Phase 1: OS Installation & Storage Configuration

1. Configure the 2TB NVMe: Set it as the "boot device":
   • A 1G fat32 partition mounted at /boot/efi will be automatically created.
   • Then navigate to where it says "free space" and create an ext4 partition mounted at /.
2. Configure the 4TB HDD: Create one large ext4 partition mounted at /mnt/bigdata.

Phase 2: Initial Server Setup

1. Update System & Install Tools:

   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
   sudo apt install -y ufw fail2ban unattended-upgrades tmux gpg ufw
   

2. Configure Firewall:

   sudo ufw allow ssh
   sudo ufw allow 8333    # Bitcoin P2P
   sudo ufw enable
   

Phase 3: Bitcoin Core v30.0 Installation & Verification

# Set the version for easy updates in the future
BITCOIN_VERSION=30.0

cd ~
wget https://bitcoincore.org/bin/bitcoin-core-${BITCOIN_VERSION}/bitcoin-${BITCOIN_VERSION}-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz
wget https://bitcoincore.org/bin/bitcoin-core-${BITCOIN_VERSION}/SHA256SUMS
wget https://bitcoincore.org/bin/bitcoin-core-${BITCOIN_VERSION}/SHA256SUMS.asc

# Import developers' GPG keys
gpg --keyserver hkps://keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys \
  01EA5486DE18A882D4C2684590C8019E36C2E964 \
  F46018499914761321051F335338D04620E89B4B

# Verify the signature on the hash file
gpg --verify SHA256SUMS.asc SHA256SUMS

# Check your download against the trusted hash
sha256sum --check --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS

tar -zxvf bitcoin-${BITCOIN_VERSION}-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz
sudo mv bitcoin-${BITCOIN_VERSION}/bin/* /usr/local/bin/

Phase 4: Configuration (bitcoin.conf)

1. Create the Bitcoin directory:

   mkdir -p ~/.bitcoin
   

2. Create and edit the config file:

   nano ~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
   

3. Paste the following configuration:

   # --- Bitcoin Core Config ---
   # For a node serving Fulcrum and Ashigaru.
   
   [Network]
   server=1
   txindex=1
   
   [Node]
   prune=0
   
   [RPC]
   # Bind to localhost and set credentials for your indexers
   # Fulcrum/Ashigaru are NOT compatible with rpcauth, use rpcpassword
   rpcbind=127.0.0.1
   rpcport=8332
   rpcuser=satoshis
   rpcpassword=REPLACE_THIS_WITH_A_VERY_STRONG_RANDOM_PASSWORD
   
   [ZMQ (ZeroMQ)]
   # Required for real-time updates to indexers
   zmqpubrawblock=tcp://127.0.0.1:28332
   zmqpubrawtx=tcp://127.0.0.1:28333
   
   [Wallet & GUI]
   disablewallet=1
   
   [Performance]
   # Use 4GB (4096MB) of your 24GB RAM as a cache
   # This will dramatically speed up the IBD
   dbcache=4096
   

Phase 5: Launching the IBD with tmux

1. Start a New tmux Session:

   tmux new -s bitcoin
   

2. Launch bitcoind:
   • Run the daemon in the foreground. This will pipe all log output directly to your tmux window (acting just like tail -f).

     /usr/local/bin/bitcoind -datadir=$HOME/.bitcoin
     

   • Or run the daemon in the background if you prefer.

     bitcoind -daemon
     

3. Monitor and Detach: You will see the node connect to peers and begin downloading blocks.
   To check the sync status, you'll need to open a new SSH terminal (or a new tmux window with Ctrl+b, c). In that new terminal, run:

   bitcoin-cli getblockchaininfo
   

   Look at the verificationprogress field. It will climb towards 1.0 (which is 100%).
   To detach from your logging session (leaving it running), press Ctrl+b then d. You can now safely log out.
4. Re-attaching and Monitoring (After Detaching): To check on the sync later, SSH back in and run:
   • tmux attach -t bitcoin (to see the live log again)
   • bitcoin-cli getblockchaininfo (to get a clean status report)
   • tail -f ~/.bitcoin/debug.log (if you prefer to watch the log outside of tmux)

Phase 6: Transitioning to a systemd Service (Post-IBD)

1. Stop the Node Gracefully: Re-attach to your session (tmux attach -t bitcoin) and stop the daemon.

   bitcoin-cli stop
   

   Wait for the process to exit, then type exit to close the tmux session.
2. Create the systemd Service File:

   sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/bitcoind.service
   

3. Paste the Service Configuration: Note: Inside a systemd unit file, we must use the full, hardcoded path. Variables like $HOME or ~/ will not work because the service runs in a non-interactive context. I have updated all paths to use your correct home directory: /home/satoshis.

   [Unit]
   Description=Bitcoin Daemon
   After=network-online.target
   Wants=network-online.target
   
   [Service]
   # Run as your 'satoshis' user
   User=satoshis
   Group=satoshis
   
   Type=forking
   PIDFile=/home/satoshis/.bitcoin/bitcoind.pid
   
   # Specify the command to start bitcoind in daemon mode
   ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/bitcoind -daemon \
                               -pid=/home/satoshis/.bitcoin/bitcoind.pid \
                               -conf=/home/satoshis/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf \
                               -datadir=/home/satoshis/.bitcoin
   
   Restart=on-failure
   RestartSec=30
   TimeoutStopSec=600
   
   # Hardening
   PrivateTmp=true
   ProtectSystem=full
   NoNewPrivileges=true
   PrivateDevices=true
   MemoryDenyWriteExecute=true
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target
   

4. Launch Your Node:

   sudo systemctl daemon-reload
   sudo systemctl enable --now bitcoind
   

5. Verify:

   journalctl -fu bitcoind
   

   Press Ctrl+C to stop following the log.
6. Quick Health Check:

   sudo systemctl status bitcoind
   

7. Progress Bar:

   bitcoin-cli getblockchaininfo
   

   This will return a block of JSON data. Look for the "verificationprogress" field. Since your node is already synced, this value should be 1.0 (or very close to it), confirming you are at the chain tip.
8. Raw Log:

   tail -f ~/.bitcoin/debug.log
   

   This shows you the raw, detailed application log from Bitcoin Core itself. You will see it connect to peers, validate transactions, and announce new blocks as they are found. Just like with journalctl, press Ctrl+C to stop following the log.