Run a node

Help the network: run a listening node

Every node checks every block for itself. A node that also accepts incoming connections gives new nodes somewhere to connect, which matters a lot on a young network. You don't need to mine to do this.

What it takes

Any 64-bit computer that stays on: a small server, a spare PC or a $6 cloud server.
About 1 GB of RAM for the node on its own (2 GB is comfortable), a few GB of disk, and some upload bandwidth.
Inbound TCP port 9555 reachable from the internet, or a Tor onion service.

There are no DNS seeds on TrueNorth. New nodes find the network through a short list of fixed seeds compiled into the software and then learn about other nodes from them. Every listening node you add makes that easier.

Install and start the node

Download and verify the release as described in Get started (steps 1 and 2). If this node won't hold coins, turn the wallet off. Put this in truenorth.conf in the data folder (~/.truenorth on Linux):

# Listening node, no wallet
listen=1
disablewallet=1
# Keep RPC on this machine only (these are the defaults; shown so nobody "fixes" them)
rpcbind=127.0.0.1
rpcallowip=127.0.0.1

Then start it with ./bin/truenorthd -daemon. Leave the RPC port, 9554, closed to the internet.

Open port 9555

On the machine's firewall, for example with ufw:

sudo ufw allow 9555/tcp

At home, also forward TCP 9555 on your router to this machine. On a cloud server, allow it in the provider's firewall too.

After an hour or so, check that other nodes are connecting in:

./bin/truenorth-cli getnetworkinfo | grep -E '"connections_(in|out)"'

connections_in above 0 means it's working.

Or run it over Tor

A Tor onion service hides your IP address and works behind any router without port forwarding. The node can create the onion service through Tor's control port, and it already knows the network's onion seeds. The project's Tor guide covers the setup; the short version for outbound connections is:

proxy=127.0.0.1:9050

Add onlynet=onion if the node should never use clearnet.

Going further: a public seed

A seed is a listening node with a stable address that others can point at with -addnode. It needs a static IP or a hostname, both clearnet and Tor, and good uptime. The project's public seed guide walks through it for a cloud server or a home network. One example is seed.tor.tncoin.xyz:9555.

Keep it healthy

Update when a new release comes out. Watch the releases page or our news.
Never open the RPC port to the internet, and never run a wallet with real coins on a public node.
Run the node as an ordinary user, not root.