The installation guide for SolarCoin Core v2.1.8 has been updated, the guide works for Pi2b or Pi3b. Pi Zero will install but syncing the block-chain causes a RAM shortage so this is not reccomended.
The full guide can be found here and will be updated as more improvements are found https://github.com/Scalextrix/SolarCoin-Raspberry-Pi-Node and is made simple for even novice Linux or Pi users. There are links for how to flash an SD card as well as guidance on setting up WiFi.
Latest commits removes duplicated BerkeleyDB install instructions, adds swappiness configuration, links to Raspbian Jessie Lite
https://github.com/Scalextrix/SolarCoin-Raspberry-Pi-Node/commit/8cc0b7986065b2725edf60908fffd5cf33f6700c
SolarCoin-Raspberry-Pi-Node
Instructions to build a SolarCoin full node on Raspberry Pi
PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH USE OR OTHER DEALINGS.
1 - THIS GUIDE ONLY WORKS ON RASPBIAN JESSIE, LITE DOWNLOADS AVAILABLE FROM https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspbian_lite/images/ make sure and use the version dated 2017-07-05
You will need to be able to open the command line Terminal either using a screen on the HDMI port with a keyboard and mouse, or via SSH. The guide will compile a version of SolarCoin that can only be controlled via the command line.
For instructions on how to flash an SD card: https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/installation/installing-images/
2- Setup Raspbian in the Pi
a) Insert the flashed SD with Raspbian in the Raspberry Pi 2/3.
b) Plug in the USB mouse, the USB keyboard, the HDMI screen, the network cable, and the power cable. You may also SSH to the Raspberry Pi.
The Raspberry Pi will boot for the first time, login with user 'pi' and password 'raspberry'.
sudo raspi-config
You will be presented with the Raspberry Pi Software Configuration Tool (raspi-config). To navigate in this tool, the useful keys are: The up/down arrow, the Enter key, and the Tab key whenever the up/down arrow keys don’t do the job. Here, we will do next things:
b.1) Expand the Filesystem by choosing Option 1, TAB to Finish, and Reboot. You will get a message Root partition has been resized. If you are on SSH your terminal may abort, if this occurs just close the session and login to the Pi again.
b.2) Select your Proper Time Zone and Change the User Password by choosing option 2. Enter your new password twice. When entering the password, the characters won’t be displayed as a security feature. You will get a message Password changed successfully. After reboot check the time is correct with:
date
b.3) OPTIONAL If you don’t intend to use a display (ie you are on SSH), or output any video media we can free up additional RAM by reducing the amount dedicated to the GPU
sudo raspi-config
Select Advanced Options > Memory Split
Change the entry from 64 to 16
TAB to FINISH and Reboot
b.4) OPTIONAL (not needed if using desktop): If you have a Pi3 with internal Wi-Fi on SSH and would prefer to connect to the Pi via Wi-Fi; then edit the wpa_supplicant.conf file
sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
Add the following lines
network={
ssid="YOURWIFISSID"
psk="YOURWIFIPSK"
}
CTRL+X to save, Y to confirm and then hit Enter
sudo reboot
Disconnect the Ethernet cable and find your new IP address in your Wi-Fi router.
3- Update the Raspberry Pi device.
Run the following commands:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade -y
4- Setting up the Raspberry Pi for compiling SolarCoin
a- Use the following command to change the default swap size:
sudo nano /etc/dphys-swapfile
Make sure it reads CONF_SWAPSIZE=1024 Use the left/right arrow keys to navigate the file. After change is done, press Ctrl+X followed by Y then Enter key to save the file. Use the following commands to enable the swap file with its new size:
sudo dphys-swapfile setup
NOTE: This may take a few minutes
sudo dphys-swapfile swapon
You can check the new active swap size with next command:
free -m
Reduce the 'swappiness' so as to only use SWAP when absolutely needed:
sudo nano /etc/sysctl.conf
add
vm.swappiness=1
as the last line then CTRL+X, Y and Enter to save.
