Prerequisites.
- Completed “Dojo Node Guide,” Part 1.
- Bitcoin Core IBD Complete.
Introduction #
After fully synchronizing Bitcoin Core, installing an Electrum indexer, which ensures compatibility with all Electrum-based Bitcoin wallets, is the next step.
Connecting wallets directly to a personal Electrum server, rather than Core, provides vast security improvements since Core stores balances and public keys unencrypted on the local device.
The Fulcrum Electrum indexer has a larger footprint than other indexers; however, its performance is unmatched once fully synchronized.
Download & Verify Fulcrum #
Go to the downloads directory.
cd ~/downloads
Visit Fulcrum’s Github page in a browser and copy the link for the latest “x86_64-linux.tar.gz” file. At the time of writing, the most recent version is 1.9.8.
Download Fulcrum.
torsocks wget https://github.com/cculianu/Fulcrum/releases/download/v1.9.8/Fulcrum-1.9.8-x86_64-linux.tar.gz
Download the releases “asc” file.
torsocks wget https://github.com/cculianu/Fulcrum/releases/download/v1.9.8/Fulcrum-1.9.8-shasums.txt.asc
Download the release’s sha256sum file.
torsocks wget https://github.com/cculianu/Fulcrum/releases/download/v1.9.8/Fulcrum-1.9.8-shasums.txt
Verify Fulcrum’s checksum.
sha256sum -c --ignore-missing Fulcrum-*-shasums.txt
The output should provide an “OK” message, for example:- “Fulcrum-0.0.0-x86_64-linux.tar.gz: OK.”
Import Fulcrum’s developer’s public key from the official GitHub repository.
torsocks curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Electron-Cash/keys-n-hashes/master/pubkeys/calinkey.txt | gpg --import
Verify the signatures match.
gpg --verify Fulcrum-*-shasums.txt.asc
The output should read “Good signature from Calin Culianu.”
Do not worry about the “This key is not certified with a trusted signature!” warning. Enhanced trust levels have not been manually set for the imported key.
Remove the verification files.
rm Fulcrum-*-shasums.txt && rm Fulcrum-*-shasums.txt.asc
Folder Preparation #
Create a “fulcrum” directory.
mkdir ~/fulcrum
Create a “fulcrum_db” directory.
mkdir ~/fulcrum_db
Unpackage the archive.
tar xvf Fulcrum-*-x86_64-linux.tar.gz
Move the contents to the “fulcrum” directory.
mv Fulcrum-*-x86_64-linux/* /home/satoshi/fulcrum
Remove the leftover folder.
rm -r Fulcrum-*-x86_64-linux
Remove the archive.
rm Fulcrum-*-x86_64-linux.tar.gz
Enter the “fulcrum” directory.
cd ~/fulcrum
SSL #
Generate a new SSL key. Hit enter on the prompts, leaving all at default.
openssl req -newkey rsa:2048 -new -nodes -x509 -days 3650 -keyout key.pem -out cert.pem
Configuration #
Rename the default fulcrum configuration file.
mv fulcrum-example-config.conf fulcrum.conf
Open the “fulcrum.conf” file.
nano fulcrum.conf
Edit the following lines as shown.
####change
datadir = /path/to/a/dir # Windows: datadir = D:\FulcrumData\mainnet
##to
datadir = /home/satoshi/fulcrum_db # Windows: datadir = D:\FulcrumData\mainnet
####edit to your core rpc username & password
rpcuser = Bob_The_Banker
rpcpassword = hunter1
####uncomment the following line
#ssl = 0.0.0.0:50002
##like so
ssl = 0.0.0.0:50002
####uncomment & edit the following lines
#cert = /path/to/server-cert.pem
#key = /path/to/server-key.pem
#peering = true
##like so
cert = /home/satoshi/fulcrum/cert.pem
key = /home/satoshi/fulcrum/key.pem
peering = false
###uncomment & edit the following line
#fast-sync = 0
##like so
fast-sync = 2000
Save and exit the file.
Service File #
Create a service file to start Fulcrum on system boot.
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/fulcrum.service
Paste the following lines, then save and exit the service file.
[Unit]
Description=Fulcrum
After=network.target
[Service]
ExecStart=/home/satoshi/fulcrum/Fulcrum /home/satoshi/fulcrum/fulcrum.conf
User=satoshi
LimitNOFILE=8192
TimeoutStopSec=30min
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
Enable the service file.
sudo systemctl enable fulcrum.service
Start Fulcrum.
sudo systemctl start fulcrum.service
Before continuing, wait until the Fulcrum sync has been completed. The device’s power supply must remain uninterrupted during this process, or the Fulcrum database may corrupt.
Monitor Fulcrum’s sync progress using the following command from the home directory. The sync is completed once the logs begin displaying the latest Mempool data.
journalctl -fu fulcrum.service
Local wallet connections to Fulcrum are made by adding the node’s local IP and SSL port into the address field of your wallet settings, for example;
ssl://192.168.1.100:50002
Tor Connections #
Further lines must be added to the “torcc” file to configure Fulcrum with Tor.
sudo nano /etc/tor/torrc
Paste the following at the top of the file.
# Hidden Service Fulcrum
HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/hidden_service_fulcrum/
HiddenServiceVersion 3
HiddenServicePort 50002 127.0.0.1:50002
Save and exit the file, then reload Tor.
sudo systemctl reload tor
Fulcrum’s Tor address can be requested with the following command.
sudo cat /var/lib/tor/hidden_service_fulcrum/hostname
Remote wallet connections to the Fulcrum server can be made using the server’s onion address and port number, as shown in the example below.
https://78aqvahpe6pjachf6nxroyr76gecku6nqoyngkj49r63n3twm6jpisyd.onion:50002