Advanced usage

• Installing the timelord on Debian / Ubuntu
• How to set up private RPC server on Debian / Ubuntu

Installing the timelord on Debian / Ubuntu

1. To run a timelord, you need a synchronized BPX Chain full node. If you don't have it already, follow the steps of this tutorial first.

2. The timelord software is not included in official binary .deb / .rpm releases. You have to build it from the source code. Login as root and install the git client first.

apt-get install git

3. The timelord installer script requires root access to install some dependencies from APT repositories. Add BPX services user to sudoers by the following command:

usermod -a -G sudo bpxv3

4. Now it's time to switch to BPX services user:

su - bpxv3

4. Fetch the source code of the latest Beacon Client release:

git clone https://github.com/bpx-network/bpx-beacon-client

5. Install the Beacon Client from the source. This may take several minutes.

cd bpx-beacon-client
. install.sh

6. Install the timelord software:

. install-timelord.sh

7. Press Control + D to log out and return to the root console.

8. Create the timelord service descriptor file:

nano /etc/systemd/system/bpx-timelord.service

Insert the following file content:

[Unit]
Description=BPX Timelord

[Service]
Type=forking
User=bpxv3
WorkingDirectory=/home/bpxv3/bpx-beacon-client
ExecStart=bash -c ". activate && bpx start timelord-launcher-only timelord-only"
ExecStop=bash -c ". activate && bpx stop timelord-only timelord-launcher-only"
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save the file by pressing Control + O and close the editor with Control + X.

9. Refresh startup services configuration

systemctl daemon-reload

10. Activate automatic startup of timelord service

systemctl enable bpx-timelord

Regular timelord

If you want to run a regular timelord used by BPX consensus algorithm for generating new blocks, just start the timelord with default configuration: 

systemctl start bpx-timelord

Bluebox timelord

To run the bluebox timelord which compresses old blocks in the chain, you need to edit the configuration file:

nano /home/bpxv3/.bpx/beacon/config/config.yaml

• In the timelord section, set bluebox_mode to True
• In the beacon section, set send_uncompact_interval to recommended value of 300

Save the file and exit. Then start the timelord:

systemctl start bpx-timelord

How to set up private RPC server on Debian / Ubuntu

1. Set up and sync your BPX Chain full node following this guide. When creating the execution client systemd service, add some new parameters to the geth command line:

ExecStart=bpx-geth --syncmode snap --http --http.api web3,eth,net --http.corsdomain "*"

• --http.api web3,eth,net makes only safe APIs available to the public: web3, eth and net, meanwhile it blocks access to dangerous RPC methods, e.g. admin or personal
• --http.corsdomain "*" allows your RPC endpoint to be used in dApps in all domains

If you want your RPC endpoint to provide archive data also, replace the mentioned line to the following one:

ExecStart=bpx-geth --syncmode full --gcmode archive --http --http.api web3,eth,net --http.corsdomain "*"

2. Create an A record in your domain DNS zone and point it to your BPX full node IP address.

BPX developers recommendation: all private RPC endpoints should be named bpx-dataseed, so if your domain is yourdomain.com, please name your RPC server bpx-dataseed.yourdomain.com.

3. Install nginx HTTP server and certbot:

apt-get install nginx python3-certbot-nginx

4. Configure nginx as a reverse proxy for Geth:

nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/bpx-dataseed.yourdomain.com

upstream geth {
        least_conn;
        server 127.0.0.1:8545;
}

server {
        server_name bpx-dataseed.yourdomain.com;

        location / {
                proxy_pass http://geth;
        }
}

Save file and exit.

5. Enable site and restart nginx:

ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/bpx-dataseed.yourdomain.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/bpx-dataseed.yourdomain.com
systemctl restart nginx

6. Obtain a free SSL certificate from Letsencrypt to enable HTTPS:

certbot --nginx -d bpx-dataseed.yourdomain.com

During the certbot wizard, provide your e-mail address for notifications related to the certificate, then select the option to redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS.

7. Done. Test your RPC endpoint by adding https://bpx-dataseed.yourdomain.com instead of the public RPC address in your wallet, e.g. Metamask. Let the BPX developers know that you host your own RPC endpoint. If it works stably for a few months, we will post information about it on our website and social media.