Linux VPS (Docker)
We will be using Docker software to make running a Minima node simple.
If you prefer not to use Docker, you can create a script to run Minima as a service.
Once your node is set up, you will be able to use Minima's decentralized applications.
What is Docker?
Docker is an open-source software platform that simplifies the process of running, testing and managing applications. It uses the operating system of the computer on which itβs installed to provide an independent computing environment for an application to run on.
Setup your Firewallβ
By default Minima is installed on ports 9001-9005. Only ports 9001,9003,9004 need to be open to use Minima and the MiniDapp system.
The RPC Port (default 9005) must never be opened to incoming connections
custom ports
If you install Minima on custom ports, ensure the correct ports are open/closed.
For more information, see System Requirements.
For help on setting up your firewall, see Recommended Firewall settings
Start a new Minima nodeβ
Remove nodes installed using the old scriptβ
If you have been running a node using the install script provided, please remove these nodes following the instructions below.
If you are a new user, continue to Set up your firewall.
- Logon to your server as a non root user with sudo (admin) rights.
Check running nodes
To check which nodes you currently have running, use the command systemctl list-units --type=service
.
- To remove nodes which were installed using our install script, run the uninstall script below (all one line).
sudo wget -O minima_remove.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/minima-global/Minima/master/scripts/minima_remove.sh && sudo chmod +x minima_remove.sh && sudo ./minima_remove.sh -p 9001 -x
Multiple nodes?
If you started multiple nodes, run the uninstall script for each node changing the port number each time.
- Remove all existing folders:
sudo rm -r /home/minima/
- Delete the existing minima user:
sudo userdel minima
note
If there is an βunable to delete minima user, minima user using process xxxxxxxβ error, please reboot the server, log back in as root then do userdel minima
immediately on login.
If you are having problems and Minima is the only application on your server, please start with a fresh instance of your server and continue to Start your node.
Start your nodeβ
- Log on as a non root user with sudo (admin) rights and add a new minima user, set a password and leave the remaining fields as default :
sudo adduser minima
Please make a note of the password you set for the minima user, you may have to login as this user later.
- Confirm the new user with
y
- Give sudo (admin) permissions to the minima user:
sudo usermod -aG sudo minima
- Switch to minima user:
su - minima
- Download the docker install script:
sudo curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com/ -o get-docker.sh
- Give the script permissions and run the installer for docker - this will take a few minutes to finish:
sudo chmod +x ./get-docker.sh && ./get-docker.sh
- Add the minima user to the Docker group:
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
- Exit back to original user:
exit
- Switch to minima user to refresh the groups:
su - minima
- Start your node:
SET YOUR PASSWORD
Make sure to change the password below from 123
to a long password using a-z and 0-9 characters only.
This will be the password to access your Minidapp Hub.
docker run -d -e minima_mdspassword=123 -e minima_server=true -v ~/minimadocker9001:/home/minima/data -p 9001-9004:9001-9004 --restart unless-stopped --name minima9001 minimaglobal/minima:latest
What do all the parameters mean?
-d
: daemon mode, Minima will run in the background-e minima_mdspassword=123
: sets the password for your MiniDapp system to 123. YOU MUST USE A LONG SECURE PASSWORD USING LOWERCASE LETTERS AND NUMBERS ONLY-e minima_server=true
: sets your node type as a server node that receives incoming connections-v ~/minimadocker9001:/home/minima/data
: creates a local folder called minimadocker9001 in your home directory and maps it to the /home/minima/data directory in Docker. The minimadocker9001 folder is where the Minima database and is also where your backups will be stored.-p 9001-9004:9001-9004
: the port number mapping from your server to the Docker container--restart unless-stopped
: ensures your container automatically restarts unless you stop it--name minima9001
: sets the name of your Minima container to minima9001minimaglobal/minima:latest
: specifies where to pull the Minima code from
- Ensure Docker starts up automatically when the server starts
sudo systemctl enable docker.service
sudo systemctl enable containerd.service
Congratulations! Your Node is up and running. Continue to install the Watchtower to automatically update Minima.
Automate updates with Watchtowerβ
- Start a Watchtower container to automatically update Minima when a new version is available.
docker run -d --restart unless-stopped --name watchtower -e WATCHTOWER_CLEANUP=true -e WATCHTOWER_TIMEOUT=60s -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock containrrr/watchtower
Every 24 hours, the Watchtower will check whether there is a new version of Minima and will update if so.
- Check Minima and the Watchtower containers are running
docker ps
Continue to access your MiniDapp hub and setup your Incentive Program account to start earning Rewards.
Access your MiniDapp hubβ
The first time accessing your MiniDapp hub, you may need to pass through the security warning - see below - as the MiniDapp system currently uses self-signed certificates.