b- Install Required Dependencies with next commands:
sudo apt-get install autoconf libevent-dev libtool libssl-dev libboost-all-dev libminiupnpc-dev libdb-dev libdb4.8++ libdb5.3++-dev git hardening-includes rng-tools -y
We installed rng-tools to give us really good random number generation entropy, we just need to make one change to the configuration file
sudo nano /etc/default/rng-tools
In the file uncomment (remove the # symbol) from this line
HRNGDEVICE=/dev/hwrng
CTRL+X, Enter & Y to save
sudo reboot
** If you are on SSH you will lose connection, log back in to continue **
5- Clone the SolarCoin Github, compile and install the client / node with following commands:
cd solarcoin
git checkout c97373dd89ada90da5add4312974763a86071ad2
NOTE: ** This will create a new directory /home/pi/solarcoin **
cd solarcoin/src
sudo make -f makefile.unix -e PIE=1
NOTE: ** This is going to take a long time, go and make a cup of tea **
sudo strip solarcoind
hardening-check solarcoind
** The output should look like:
Position Independent Executable: yes
Stack protected: yes
Fortify Source functions: yes (some protected functions found)
Read-only relocations: yes
Immediate binding: yes**
sudo install -m 755 solarcoind /usr/local/bin/solarcoind
cd
6- Start the SolarCoin daemon with:
solarcoind
NOTE ** This will auto-create a new directory /home/pi/.solarcoin which will contain your wallet.dat and blockchain files **
NOTE ** This is not the same as /home/pi/solarcoin that was created in step 5 **
NOTE ** When executing the next commands be careful to use the right one **
NOTE ** If you connected via SSH you may need to close the terminal and login again **
7- You may get a warning and need to create a solarcoin.conf file, don’t worry:
cd .solarcoin
sudo nano solarcoin.conf
Enter the following:
addnode=162.243.214.120
server=1
daemon=1
rpcuser=solarcoinrpc
rpcpassword= ** enter a secure password **
listen=1 ** if you want a fullnode that listens for connections, you will need to enable port forwarding on your router on port 18188 as we have not complied for UPNP **
Hit CTRL+X, Y and Enter to save the file:
cd
solarcoind
8- To check if SolarCoin is running:
solarcoind getinfo
NOTE ** If you see error: couldn't connect to server, don’t worry, it just means the program is still starting up, keep trying every 30 seconds until it works **
9- OPTIONAL: Move the blockchain/wallet to a USB drive, recommended to reduce wear on the SD card:
NOTE ** Users with a distro that has a desktop, you may find that when you insert a USB drive, this is automatically mounted, probably somewhere in /media, you may want to look at lpninjas instructions in https://github.com/Scalextrix/SolarCoin-Raspberry-Pi-Node/blob/master/StorageonUSBforROKOS.md as a better guide for this section **
Insert a USB drive, then:
solarcoind stop
cd /media
sudo mkdir disk1
sudo fdisk -l
** find an entry like /dev/sda1, could be different on your device **
sudo mount /dev/sda1 disk1
cd
sudo nano /etc/fstab
Add the following underneath the rows already present:
/dev/sda1 /media/disk1 auto defaults 1 2
Hit CTRL+X to save, Y to confirm and Enter
mv .solarcoin /media/disk1
ln -s /media/disk1/.solarcoin .solarcoin
solarcoind
10- IMPORTANT: Encrypt and back up your wallet and keep it on at least one other device!
