How to Setup A Bitcoin Full Node with Dojo in Linux | #linux | #linuxsecurity | #hacking | #aihp

Bitcoin is an innovative and liberating tool. It allowed an individual to obtain an independent resource that he/she can use to easily exchange with other people online. This is because, unlike electronic cash, Bitcoin generates scarcity by limiting the total amount of coins that can circulate in its network.

Knowing that, one way to start using Bitcoin for transactions is by using a full node with a mobile wallet. In that regard, one of the best tools that you can use today is Dojo with Samourai Wallet.

Also read:What Is Bitcoin’s Lightning Network?

How Does Bitcoin Work?

At its core, Bitcoin is a distributed database that keeps track of records in an immutable way. It creates a system that does three things:

• Every new entry in the database depends on the previous one. This creates a historical chain of events that links all of the entries to each other.
• Adding a new entry requires you to do a certain amount of work. This ensures that anyone who attempts to forge an entry needs to redo that work as well any work done after it.
• Every full node in the network gets a copy of the database and follows a simple set of rules. This, in turn, allows every participant to agree on what is the correct version of history.

Knowing that, these characteristics of Bitcoin ensure that every new entry in the system is just as secure as the previous one. Not only that, its decentralized nature also allows it to run without any central authority.

This makes Bitcoin incredibly useful for individuals that want to transact privately without any third parties.

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Why Use a Bitcoin Full Node?

A Bitcoin full node is a software that allows you to become an independent participant in the Bitcoin network. It provides you with an exact copy of the network’s transaction history and allows you to do a number of things that is not possible from a normal Bitcoin wallet.

For example, having the entire transaction history allows a full node to verify any incoming transaction by itself. This can be especially helpful for users who accept Bitcoin for their business.

Running a full node also allows you to become an archive for the Bitcoin network. Other users that want to have their own full node will be able to use yours as a starting point.

Lastly, using a full node also removes the need for external servers whenever you check and broadcast new transactions. This can also be useful for users that want to have security and privacy while using Bitcoin.

One of the easiest ways that you can do to use a full node is by installing Dojo.

What is Dojo?

Dojo is a powerful software suite that allows you to easily create and deploy a secure Bitcoin node. Dojo also aims to maintain a high degree of security through the use of several privacy-enhancing addons as well as Tor.

One important thing to note is the actual installation of Dojo can be both a resource intensive and time consuming process, even though the installation steps are easy.

This is mainly because getting the history of Bitcoin transactions requires your computer to verify every entry that it receives. For example, my Core 2 Duo machine from 2011 took 5 days to fully synchronize with the network.

Further, it is also a good practice to make sure that your computer can store all of these data. For the most part, a 1TB drive should be enough to store the entire history as well as leave space for new ones.

This article will focus on installing Dojo on an Ubuntu 22.04 machine. While most of the commands should work for any Linux distribution, the names of the packages as well as programs may vary.

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Preparation for Dojo Installation in Ubuntu Linux

To get started, you need to first create a new user account in the system:

sudo useradd -s /bin/bash -d /home/dojo -m -G sudo dojo
sudo passwd dojo

The reason for this is to separate any configuration and program that Dojo will run from your user account. A separate account will also reduce the chance for any user error to affect Dojo.

Once done, you can switch to the Dojo user by running: su dojo. From here, you can then start installing some distribution-specific dependencies:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install gnupg-agent ca-certificates curl software-properties-common unzip tor torbrowser-launcher

The next thing that you need to do is to include the repository for Docker and Docker Compose.

Download and import the primary signing key for Docker releases:

curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-key add -

Next, add the Docker repository:

sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable"
sudo apt update

Lastly, install Docker:

sudo apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli
sudo usermod -aG docker dojo

Also install docker-compose:

sudo curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/1.25.3/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

With Docker installed, you can now start downloading Dojo to your machine:

wget https://code.samourai.io/dojo/samourai-dojo/-/archive/master/samourai-dojo-master.zip

Extract all the Dojo files to your machine:

mkdir /home/$USER/dojo
unzip /home/$USER/samourai-dojo-master.zip -d /home/$USER/dojo

Configuring Dojo’s Secret Keys

Open the file “docker-bitcoind.conf.tpl” in the dojo folder:

nano /home/$USER/dojo/docker/my-dojo/conf/docker-bitcoind.conf.tpl

The variables that you need to edit here are the BITCOIN_RPC_USER= and BITCOIN_RPC_PASSWORD=. These are the values that Dojo uses to connect to other remote wallets:

