/run

run your own bitclout node

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Run your own BitClout node

Running your own BitClout node is as easy as 1-2-3:

  1. Install Docker and Docker Compose if you don't have it already
    • On Mac and Windows, Docker comes with Docker Compose
    • On Linux you need to install Docker Engine and Docker Compose separately
  2. Execute ./run.sh
  3. Visit http://bitclout.me. This domain is aliased to your local machine so it will allow you to interact with your local node.

Check sync progress

You can check on the sync progress of your local node in the admin panel.

  1. Create a new user OR sign in with your existing seed phrase
  2. Head to the Admin panel to see your sync status. The tooltips should explain what most things mean.

Reset your node

If your node fails to sync or you want to try syncing from scratch you can run:

$ docker-compose down --volumes

What's next?

Once your node is synced, you have access to the full firehose of BitClout data in real time! Below are some tips on how take full advantage of your node.

  • Go to your Admin tab and watch the unfiltered feed update as your node syncs. It's like a time machine!
    • Note: If your node is having trouble syncing for some reason, try updating the CONNECT_IPS flag in dev.env to bitclout-seed-2.io and set IGNORE_INBOUND_PEER_INV_MESSAGES to true while you sync. This will pick a fairly reliable node as a sync peer and disregard messages from other peers.
  • Try to whitelist some posts in the Admin tab and see that they've made their way onto your global feed.
  • Read through the flags available in the dev.env file. You can adjust these flags however you want, but note that we strongly recommend keeping your node in read-only mode for now. Turning read-only mode off could cause users who visit your node to make transactions that are not ultimately confirmed.
  • Set ADMIN_PUBLIC_KEYS to your public key so that the Admin tab is only visible to your username.
  • Whitelist some posts and verify that they show up on the global feed.
  • Deploy your node on any cloud provider with a static IP to make it accessible to anyone on the internet.
    • If you do this, you must point two domains at your node. domain.com and api.domain.com.
    • If you do this, you must replace bitclout.me with bitpop.cash in nginx.dev so that your traffic is routed to core and frontend properly.
    • If you do this, you must add your domain to the Caddyfile.dev's Content-Security-Policy or your site won't work. You will need to add two entries: One for domain.com:* and one for api.domain.com:*
  • Set a PASSWORDS_FILE if you want to restrict read access to your node.
  • Add an SSL_CERT_DIR and SSL_DOMAIN using a letsencrypt cert in order to protect your node with HTTPS.
  • Set the TWILIO* flags to allow new users to get some starter BitClout.
  • Set a SUPPORT_EMAIL so your users can contact you if they run into trouble.
  • Play with the logging verbosity by increasing GLOG_V.