SWARM

SWARM is a management script for installing and managing a Hornet Node. It also provides the installation of a reverse proxy to allow access to the dashboard and API over HTTPS. Furthermore, there are additional functions for monitoring the node status, sync status, automatic updates and pruning the node database based on a specified memory size.

Requirements

VPS or Raspberry Pi with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
Minimum 2 cores, 4GB RAM and 40GB SSD
Own domain or ddns service (no-ip.com)

Installation

1. Download SWARM using the installer

Code

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanglebay/swarm/master/installer.sh | sudo bash -

Info: SWARM is always executed as root to have access to corresponding directories (Hornet/SWARM), as well as the service.

2. Confirm with YES that you want to start the installation

3. After SWARM has been downloaded and installed, you have the option to reboot the system. This is necessary to run SWARM with the command swarm. You can also continue without any problems and at your next system login the alias will take effect as well. In this example we choose NO.

After SWARM has been started, it is first checked whether all the necessary packages for SWARM are installed. Care has been taken to use as little additional software as possible (the following packages are required: ufw, curl, jq, nano, sponge, snap, go).

Configuration

SWARM offers a separate configuration for Hornet, Proxy and SWARM. These can be accessed via the respective menu. Special settings that are not available via the configuration of the SWARM configurations can be made, for example, for Hornet in the respective network configurations.
Important: In the case of automatic updates of Hornet, only the settings made in the configuration provided by SWARM are taken into account in a new configuration by Hornet.

Hornet.cfg

The Hornet.cfg offers you the possibility to make all important settings for your Hornet Node. These are always automatically adopted when Hornet is updated and are considered primary settings compared to the configuration files of Hornet, i.e. the Hornet.cfg configuration always overwrites the local configuration settings.

For each entry you will find a small explanation below, what it does and what it is good for.

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Variable	Parameter	Description
release	stable\|testing	The release variable specifies whether you want to run Hornet productively e.g. mainnet or e.g. for the testnet.
network	mainnet\|testnet	Here you can choose between mainnet and testnet.
nodeAlias	STRING	The node alias is used, for example, in the dashboard display and is useful for multiple nodes.
username	STRING	The username is needed to login to the dashboard.
passwordHash	STRING	The hash for the password must be created with the Hornet Tool. To do this, simply enter `hornet tool pwdhash` in the console.
passwordSalt	STRING	The salt for the password must be generated with the Hornet Tool. To do this, simply enter `hornet tool pwdhash` in the console.
pow	true\|false	Specifies whether the node should perform proof of work (remote pow).
powWorkers	NUMBER	Specifies with how many cores the node should perform the proof of work. It is recommended to set the number of cores -1.
lsDelay	NUMBER	Specifies the milestone intervals at which the node should take a snapshot of the ledger state.
dbEngine	rocksdb\|pebble\|bolt\|badger	The dbEngine offers the possibility to choose between several database types. Default is rocksdb.
autoRevalidation	true\|false	Specifies whether the node should perform an automatic check/repair of the database if the node was not terminated correctly. The duration depends on the size of the database.
pruning	true\|false	Determines whether the node should perform the database by milestones. If the dbPruner is used, this option is ignored and set to `false`.
pruningDelay	NUMBER	Specifies the maximum milestones that the node should keep before the database is pruned.
enablePlugins	STRING	Enables the activation of plugins e.g. `"mqtt,spammer"`.
disablePlugins	STRING	Allows to disable plugins e.g. `"autopeering,spammer"`.
gossipPort	NUMBER	Sets the port for the gossip for the neighbors to be connected (default=15600).
maxUnknownNeighbors	NUMBER	Sets the maximum number of unknown neighbors that are allowed to connect if they are not registered themselves. (Disabled=0)
p2pIdentity	STRING	Defines the identity of the node, e.g. for peering. If no value is stored, SWARM automatically generates a static ID. The p2pIdentity should also be saved in order to be able to restore the node ID.
validation	true\|false	Specifies whether the node should perform validation for migrations from the legacynet. This is done using the API of the Tangle Bay legacy pool.
validationLog	true\|false	Defines whether performed migrations should be logged or not.

Proxy.cfg

In the Proxy.cfg, you can simply store your own domain for the proxy. Either a personal domain is used for this or, as an example, a DDNS service.