- Go to https://YourServerIP:9003/ in your web browser
Click on Advanced, then Proceed. Or in Google Chrome, you may have to click anywhere on the page and type thisisunsafe
to proceed. Details for other browsers can be found here.
trouble accessing MDS?
If you are having trouble accessing https://YourServerIP:9003/, please first go to https://YourServerIP:9004/ and accept the security warning. Then return to https://YourServerIP:9003/.
You will see your MiniDapp System (MDS) login page.
Enter your password to login, if you don't remember, you can check here.
You will see your MiniDapp hub!
Set up your Incentive Program accountβ
If you have registered for the Incentive Program you must connect your Incentive ID to your node to start receiving daily Rewards.
THE INCENTIVE PROGRAM IS NOW CLOSED
The Incentive Rewards Program is now closed to new users.
Existing users will continue to earn, however all Rewards due for 2023 will be received in March (prior to Token distribution) instead of daily, provided you continue to run your node.
- Open the Incentive Program minidapp
Follow the instructions to login to the Incentive Program website and copy your Incentive ID
Paste your Incentive ID into the field provided and click Update
- Check the Rewards page to check your balance!
FAQβ
Useful Docker commandsβ
The following commands can be run from your server command line, logged in as the minima user.
View the logs: docker logs minima9001
Stop Minima: docker stop minima9001
Remove your Minima container: docker rm minima9001
Start the Minima container: docker start minima9001
Restart the Minima container: docker restart minima9001
List all containers (Running and stopped): docker ps -a
List containers (Running only): docker ps
Stop containers listed: docker stop minima9001 minima8001 minima7001
Remove listed containers: docker rm minima9001 minima8001 minima7001
Help: docker --help
How to check the Status of your nodeβ
To check the status of your node, you can either use the Minima Terminal via Docker (shown above) or log on to your MiniDapp hub and open the Minima Terminal minidapp.
With the Minima Terminal open, run the status
command to see the latest status of your node including version, last block and chain details.
checking your node is in sync
Having a recent block time is not a guarantee that you are on the right chain.
Consider cross checking your latest block with another node or checking the samechain
response of your Maxima Contacts by running the maxcontacts
command.
warning
If the time shown is significantly behind, you should restart your node to resync to the chain.
If you have been offline for a long time, you may need to restore your node from a backup.
How to check your MiniDapp System passwordβ
You can use the Docker CLI/Terminal to interact with your node, for example to check your status, balance, password, incentive program setup or to create a backup.
The mds
command will show details about the MiniDapp System (MDS) including your password and the MiniDapps installed on your node.
- Log on to your server as the minima user (if not already logged in)
- Start the Minima Terminal by running the command
docker exec -it minima9001 minima
- Type
mds
to see your password
Useful commands:
status
- see the status of your node including version and chain details
incentivecash
- check your Incentive Program balance
incentivecash uid:
- setup your Incentive Program account by connecting your Incentive ID
help
- show all commands
How to change your MiniDapp System passwordβ
To change the password to login to your MiniDapp System (MDS), you must stop and remove your minima9001 container and restart it with a different password.
- Stop the minima9001 container
docker stop minima9001
- Remove the minima9001 container
docker rm minima9001
- Repeat step 10 from Start your node, with a different password. Your password should be long using a-z, 0-9 only.
important
Deleting the container will not delete the minimadocker9001
data folder so your coins will be safe during this process.
When starting the new container, you must use the same minimadocker9001
folder to ensure your coins and data are restored.
How to take a backup of your nodeβ
Before backing up your node, consider encrypting your private keys. For more information, see Vault.
- Login to your Minima Hub at https://yourserverIP:9003/
- Open the Terminal MiniDapp
- Enter the
backup
command with a password containing lowercase letters and numbers only
backup password:
warning
This password cannot be retrieved at a later date, so remember it or write it down somewhere secure.
Auto backupsβ
You can create automatic backups every 24 hours however these backups cannot be password protected so we recommend encrypting your private keys before enabling auto backups.
backup auto:true
Your backups will go to the minimadocker9001 folder in your home directory.
backup parameters
password: set a password for your backup lowercase letters and numbers only, this will be required when restoring it
file: (optional) backup name
auto: (optional) true or false. Will set the backup to repeat every 24 hours.
How to restore your node from a backupβ
Your backup must be in the minimadocker9001 folder in your home directory (as specified at start up).
- Login to your Minima Hub
- Open the Terminal MiniDapp
- Enter the
restore
command, completing the parameters
restore file: password:
restore parameters
file: the name of the backup to restore, e.g. mybackup.bak
password: (optional) the password of the backup. Can be left blank if restoring an auto backup or non password protected backup.