solarcoind encryptwallet enter your secure passphrase here
** NOTE: Never lose your passphrase or all your coins are lost, forever! Never share your passphrase with anyone or they can steal your coins! Longer passphrases are more secure**
solarcoind walletpassphrase enter your secure passphrase here 9999999
Insert (another if you followed option 9) USB drive:
sudo mkdir /media/usb
sudo fdisk -l
** find an entry like /dev/sdb1, could be different on your device **
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /media/usb
solarcoind backupwallet /home/pi/wallet.dat
sudo mv wallet.dat /media/usb/wallet.dat ** you will see this message, dont worry "mv: failed to preserve ownership for ‘/media/usb/wallet.dat’: Operation not permitted" **
sudo umount /dev/sdb1
Remove the USB drive
11- Run SolarCoin as a service, this will ensure proper shutdown and startup, and will restart SolarCoin in case of failure
solarcoind stop
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/solarcoind.service
Enter the following in the file:
[Unit]
Description=SolarCoin daemon services
After=tlp-init.service
[Service]
Type=forking
PIDFile=/home/pi/.solarcoin/solarcoind.pid
RemainAfterExit=yes
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/solarcoind
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=3
User=pi
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
CTRL X, Y and Enter to save
sudo systemctl enable solarcoind.service
sudo systemctl start solarcoind.service
systemctl status solarcoind.service
You should see an enabled service with a 'PID' number
That is it; you now have a SolarCoin node on your Raspberry Pi. You need to wait for the block-chain to sync, this may take several days! If you forget a command
solarcoind help
is useful, or see https://github.com/Scalextrix/SolarCoin-Raspberry-Pi-Node/blob/master/Useful-SolarCoin-Daemon-Commands.md
** Once the block-chain is synced, its advisable to keep regular backups (I do mine monthly) of the SD card image, in this way if you have a hardware or software problem you will be able to get back up and running quickly without re-installing everything, here is a guide: https://lifehacker.com/how-to-clone-your-raspberry-pi-sd-card-for-super-easy-r-1261113524 **
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OK, I asked or help in Discord, I dont understand the problem with telling people where to find a copy of the OS, or official instructions on how to flash the SD card etc.
For me to remove the links would leave novice users confused, for me to copy the content of the links would be plagirism... what to do?
OK now I understands
This is great, I would like to get my own solar installation one day to collect solarcoin and then use the energy for BOINC/gridcoin.
Thanks!
Thats what I do @donkeykong9000, my Gridcoin wallet also stakes 24/7 on a Raspberry Pi for ultra low cost operation. I use the same process for Gridcoin as above, but Gridcoin actually has an Ubuntu PPA which I know makes installation easier and a lot of other Pi people use.
Great idea. I have solar panels and using WinMiner on laptop powered by them:) Earning 0,18$ per day.
I will soon prepare post about my journey in world of Crypto.
So jump on www.solarcoin.org and claim your free SLR mate :)
How can I do that??? I have only 2 100w panels. Thats enought?
There is no minimum I am aware of but the amounts of SLR will be tiny. You usually need to have some proof they exist and are generating energy, if they aren't grid-tied that may be tricky.
Nice one! Got a shiny new Pi ready to try this on :)
Being not particuarly tech-savvy, can you explain the benefits of staking via a Pi? Cost and security I guess?
Well an important part of cryptocurrency is a distributed set of fullnodes, see they are scattered globally, connect to different ISPs etc. Each fullnode contains a full copy of the entire blockchain; having many copies scattered all over the world significanty increases the resliliency of the blockchain to issues like natural disasters, government/ISP interference, hacking attemps and so on.
However its no use if all those fullnodes arent online 24/7/365; if we only turn them on in the daytime when we have solar power for example, then we lose a significant amount of the security of the blockchain. Once security is compromised, then who is going to use it; no-one.
So a small low power device like a Raspberry Pi, allows you to stay online 24/7/365 and support the network, for around 3Watts or 72Wh of energy per day. So its a economically and ecologically viable method to build a strong and secure energy efficient blockchain.
Also staking your coins 24/7/365 gives you maximum chance of staking, which in turn should slightly increase your staking rewards through compound interest, versus starting your wallet say once per year.
If you didnt want to try making this yourself, I would be happy to make one for you (at cost) and post it over, DM me on Slack if you like.
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