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Variable	Parameter	Description
domain	STRING	Specifies the domain through which the node should be accessible, e.g. for the dashboard or the node API. If you don't have your own domain, you can also use a DDNS service like no-ip.com.
apiPort	NUMBER	Specifies the port through which the node dashboard and API should be accessible (default=443).

SWARM.cfg

In SWARM.cfg all settings for SWARM itself, as well as for the plugins Watchdog and dbPruner are made.

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Variable	Parameter	Description
updateNotifier	true\|false	Determines whether SWARM should be notified of available updates at startup or not.
theme	default\|hlm\|mars\|oreo\|aftereight\|smint	Defines the display of SWARM. The change is made immediately after saving.
swarmAutoUpdate	true\|false	Determines whether SWARM should update automatically in the background.
nodeUpdate	true\|false	Determines whether Watchdog should automatically update Hornet.
keepDb	true\|false	Defines whether Watchdog is allowed to delete the database in case of an error or not.
checkSync	true\|false	Determines whether Watchdog should monitor the sync status of Hornet and restart the node or reset the database (depending on the keepDB parameter).
maxLmi	NUMBER	Sets the maximum difference of milestones before Watchdog becomes active.
proxyCheck	true\|false	Determines whether Watchdog should check the status of the proxy.
logPruning	true\|false	Determines whether the log is deleted by SWARM after a specified size.
logSize	NUMBER	Sets the maximum size of the SWARM.log
maxDbSize	NUMBER	Sets the maximum database size of Hornet before pruning is performed e.g. `maxDbSize=100` which limits the database to 100GB.

Installation - Hornet

Go to the Hornet menu (item 2 - main menu)
Select 3) Hornet Installer in the menu
Select 2) Install Hornet
Select YES if you have already customized Hornet.cfg, otherwise select NO.
Wait until the installation has been performed
Now either go back to the Hornet menu to add neighbors or install the reverse proxy
(OPTIONAL) Select 1) Hornet Configuration and then 3) Peering Config.
(OPTIONAL) Enter your neighbors and then restart the node.
Your node is successfully installed and should soon be synchronized with the network

Installation - Proxy

Go to the main menu and select 3) Proxy Menu.
In the proxy menu go to 1) Proxy Configuration.
In the Proxy Configuration select the option 1) Edit proxy configuration.
Go back to the Proxy Menu
Now select 3) Proxy Installer in the proxy menu.
Start the execution with 1) Install/Deploy the proxy.
(Important! You must have adjusted the proxy.cfg before)
Now enter your email address and confirm
Accept the Terms of Service with a A and confirm
Now enter N so that your email address is not shared for services
Now select 1 or 2, the configuration will then be overwritten by SWARM
Finally, your node URL will be displayed again

Plugin - Watchdog

Go to the main menu and select 4) SWARM Menu.
Now select 2) Manage Plugins in the SWARM menu.
Now select 1) Manage Watchdog in the Manage Plugins.
Activate or deactivate Watchdog now with the corresponding selection

You can get a direct status overview in the main menu with 1) SWARM Info.

Plugin - DBPruner

Go to the main menu and select 4) SWARM Menu.
Now select 2) Manage Plugins in the SWARM menu.
Now select in the Manage Plugins 1) Manage DBPruner.
Now activate or deactivate the DBPruner with the corresponding selection

You can get a direct status overview in the main menu with 1) SWARM Info.

Security

SWARM creates firewall rules directly for the installation of Hornet and the proxy. If you want to use other ports than the ones defined by default in the configuration, you have to do this before the installation.

SWARM also offers an option to activate the firewall. Follow the steps below to do this:

Go to the main menu and select 4) SWARM Menu.
Now select 2) Manage Security in the SWARM menu.
Now select 1) Firewall in Manage Security
Now enable or disable the firewall with the appropriate selection

Important note: When the firewall is activated, all incoming traffic that is not controlled by a rule in the firewall is also prevented. For the SSH connection, the currently configured SSH port (default=22) is taken from the SSH configuration. If you change the port, you have to change the rule accordingly. If you do not do this, you can lose access to your server.

SSH

Besides the firewall, special protection of SSH access is an important factor. Here you can find a list of instructions for the setup