BITCOIN_RPC_USER=dojo
BITCOIN_RPC_PASSWORD=random_password

Modifying the Dojo Database

The next file that you need to edit is the “docker-mysql.conf.tpl” file. This is the file that holds all the information that is not directly related to your full node:

nano /home/$USER/dojo/docker/my-dojo/conf/docker-mysql.conf.tpl

You need to edit three variable in this configuration file. These are: MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=, MYSQL_USER= and MYSQL_PASSWORD=:

MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=your_mysql_root_password
MYSQL_USER=dojo
MYSQL_PASSWORD=mysql_user_password

Modifying the NodeJS Configuration

The next file to edit is the “docker-node.conf.tpl.” This is the file that controls the Dojo frontend instance. It also serves as the glue that combines the full node, MySQL and all the extra features that Dojo uses:

nano /home/$USER/dojo/docker/my-dojo/conf/docker-node.conf.tpl

Inside this file, you need to edit the following variables: NODE_API_KEY=, NODE_ADMIN_KEY= and NODE_JWT_SECRET=.

• The NODE_API_KEY serves as the primary secret key for your Dojo’s REST API. This value is what will allow other services to easily communicate with Dojo when necessary.
• The NODE_ADMIN_KEY is the primary password for your Dojo instance. This is what you will type whenever you want to access your Dojo’s configuration panel.
• The NODE_JWT_SECRET serves as the primary salt for your Dojo’s Web Token system. In that, it is the value that makes sure that there is a strong encryption for every Dojo session.

NODE_API_KEY=random_node_api_key
NODE_ADMIN_KEY=random_node_admin_key
NODE_JWT_SECRET=random_node_jwt_secret

Configuring the Bitcoin Block Explorer

Lastly, you need to edit the “docker-explorer.conf.tpl” file. This is what controls the internal block explorer for Dojo:

nano /home/$USER/dojo/docker/my-dojo/conf/docker-explorer.conf.tpl

You need to edit two variables in this configuration file. These are: EXPLORER_INSTALL= and EXPLORER_KEY=. The first variable tells Dojo that you want to install the block explorer. The second variable serves as the password for the application.

EXPLORER_INSTALL=on
EXPLORER_KEY=random_key

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Installing the Dojo Bitcoin Node in Ubuntu

With that done, the next thing that you need to do is to start the Dojo installation script. All you need to do is to run the following command:

/home/$USER/dojo/docker/my-dojo/dojo.sh install

The installation script will now download all the necessary tools that it needs to build Dojo’s docker container. Once it is done, it will then start a compilation process where it will build both the tools and programs that it needs.

From there, the script will start the Dojo executable and immediately synchronize with the Bitcoin network. The script will indicate this with a difference in layout and color of the terminal. At this point, you can now press Ctrl + C to fork the process to the background.

Checking on Dojo’s Sync Progress

As discussed above, synchronizing with the Bitcoin network can take from a few hours to a few days. As such, it is important to keep track of the node’s progress and look for any potential issues during the sync.

There are two ways that you can do to check Dojo’s progress. First, you can use the “dojo.sh” file to generate a running log of the server. This is especially useful if you want a quick way of looking at the server’s progress. For example, running this command will display all the logs related to the Bitcoin full node:

/home/$USER/dojo/docker/my-dojo/dojo.sh logs bitcoind

It is also possible to check Dojo progress through its dedicated web portal. However, you need to make sure that your computer has a copy of the Tor browser. With that, you can run the following command to print all the onion addresses that Dojo uses:

/home/$USER/dojo/docker/my-dojo/dojo.sh onion

From there, you need to copy and load the address for the “Dojo API and Maintenance Tool” through the Tor browser. Doing this will load a small prompt where you can type the admin key that you added earlier.

Dojo will then display a brief summary of your node as well as the various states of its services. This is helpful if you want to have a more comprehensive look at your Dojo instance.

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Pairing Samourai Wallet with Dojo

Once your Dojo node is properly synchronized with the Bitcoin network, you can now pair your mobile wallet to it. By default, the Dojo full node works well with Samourai Wallet for Android. As such, this article will focus on pairing your Dojo with Samourai.

1. Download Samourai wallet from the Play Store.
2. Run Samourai Wallet and enable “Connect to your own Dojo server.” From there, click “Scan QR.”

3. On your Dojo’s Maintenance Tool, click the “Pairing” option on the website’s left hand menu. This will generate a QR code for you to scan.

4. Go back to your Samourai Wallet and scan the QR code in the website.

Congratulations! You have setup your own Bitcoin full node through Dojo.

Frequently Asked Questions

Image credit: Fernando Hernandez via Unsplash

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