nix-bitcoin/docs/install.md
2019-06-30 19:50:30 -07:00

10 KiB

Preliminary steps

Get a machine to deploy nix-bitcoin on. This could be a VirtualBox, a machine that is already running NixOS or a cloud provider. Have a look at the options in the NixOps manual.

Tutorials

  1. Install and configure NixOS for nix-bitcoin on VirtualBox
  2. Install and configure NixOS for nix-bitcoin on your own hardware

Tutorial: install and configure NixOS for nix-bitcoin on VirtualBox

1. VirtualBox installation

The following steps are meant to be run on the machine you deploy from, not the machine you deploy to.

  1. Add virtualbox.list to /etc/apt/sources.list.d (Debian 9 stretch)

    echo "deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian stretch contrib" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list
    
  2. Add Oracle VirtualBox public key

    wget https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc
    gpg2 oracle_vbox_2016.asc
    

    Proceed only if fingerprint reads B9F8 D658 297A F3EF C18D 5CDF A2F6 83C5 2980 AECF

    sudo apt-key add oracle_vbox_2016.asc
    
  3. Install virtualbox-5.2

    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install virtualbox-5.2
    
  4. Create Host Adapter in VirtualBox

    vboxmanage hostonlyif create
    

2. Nix installation

The following steps are meant to be run on the machine you deploy from, not the machine you deploy to. You can also build Nix from source by following the instructions at https://nixos.org/nix/manual/#ch-installing-source.

  1. Install Dependencies (Debian 9 stretch)

    sudo apt-get install curl git gnupg2 dirmngr
    
  2. Install latest Nix in "multi-user mode" with GPG Verification

    curl -o install-nix https://nixos.org/nix/install
    curl -o install-nix.sig https://nixos.org/nix/install.sig
    gpg2 --recv-keys B541D55301270E0BCF15CA5D8170B4726D7198DE
    gpg2 --verify ./install-nix.sig
    sh ./install-nix --daemon
    

    Then follow the instructions. Open a new terminal window when you're done.

    If you get an error similar to

    error: cloning builder process: Operation not permitted
    error: unable to start build process
    /tmp/nix-binary-tarball-unpack.hqawN4uSPr/unpack/nix-2.2.1-x86_64-linux/install: unable to install Nix into your default profile
    

    you're likely not installing as multi-user because you forgot to pass the --daemon flag to the install script.

  3. Optional: Disallow substitutes

    You can put substitute = false to your nix.conf usually found in /etc/nix/ to build the packages from source. This eliminates an attack vector where nix's build server or binary cache is compromised.

3. Nixops deployment

  1. Clone this project

    cd
    git clone https://github.com/fort-nix/nix-bitcoin
    cd ~/nix-bitcoin
    
  2. Setup environment

    nix-shell
    

    This will set up your nix-bitcoin environment and might take a while without giving an output.

  3. Create nixops deployment in nix-shell.

    nixops create network/network.nix network/network-vbox.nix -d bitcoin-node
    
  4. Adjust configuration by opening configuration.nix and removing FIXMEs. Enable/disable the modules you want in configuration.nix.

  5. Deploy Nixops in nix-shell

    nixops deploy -d bitcoin-node
    

    This will now create a nix-bitcoin node on the target machine.

  6. Resize the virtualbox disk ``` ./scripts/vbox-resize-disk1.sh

    
    NixOps provides a virtualbox disk thats 50gb in size, but we need more than that to house the Bitcoin blockchain. Make sure to run this from within your nix-shell.
    
    
  7. Nixops automatically creates an ssh key for use with nixops ssh. Access bitcoin-node through ssh in nix-shell with

    nixops ssh operator@bitcoin-node
    

See usage.md for usage instructions, such as how to update.

Tutorial: install and configure NixOS for nix-bitcoin on your own hardware

0. Preparation

  1. Optional: Make sure you have the latest firmware for your system (BIOS, microcode updates).

  2. Optional: Disable Simultaneous Multi-Threading (SMT) in the BIOS

    Researchers recommend disabling (SMT), also known as Hyper-Threading Technology in the Intel® world to significantly reduce the impact of speculative exacution-based attacks (https://mdsattacks.com/).

1. NixOS installation

This is borrowed from the NixOS manual. Look there for more information.

  1. Obtain latest NixOS. For example:

    wget https://releases.nixos.org/nixos/19.03/nixos-19.03.172538.7bb74e65365/nixos-minimal-19.03.172538.7bb74e65365-x86_64-linux.iso
    

    Alternatively you can build NixOS from source by following the instructions at https://nixos.org/nixos/manual/index.html#sec-building-cd.

  2. Write NixOS iso to install media (USB/CD). For example:

    dd if=nixos-minimal-19.03.172538.7bb74e65365-x86_64-linux.iso of=/dev/sdX
    

    Replace /dev/sdX with the correct device name. You can find this using sudo fdisk -l

  3. Boot the system

    You will have to find out if your hardware uses UEFI or Legacy Boot for the next step.

