Please replace this throughout with your own server and domain name.

ping -c 3 pokt001.pokt.run

You should see a response that looks something like this:

64 bytes from 134.23.153.21: icmp_seq=0 ttl=47 time=92.403 ms
64 bytes from 134.23.153.21: icmp_seq=1 ttl=47 time=142.828 ms
64 bytes from 134.23.153.21: icmp_seq=2 ttl=47 time=182.456 ms

If the IP address matches the IP address of your Linode instance, you’re all set!

It can sometimes take longer than a minute for the DNS record to propagate. So, be patient if things don’t seem to work right away.

4. Login with SSH

Now that we've set up a DNS record, we will use SSH (Secure Shell Protocol) to log in to our server and continue the setup process.

SSH is a secure way to connect to your Linode instance from a remote machine, like your local computer. We’ll be using SSH to complete the rest of the setup process.

If your local computer uses Linux, Windows 10 or later, or is a Mac you can SSH into your node by doing the following:

• Open a terminal.

• SSH into your node using the following command:

  ssh [email protected]

Don’t forget to replace pokt001.pokt.run with your DNS name.

You’ll be asked for your password. This is the root password that you set when you created your Linode.

If you’re using an older version of Windows that doesn't have a built-in SSH client, you might need to install PuTTY or a different SSH client.

5. Set the hostname

At this point you should be logged into your node as the root user.

In a previous step, we set the DNS name for the node. Now we’ll use the same name for the hostname on the server.

To set the server hostname do as follows:

1. Open the /etc/hostname file with the following command:

   nano /etc/hostname

2. Change the localhost value to the hostname of your node (for example, pokt001.pokt.run).

3. Save the file with Ctrl+O and then Enter.

4. Exit nano with Ctrl+X.

5. Reboot the server with the following command:

   reboot

6. Wait for the server to reboot then SSH back in as the root user before continuing.

6. Create a Pocket user account

For security reasons do not to use the root user. Instead, create a new user and add this user to the sudo group.

To do so, enter the following commands:

1. Create a new user named pocket, add it to the sudo group, and set the default shell to bash. If you want to specify the location of the home directory, you can use the -d option followed by the path to the home directory:

   useradd -m -g sudo -s /bin/bash pocket && passwd pocket

2. For the rest of this guide, we’ll be using the pocket user. So now that the pocket user has been created, you can switch from the root to the pocket user with the following command:

   su - pocket

7. Mount the volume

Next we want to mount the secondary storage volume that we created in a previous step.

1. Verify that the volume is attached to your instance.

   sudo fdisk -l

2. Create a new partition. If the previous command shows a file path different from /dev/sdc, use that instead in the commands below:

   sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdc

3. Create a new mount point:

   sudo mkdir /mnt/data

4. Mount the new partition:

   sudo mount /dev/sdc /mnt/data

5. Verify that the partition was created by running the following command:

   sudo lsblk -o NAME,PATH,SIZE,FSAVAIL,FSUSE%,MOUNTPOINT

6. Set the volume to be mounted automatically. Open /etc/fstab:

   sudo nano /etc/fstab

7. Add the following line to the bottom of the file:

   /dev/sdc /mnt/data ext4 defaults,noatime,nofail 0 2

8. Save the file with Ctrl+O and then Enter.

9. Exit nano with Ctrl+X.

8. Move the home directory

Many Pocket commands assume a data directory path of ~/.pocket. While it is possible to specify a different data directory with every command, it is much easier to change the location of the pocket user home directory. For this tutorial, we will be setting the Pocket data directory at /mnt/data/.pocket.

To change the home directory of the pocket user:

sudo usermod -d /mnt/data pocket

9. Configure SSH Key Login (Optional)

While not required, using an SSH key provides a more secure means of accessing your server.

Since an SSH key is truly random, it eliminates the pitfalls that can come with user-generated passwords, and using one to log in to your server removes the ability for credentials to be sniffed in the login process.

One important thing to understand is that without access to the SSH key you won’t be able to log into your node. If you intend on accessing your node from multiple computers, it’s recommended that you repeat the Generate Key and Upload Key steps from each computer from which you intend to access your node before proceeding to the Disable Root Login and Password Authentication step.

1. Log Out

   At the terminal you’ll need to enter the logout command twice. The first logout logs you out of the pocketuser and back to the root user, and the second logout logs you out of the server and back to your terminal.

2. Generate Key

   Next, we’ll generate an SSH key. To do that you’ll run the ssh-keygen command. You’ll be prompted to specify the file to which you want to save the key and to create a password. While a password is optional, we recommend it as it will secure your server in the event that someone accesses your key. To create the key, do the following:

• Run the ssh-keygen command:

  ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096

• Enter file in which to save the key (~/.ssh/id_rsa).

• Enter a passphrase (empty for no passphrase).

• Enter same passphrase again.

The results should look similar to the following:

The key fingerprint is:
SHA256:jr2MLXIha188wYsp/bNflN9BuqQ3LWCAXJNTtHO7sWk
The key's randomart image is:
+---[RSA 4096]----+
|         o+o     |
|      . oo. .    |
|       o ..o . . |
|       .  . o.+  |
|        S  oo= . |
|    ...B o..+.B..|
|    .o=.B  ..E...|
|    +.o*.o .o o  |
|   . +o.*+.      |
+----[SHA256]-----+

1. Upload Key

   Now we’re going to upload the key so that we can use it to log into the pocketuser. If you chose a different path for the SSH key, use it to replace ~/.ssh/id_rsa.

   ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa [email protected]

   Windows users may not have access to this command. If you don't have access to a Bash shell, you can use PowerShell to mimic this command. See these instructions for more details.

2. Disable Root Login and Password Authentication

   We’re now going to configure SSH to no longer allow root logins, and to disallow any password-based login attempts. This means that without access to the SSH key for the pocketuser, you won't be able to log into the server.

   First we’ll need to log back into the server:

   ssh [email protected]

   From there, we’ll need to open the /etc/ssh/sshd_config and change the default configuration:

   sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

   Once in the file, we’ll need to make the following line changes:

   • #PermitRootLogin prohibit-password -> PermitRootLogin no

   • #PubkeyAuthentication yes -> PubkeyAuthentication yes

   • #PasswordAuthentication yes -> PasswordAuthentication no

   Once changed, Ctrl-O followed by Enter will save the changes, and Ctrl-X will exit nano back to the terminal.

   Then we’ll need to restart the SSH server for these changes to take effect:

   sudo systemctl restart sshd.service

3. Verify Everything Works

   The last step is to log out of the server and try logging back in. If you’re no longer prompted for a password (assuming you did not set a password when creating the SSH key), then everything is working as expected.

   ssh -i 'C:\Users\<USER>\.ssh\id_rsa'-l pocket pokt001.pokt.run

That’s it for the server setup! Continue on to install the necessary software.