If successful, you will need to log out/log in from your Minima hub for the restore to take effect.
warning
If you encrypted your private keys before taking the backup that you are now restoring, your private keys will still be encrypted and you will be required to decrypt them or enter your Vault password when sending funds
How to start a second node in Dockerβ
To run a second node in Docker, you can create another container using different port numbers, file path and name.
- To create a node on port 8001:
docker run -d -e minima_mdspassword=123 -e minima_server=true -v ~/minimadocker8001:/home/minima/data -p 8001-8004:9001-9004 --restart unless-stopped --name minima8001 minimaglobal/minima:latest
- To access your MiniDapps on the second node, go to https://127.0.0.1:8003/ (8003 instead of 9003) and repeat the steps in Access your MiniDapp hub.
How to start a test node as a developerβ
To create a private test node from Genesis on ports 10001-10004, use the following start up command:
docker run -d -e minima_mdspassword=123 -e minima_server=true -e minima_genesis=true -e minima_test=true -e minima_nop2p=true -v ~/minimadocker10001_dev:/home/minima/data -p 10001-10004:9001-9004 --restart unless-stopped --name minima10001_dev minimaglobal/minima:latest
test parameters
The additional test parameters used are:
-p 10001-10004:9001-9004
: Local ports 10001-10004 will be forwarded to 9001-9004 on Docker.
You can change 10001-10004 to another set of unused ports however the Docker ports must remain as 9001-9004.
-e minima_genesis=true
: Start a node from the Genesis block
-e minima_test=true
: Use test parameters e.g. blocks are automined and block times are faster
-e minima_nop2p=true
: Do not start the p2p system
How to enable RPC (advanced users)β
warning
You should only enable RPC if you have correct firewalls in place blocking access to the Minima RPC port, 9005.
If you have multiple Minima nodes you will need to block all RPC ports (base port +4).
To enable RPC, replace -p 9001-9004:9001-9004
with -p 9001-9005:9001-9005
when starting your node.
On a second node, this would be: -p 8001-8005:9001-9005
.
Example:
docker run -d -e minima_mdspassword=123 -e minima_server=true -v ~/minimadocker9001:/home/minima/data -p 9001-9005:9001-9005 --restart unless-stopped --name minima9001 minimaglobal/minima:latest
RPC commandsβ
By default Minima is installed on ports 9001-9005. The default RPC port is 9005.
You can send commands to your Minima node using curl to the RPC port.
To install curl:
sudo apt install curl
then y
For improved formatting:
sudo apt install jq
then y
Example: To check the status of your Minima node when logged on to the server:
curl 127.0.0.1:9005/status | jq
You will see the current block and other information about your node.
curl 127.0.0.1:9005/incentivecash | jq
- shows your incentive cash balance
curl 127.0.0.1:9005/help | jq
- shows the full list of commands
Using a firewall to secure your RPC portβ
If you have enabled RPC, you must take steps to protect your server from external access.
warning
If you have other applications on your server other than Minima - please review your existing firewall settings before proceeding.
To install a firewall and secure your node:
ssh into your server as non root user with sudo (admin) rights
Install Uncomplicated Firewall (ufw)
sudo apt-get install ufw
Then immediately disable it, to first configure it
sudo ufw disable
Allow incoming/outgoing connections as default
sudo ufw default allow
Deny incoming connections to your RPC ports - 9005 (and other RPC if you have multiple nodes)
sudo ufw deny in 9005
sudo ufw deny in 8005
(optional)Ensure ssh is allowed
sudo ufw allow ssh
Enable the firewall
sudo ufw enable
Confirm
y
Your firewall is now configured.
You will still be able to send rpc commands directly from your server using curl
e.g. curl 127.0.01:9005/status | jq
However, if you wish to check your node from an external computer, you must use SSH with each command.
e.g. ssh root@YourServerIP curl 127.0.0.1:9005/status
If you have jq installed on your computer (for improved formatting)
ssh root@YourServerIP curl 127.0.0.1:9005/status | jq
Each request will require your server password.
Lock it down.
How to remove a nodeβ
important
Removing a node without taking a backup will delete all your coins! Only remove a node if you have taken a backup or are running a test node.
To remove a Docker node:
- Login as the minima user to your server
- Stop then delete the minima9001 container
docker stop minima9001
docker rm minima9001
- Delete the minimadocker9001 folder from your home directory by running
sudo rm -rf minimadocker9001
Next Stepsβ
Once your node running, learn about MiniDapps and start testing!
Stay up to dateβ
Check out our MiniDapp store to stay up to date with the latest MiniDapps.
Need help?β
See Using MiniDapps for more information or find us in Discord or Telegram.
Thank you for participating and contributing to our Testnet.