  4. Option 1: Partition and format for UEFI

    parted /dev/sda -- mklabel gpt
    parted /dev/sda -- mkpart primary 512MiB -8GiB
    parted /dev/sda -- mkpart primary linux-swap -8GiB 100%
    parted /dev/sda -- mkpart ESP fat32 1MiB 512MiB
    parted /dev/sda -- set 3 boot on
    mkfs.ext4 -L nixos /dev/sda1
    mkswap -L swap /dev/sda2
    mkfs.fat -F 32 -n boot /dev/sda3
    mount /dev/disk/by-label/nixos /mnt
    mkdir -p /mnt/boot
    mount /dev/disk/by-label/boot /mnt/boot
    swapon /dev/sda2
    
  5. Option 2: Partition and format for Legacy Boot (MBR)

    parted /dev/sda -- mklabel msdos
    parted /dev/sda -- mkpart primary 1MiB -8GiB
    parted /dev/sda -- mkpart primary linux-swap -8GiB 100%
    mkfs.ext4 -L nixos /dev/sda1
    mkswap -L swap /dev/sda2
    mount /dev/disk/by-label/nixos /mnt
    swapon /dev/sda2
    
  6. Option 3: Set up encrypted partitions:

    Follow the guide at https://gist.github.com/martijnvermaat/76f2e24d0239470dd71050358b4d5134.

  7. Generate NixOS config

    nixos-generate-config --root /mnt
    nano /mnt/etc/nixos/configuration.nix
    

    Option 1: Edit NixOS configuration for UEFI

    { config, pkgs, ... }: {
      imports = [
        # Include the results of the hardware scan.
        ./hardware-configuration.nix
      ];
    
      boot.loader.systemd-boot.enable = true;
    
      # Note: setting fileSystems is generally not
      # necessary, since nixos-generate-config figures them out
      # automatically in hardware-configuration.nix.
      #fileSystems."/".device = "/dev/disk/by-label/nixos";
    
      # Enable the OpenSSH server.
      services.openssh = {
        enable = true;
        permitRootLogin = "yes";
      };
    }
    

    Option 2: Edit NixOS configuration for Legacy Boot (MBR)

    { config, pkgs, ... }: {
      imports = [
        # Include the results of the hardware scan.
        ./hardware-configuration.nix
      ];
    
      boot.loader.grub.device = "/dev/sda"; 
    
      # Note: setting fileSystems is generally not
      # necessary, since nixos-generate-config figures them out
      # automatically in hardware-configuration.nix.
      #fileSystems."/".device = "/dev/disk/by-label/nixos";
    
      # Enable the OpenSSH server.
      services.openssh = {
        enable = true;
        permitRootLogin = "yes";
      };
    }
    
  8. Do the installation

    nixos-install
    

    Set root password

    setting root password...
    Enter new UNIX password: 
    Retype new UNIX password:
    
  9. If everything went well

    reboot
    

2. nix-bitcoin installation

On the machine you are deploying from: You can also build Nix from source by following the instructions at https://nixos.org/nix/manual/#ch-installing-source.

  1. Install Dependencies (Debian 9 stretch)

    sudo apt-get install curl git gnupg2 dirmngr
    
  2. Install Latest Nix with GPG Verification

    curl -o install-nix https://nixos.org/nix/install
    curl -o install-nix.sig https://nixos.org/nix/install.sig
    gpg2 --recv-keys B541D55301270E0BCF15CA5D8170B4726D7198DE
    gpg2 --verify ./install-nix.sig
    sh ./install-nix --daemon
    . /home/user/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d/nix.sh
    

    Then follow the instructions. Open a new terminal window when you're done.

    If you get an error similar to

    error: cloning builder process: Operation not permitted
    error: unable to start build process
    /tmp/nix-binary-tarball-unpack.hqawN4uSPr/unpack/nix-2.2.1-x86_64-linux/install: unable to install Nix into your default profile
    

    you're likely not installing as multi-user because you forgot to pass the --daemon flag to the install script.

  3. Optional: Disallow substitutes

    You can put substitute = false to your nix.conf usually found in /etc/nix/ to build the packages from source. This eliminates an attack vector where nix's build server or binary cache is compromised.

  4. Clone this project

    cd
    git clone https://github.com/fort-nix/nix-bitcoin
    cd ~/nix-bitcoin
    
  5. Create network file

    nano network/network-nixos.nix
    
    {
      bitcoin-node =
        { config, pkgs, ... }:
        { deployment.targetHost = "1.2.3.4";
        };
    }
    

    Replace 1.2.3.4 with NixOS machine's IP address.

  6. Edit configuration.nix

    nano configuration.nix
    

    Uncomment ./hardware-configuration.nix line by removing #.

  7. Create hardware-configuration.nix

    nano hardware-configuration.nix
    

    Copy contents of NixOS machine's /etc/nixos/hardware-configuration.nix to file.

  8. Add boot option to hardware-configuration.nix

    Option 1: Enable systemd boot for UEFI

    boot.loader.grub.device = "/dev/sda";
    

    Option 2: Set grub device for Legacy Boot (MBR)

    boot.loader.grub.device = "/dev/sda";

    
    
  9. Setup environment

    nix-shell
    

    This will set up your nix-bitcoin environment and might take a while without giving an output.

  10. Create nixops deployment in nix-shell.

    nixops create network/network.nix network/network-nixos.nix -d bitcoin-node
    
  11. Adjust configuration by opening configuration.nix and removing FIXMEs. Enable/disable the modules you want in configuration.nix.

  12. Deploy Nixops in nix-shell

    nixops deploy -d bitcoin-node
    

    This will now create a nix-bitcoin node on the target machine.

  13. Nixops automatically creates an ssh key for use with nixops ssh. Access bitcoin-node through ssh in nix-shell with

    nixops ssh operator@bitcoin-node
    

See usage.md for usage instructions, such as how to update.