How to Host a Garlicoin Full Node on a Ubuntu 20.04 VPS

1. Why Host a Garlicoin Full Node

• Bragging rights
• Interact closest to Garlicoin blockchain
• Create a faucet (How to create a Faucet)

2. Prepare the Host Server

2.1 System Requirements

• 1 vCPU or better
• 4 GB of Memory (2GB systems may work with configured swap space)
• ACL or Firewall open to port 42069

2.2 Update the Server

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install systemd

2.3 Create a Garlicoin User

Create a new user to run the node service:

sudo adduser garlicoin

Switch to the new user:

sudo su - garlicoin

3. Install garlicoind

3.1 Download & Configure garlicoind

Download the package and extract it:

wget https://github.com/GarlicoinOrg/Garlicoin/releases/download/v0.18.0/garlicoin-0.18.0-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz
tar xvzf garlicoin-0.18.0-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz

Create a directory for Garlicoin data and configuration:

mkdir .garlicoin

Create and edit the configuration file:

cd ~/.garlicoin
touch garlicoin.conf
vim garlicoin.conf

Add the following to garlicoin.conf (replace <username> and <password> with secure values):

txindex=1
rpcuser=<username>
rpcpassword=<password>
server=1
listen=1
daemon=1

3.2 Configure the Service

Create and configure the service file:

cd /etc/systemd/system
sudo touch garlicoind.service
sudo vim garlicoind.service

Paste the following configuration:

[Unit]
Description=garlicoin
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=forking
User=garlicoin
Group=garlicoin
Environment=GARLICOIN_PID=/home/garlicoin/.garlicoin/garlicoin.pid
Environment=GARLICOIN_HOME=/home/garlicoin/.garlicoin
ExecStart=/home/garlicoin/garlicoin-0.18.0/bin/garlicoind
ExecStop=/bin/kill -15 $MAINPID

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Start the service:

sudo systemctl start garlicoind.service

3.3 Checking Sync Progress

To check the sync progress, use the following command:

sudo su - garlicoin
/home/garlicoin/garlicoin-0.18.0/bin/garlicoin-cli getblockchaininfo

If syncing does not progress, add a node manually:

/home/garlicoin/garlicoin-0.18.0/bin/garlicoin-cli addnode freshgrlc.net onetry

4. Bootstrap

4.1 Start Garlicoind with Bootstrap

Install prerequisites and download the bootstrap:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3-pip unzip
pip3 install gdown

Update your PATH:

vim ~/.bashrc

Add the following line:

PATH=$PATH:~/.local/bin

Load the new PATH configuration:

source ~/.bashrc

Download and extract the bootstrap file:

gdown --id 15lQG5kwFvvIYpeNjAr2rp0fknIQxNVAi -O bootstrap.zip
unzip bootstrap.zip
mv bootstrap.dat .garlicoin/bootstrap.dat

Start garlicoind with bootstrap:

cd ~/garlicoin-0.18.0/bin/
./garlicoind -loadblock=~/.garlicoin/bootstrap.dat

5. Debugging Guide

5.1 Node not syncing?

If the node is not syncing, check the log for DNS issues:

cat ~/.garlicoin/debug.log

Ensure port 42069 is open, and try manually connecting to a peer:

garlicoin-cli addnode freshgrlc.net onetry