Installation of Flo-ElectrumX Server

How to Install an ElectrumX Server for FLO

 

Before you start, make sure to install a FLO Core Wallet node first and set at least the following minimum options in flo.conf:

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

If you already have FLO Core Wallet node installed, you need to reindex the blockchain:

When running flo-qt it should be enough to just close and reopen the wallet. It will reindex the chain automatically. 

1. Install LevelDB

 sudo apt-get install python3-leveldb libleveldb-dev

2. Install Python 3.6

The latest Ubuntu only comes with Python 3.5. You will have to install the newer version from a 3rd party repository:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jonathonf/python-3.6
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install python3.6 python3.6-dev

Set Python 3.6 as default python 3

Check the default python3 version using the command

python3 --version

If the version in 3.6 then skip to next step, else set python 3.6 as default python 3 as follows :

Run the command :

sudo update-alternatives --config python3

If it shows you this error:

update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for python3 

You need to update your update-alternatives , then you will be able to set your default python version.

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python3 python3 /usr/bin/python3.5 1
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python3 python3 /usr/bin/python3.6 2

Then run :

sudo update-alternatives --config python3 

Set python3.6 as default for python3.

Check the default python3 version using the command

python3 --version

Install required Python packages

You will also need to install some Python 3.6 dependencies for ElectrumX.
Let's first upgrade setuptools:

pip3 install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel

then install some required packages:

pip3 install aiohttp pylru leveldb plyvel

If the above command gives you an error, try installing it with sudo (try to avoid it as much as possible, though).

 3. Install and set up ElectrumX

Clone the ElectrumX code from a GitHub repository using git:

git clone https://github.com/bitspill/flo-electrumx.git
cd flo-electrumx

Run the installation script (use sudo if it doesn't work):

python3 setup.py install

Next, create a data folder where the blockchain data will be stored:
mkdir ~/.electrumx

4. Create a self-signed certificate

To allow Electrum wallets to connect to your server over SSL you need to create a self-signed certificate.

Go to the data folder:

cd ~/.electrumx 

and generate your key:

openssl genrsa -des3 -passout pass:x -out server.pass.key 2048
openssl rsa -passin pass:x -in server.pass.key -out server.key
rm server.pass.key
openssl req -new -key server.key -out server.csr

Follow the on-screen information. It will ask for certificate details such as your country and password. You can leave those fields empty.
When done, create a certificate:

openssl x509 -req -days 1825 -in server.csr -signkey server.key -out server.crt

These commands will create 2 files: server.key and server.crt.
When configuring the ElectrumX instance, make sure to add server.key to SSL_KEYFILE and server.crt to SSL_CERTFILE. More on this in the next step.

5. Launch ElectrumX as service

First, make sure a fully validating Florincoin node is running:

flo-cli getinfo

(or) 

python3 ~/flo-electrumx/electrumx_rpc.py getinfo

It should output information about your node such as block height, open connections etc.
If it doesn't, run the node (flo-qt) first.

Most if not all Debian-based distribution use Systemd by default. Make sure that is the case for your system:

sudo stat /proc/1/exe | grep systemd

If it outputs something like File: '/proc/1/exe' -> '/lib/systemd/systemd' you're good to go.
Open a sudo session and copy a service file from the ElectrumX repo to your Systemd directory:

sudo -s
cp ~/source/electrumx/contrib/systemd/electrumx.service /lib/systemd/system/

Edit the file to match your setup:

vim /lib/systemd/system/electrumx.service

Press i and start editing.
You need to edit at least ExecStart and User variables.

ExecStart=/home/<username>/flo-electrumx/electrumx_server.py
User=<username>

When you're happy with the changes, hit ESC and type :wqa followed by ENTER.
Create a configuration file for the server:

touch /etc/electrumx.conf
vim /etc/electrumx.conf

and configure it according to your environment.
Please refer to ElectrumX's documentation. For sample see below :
COIN = Flo
DAEMON_URL = http://<rpcuserName>:<rpcPassword>@localhost:7313/
DB_DIRECTORY = /home/<username>/.electrumx/
DB_ENGINE = leveldb
USERNAME = <username>
ELECTRUMX = /home/<username>/flo-electrumx/electrumx_server.py
HOST = 0.0.0.0
ANON_LOGS = xx.xx.xx.xx:xxx
CACHE_MB = 1800
MAX_SESSIONS = 500
SSL_CERTFILE = /home/<username>/.electrumx/server.crt
SSL_KEYFILE = /home/<username>/.electrumx/server.key
SSL_PORT = 50002
TCP_PORT = 50001
(make sure <rpcuserName> and <rpcPassword> are same as in flo.conf)
Now you can start ElectrumX using systemctl:

systemctl start electrumx

You can use journalctl to check the log output:

journalctl -u electrumx -f

If it gives you no errors, enable the service and start ElectrumX at boot:

systemctl enable electrumx

The  logs output will update continuously every minute  so  press Ctrl+z to stop logs.