ansible-dogecoind

The canonical URL for this repository is https://gitlab.com/ftab/ansible-dogecoind

A mirror is loosely maintained on GitHub for discoverability, but the README won't display correctly there.

[[TOC]]

What it does

Run a dogecoin node and wallet on just about any Linux server, virtual machine, VPS, aka the cloud.

Run it on one server or however many servers you have with one deployment command.

How it does it

Downloads and installs Dogecoin through some magic

graph LR
A[Host computer] --> B[Ansible]
B -->|SSH| C[Raspberry Pi on home network]
B -->|SSH| D[Cloud VPS at datacenter #1]
B -->|SSH| E[Cloud VPS at datacenter #2]
B -->|etc| F[etc...]

Why?

Help the Dogecoin network, or just make it easier on yourself to set up a new node.

Technical details

Ansible playbook

Downloads the official Dogecoin release from GitHub and puts it in /usr/local
Sets up a dogecoin user on the machine
Installs a systemd service file so that the machine starts dogecoind when rebooted
Runs the systemd service file

Requirements

Server(s): One or more Linux servers you want to set up Dogecoin nodes on (each on separate networks)
Host: A control computer with Linux, macOS, or Windows 10 Pro with Windows Subsystem for Linux installed

On your server(s)

Linux server with at least 2 GB of RAM and 60 GB of hard drive space (preferably more, as the blockchain is about 48 GiB now and will grow over time)

Near the end of the page are handy referral links if you need a new server

On your host computer

On the host you will be controlling the servers from, you need Ansible and an SSH key to the root user on the machines you will be controlling.

Follow Ansible's install guide for your operating system

(If you're using Windows, install WSL, install Ubuntu 20.04, and follow the above guide for Ubuntu)

Ansible really doesn't want to enter passwords, so that's why we use SSH keys.

Step by step guide

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://gitlab.com/ftab/ansible-dogecoind.git
cd ansible-dogecoind
cp dogecoin.conf.example dogecoin.conf 
cp hosts.example hosts

2. Set up your Ansible inventory in the hosts file

Edit the hosts file. This will be used as your Ansible inventory

nano hosts

Populate this file with the IP of your server, or list of IPs if you have more than one

The ansible_user should either be root, or a user that has access to sudo without password, or can create users and all that. It's probably easiest to just use root.

For example:

[dogecoin]
192.168.2.19 ansible_user=root
104.200.67.252 ansible_user=root

This means your inventory for the dogecoin role consists of two hosts: a local network server at 192.168.2.19 and a VPS server at 104.200.67.252

3. Get SSH keys to root for all your hosts

If you don't have an SSH key already generated, do so now:

ssh-keygen -N '' -t ed25519

Get an SSH key set up to your root user on each host you put into the hosts file:

ssh-copy-id root@your.host.ip
# Answer yes if asked to confirm a host key, then enter your root password

ssh root@your.host.ip
# if you get to your root terminal here, you're good to go
exit

If all is well, proceed to step 4.

Not accepting your password even though you know it should work?

If this is a fresh Debian VM install and root has no password or is not enabled for passworded login over SSH (probably the default), first copy it to a user that does have a passworded login, and administrator privileges (sudo), then copy the authorized_keys file to /root/.ssh/

ssh-copy-id fury@your.host.ip
ssh fury@your.host.ip
sudo mkdir -p /root/.ssh
cat .ssh/authorized_keys | sudo tee -a /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
exit

ssh root@your.host.ip
# if you get to your root terminal here, you're good to go
exit

4. Deploy

ansible-playbook dogecoind.yml -i hosts

That's it. Now dogecoin is running on all of your servers.

You can check in on each of your hosts like this:

ssh root@your.host.ip
su dogecoin -s /bin/bash
dogecoin-cli getinfo
dogecoin-cli getnettotals
dogecoin-cli help

5. Extra credit points

Running on your home network or behind a firewall? You'll experience a much faster node sync if you configure your router or firewall to forward port 22556 to the server that will be running dogecoind. Consult your router or firewall documentation.

This is not necessary for most cloud/VPS as they are already wide open.

6. Warnings

This has been tested on servers dedicated exclusively to running a Dogecoin node. Don't add existing servers with other things on them to your inventory without understanding the implications. Don't store anything valuable here without first securing your node against prying eyes. It would be inadvisable to store any wallet data on these nodes as-is.

7. Further reading

Google on the bing for setting up fail2ban, hardening your SSH server, and other fun things like that.

Sponsor new VPS nodes

DirtMcGirt will set up new VPS nodes with the proceeds from any funds sent to D5fNgytaNohWECCd8NSb82B3YCd78akHjB

Donations/Credits

Give socks to the homeless by tipping 9vnaTWu71XWimFCW3hctSxryQgYg7rRZ7y

fury

Tip: DATfurydmRTZ6vJnBtaibHJYMdx9JYjL4n
Referral Links: servers list at the bottom

This was based on Scott Motte's original ansible playbook

Tip: DJEBk3QoBGbNL7oWzXqvjgW1A9DuFKHs8q

Noteworthy VPS providers

No referral kickback, I just thought these would be good options if you want to pay with cryptocurrency

BitVPS

Accepts payment directly in Dogecoin

https://bitvps.com/

Get at least 60 GB SSD and 2 GB RAM

CrownCloud

Accepts Dogecoin payment through CoinPayments after checkout process (click Pay Invoice)

The classic KVM HDD 2 or classic OpenVZ OVZ-C-1024 plans should do (select Debian or Ubuntu as your operating system for best results, I haven't tried CentOS)