Steem-in-a-box by @someguy123

Steem-in-a-box is a toolkit for using the Steem docker images published by @someguy123.

It's purpose is to simplify the deployment of steemd nodes.

Features:

• Automatic docker installer
• Easily update Steem (steemd, cli_wallet etc.) with binary images
• Easily build your own new versions of Steem by editing the docker files
• Single command to download and install block_log from gtg's server
• Easily adjust /dev/shm size
• Automatically forwards port 2001 for seeds
• Automatically installs a working example configuration for seeds, which can easily be customized for witnesses and full nodes
• Quick access to common actions such as start, stop, replay, rebuild, local wallet, remote wallet, and much more
• Constantly maintained by a top 20 Steem witness (@someguy123) - updated docker images are often available within 24 hours of version release

Usage

To install a witness or seed node:

git clone https://github.com/someguy123/steem-docker.git
cd steem-docker
# If you don't already have a docker installation, this will install it for you
./run.sh install_docker

# This downloads/updates the low-memory docker image for Steem
./run.sh install

# If you are a witness, you need to adjust the configuration as needed
# e.g. witness name, private key, logging config, turn off p2p-endpoint etc.
# If you're running a seed, then don't worry about the config, it will just work
nano data/witness_node_data_dir/config.ini

# (optional) Setting the .env file up (see the env settings section of this readme)
# will help you to adjust settings for steem-in-a-box
nano .env

# Once you've configured your server, it's recommended to download the block log, as replays can be
# faster than p2p download
./run.sh dlblocks

# You'll also want to set the shared memory size (use sudo if not logged in as root). 
# Adjust 64G to whatever size is needed for your type of server and make sure to leave growth room.
# Please be aware that the shared memory size changes constantly. Ask in a witness chatroom if you're unsure.
./run.sh shm_size 64G

# It's recommended to set vm.swappiness to 1, which tells the system to avoid using swap 
# unless absolutely necessary. To persist on reboot, place in /etc/sysctl.conf
sysctl -w vm.swappiness=1

# Then after you've downloaded the blockchain, you can start steemd in replay mode
./run.sh replay
# If you DON'T want to replay, use "start" instead
./run.sh start

You may want to persist the /dev/shm size (shared memory) across reboots. To do this, you can edit /etc/fstab, please be very careful, as any mistakes in this file will cause your system to become unbootable.

Simply add this to the bottom of the file on a new line. Be sure not to damage any other lines in the file. Adjust "64G" to whatever size you would like /dev/shm to be.

tmpfs   /dev/shm         tmpfs   nodev,nosuid,size=64G          0  0

Full node (RPC)

To install a full RPC node - follow the same steps as above, but use install_full instead of install.

Remember to adjust the config, you'll need a higher shared memory size (potentially up to 1 TB), and various plugins.

For handling requests to your full node in docker, I recommend spinning up an nginx container, and connecting nginx to the steem node using a docker network.

Example:

docker network create rpc_default
# Assuming your RPC container is called "rpc1" instead of witness/seed
docker network connect rpc_default rpc1
docker network connect rpc_default nginx

Nginx will now be able to access the container RPC1 via http://rpc1:8090 (assuming 8090 is the RPC port in your config). Then you can set up SSL and container port forwarding as needed for nginx.

Updating your Steem node

To update to a newer version of Steem, first check @someguy123's docker hub to see if a new version of Steem is uploaded. Low memory mode (witness/seed) images are tagged like "v0.20.0", while full node images are tagged as "v0.20.0-full".

Security updates may not be tagged under a specific version, instead latest/latest-full will simply show a newer "Last Updated" on docker hub.

If there is a new version available, then you can update using the following (be warned, a replay is needed in many cases):

git pull
./run.sh install
./run.sh restart

If you're updating a full node, please remember to use install_full instead of install.

If you experience issues during restart, try running replay instead. You may also want to check @someguy123's steemit for any special update instructions, such as config changes.

Checking the status of your node

You can use the logs command to see the output from steemd:

./run.sh logs

You can also connect the local wallet using:

./run.sh wallet

Be aware, you can't connect cli_wallet until your steemd has finished replaying.

Environment options

By default, run.sh will attempt to load variables from .env in the same directory as run.sh.

Anything which is not set in .env will fall back to a default value specified at the top of run.sh.

The most common .env which is recommended for witnesses is the following:

DOCKER_NAME=witness
PORTS=

The above .env file will set your docker container name to "witness", instead of the default "seed", and will also disable port forwarding, preventing exposure of the p2p port in the event you forget to turn off p2p-endpoint.

Full list of possible configuration options:

• PORTS - default 2001 - a comma separated list of ports in steemd to forward to the internet
• DOCKER_NAME - default seed - the container name to use for your steemd server
• DOCKER_DIR - default $DIR/dkr - The directory to build the low memory node docker image from
• FULL_DOCKER_DIR - default $DIR/dkr_fullnode - The directory to build the full-node RPC node docker image from
• DK_TAG - default someguy123/steem:latest - The docker tag to obtain Steem from. Useful for installing beta versions, or downgrading to previous versions.
• DK_TAG_FULL - default someguy123/steem:latest-full - The docker tag to obtain Steem (full RPC node) from. Useful for installing beta versions, or downgrading to previous versions.
• SHM_DIR - default /dev/shm - override the location of shared_memory.bin and shared_memory.meta. /dev/shm is a RAM disk on Linux, and can be adjusted with shm_size
• REMOTE_WS - default wss://steemd.privex.io - the websocket server to use for the remote_wallet command

Commands

Full list of ./run.sh commands:

• start - start a stopped steem-docker instance
• stop - shutdown a steem-docker instance
• restart - restart a steem-docker instance (will also start it if it's already stopped)
• wallet - connect to the local container wallet
• remote_wallet - connect to a remote wallet (default is wss://steemd.privex.io - @privex load balancer)
  • be aware, due to the way load balancing works, this may raise an error at first. just run it again a few times and eventually it will connect. note that external servers often have a 60 second connection limit, so you may be disconnected within 60 seconds.
• replay - replay a steem-docker instance (run stop first)
• dlblocks - download blocks from gtg (gandalf)'s block log server and install them into the blockchain directory
• shm_size (size) - change the size of /dev/shm, e.g. ./run.sh shm_size 64G for 64 gigabytes
• install - install or update the steem docker image from docker hub
• install_full - install or update the full node steem docker image from docker hub
• build - build the low memory mode version of steem into a docker image from source
• build_full - build the full node version of steem into a docker image from source
• logs - display the logs of the container with automatic follow. press ctrl-c to exit
• enter - open a bash prompt inside of the container for debugging

Steemit Post

Steemit Post for installing HF19: https://steemit.com/steem/@someguy123/your-guide-to-setting-up-a-witness-server-steem-in-a-box-hf19

LICENSE

Steem-in-a-box and the associated docker images were built by @someguy123 (github steemit twitter)

GNU Affero General Public License v3.0

SEE LICENSE FILE FOR MORE INFO