Evonode Setup#

Setting up an Evolution masternode requires a basic understanding of Linux and blockchain technology, as well as an ability to follow instructions closely. It also requires regular maintenance and careful security, particularly if you are not storing your Dash on a hardware wallet. There are some decisions to be made along the way, and optional extra steps to take for increased security.

Commercial masternode hosting services are available if you prefer to delegate day-to-day operation of your evonode to a professional operator. When using these hosting services, you retain full control of the DASH collateral and pay an agreed percentage of your reward to the operator. It is also possible to delegate your voting keys to a representative, see the governance documentation for more information.

Before you begin#

This guide assumes you are setting up a single mainnet Evolution masternode for the first time. If you are updating a masternode, see here instead. You will need:

4000 Dash
A wallet to store your Dash, preferably a hardware wallet, although Dash Core wallet is also supported
A Linux server, preferably a Virtual Private Server (VPS)

For information about hosted masternodes, see the documentation listed below:

This documentation describes the Dash Core commands as if they were entered in the GUI by opening the console from Window > Console, but the same result can be achieved on a masternode by entering the same commands and adding the prefix ~/.dashcore/dash-cli to each command.

Server configuration#

Proper server configuration is essential to successful masternode operation for both security and performance reasons. Refer to the Server configuration page for details on preparing your server to host a masternode.

Once you have completed server configuration, complete the remaining steps in the sections below to finish setting up your evonode or follow along with this step-by-step tutorial.

Send the collateral#

A Dash address with a single unspent transaction output (UTXO) of exactly 4000 DASH is required to operate an Evolution masternode. Once it has been sent, various keys regarding the transaction must be extracted for later entry in a configuration file and registration transaction as proof to write the configuration to the blockchain so the Evolution masternode can be included in the deterministic list.

A masternode can be registered from a hardware wallet or the official Dash Core wallet, although a hardware wallet is highly recommended to enhance security and protect yourself against hacking. This guide will describe the steps for both hardware wallets and Dash Core.

Option 1: Holding collateral in a hardware wallet#

Set up your Trezor using the Trezor wallet at https://wallet.trezor.io/ and send a test transaction to verify that it is working properly. For help on this, see this guide - you may also choose to (carefully!) add a passphrase to your Trezor to further protect your collateral. Create a new account in your Trezor wallet by clicking Add account. Then click the Receive tab and send exactly 4000 DASH to the address displayed. If you are setting up multiple masternodes, send to consecutive addresses within the same new account. You should see the transaction as soon as the first confirmation arrives, usually within a few minutes.

../../../_images/setup-collateral-trezor.png — Trezor Wallet Receive tab showing successfully received collateral#

Once the transaction appears, click the QR code on the right to view the transaction on the blockchain. Keep this window open as we complete the following steps, since we will soon need to confirm that 15 confirmations exist, as shown in the following screenshot.

../../../_images/setup-collateral-blocks.png — Trezor blockchain explorer showing 15 confirmations for collateral transfer#

While we are waiting for 15 confirmations, download the latest version of the Dash Masternode Tool (DMT) from the GitHub releases page. Unzip and run the file. The following window appears.

../../../_images/setup-collateral-dmt-start.png — Dash Masternode Tool startup screen#

Click the third button from the left Check Dash Network Connection in the top left corner of the main window to verify that the connection is working. Then connect your Trezor device and click the next button Test Hardware Wallet Connection to verify the Trezor connection is working.

../../../_images/setup-collateral-connection.png

../../../_images/setup-collateral-hardware.png — Dash Masternode Tool successful connection confirmations#

We will now use DMT to enter some basic information about the masternode and extract the transaction ID. First, click add a new one or click MN actions and select Add New Masternode Entry…. Carry out the following sequence of steps as shown in the screenshot:

Enter a name for your masternode. The host name you specified for your VPS above is a good choice.
Select which masternode type you are setting up.
Enter the IP address of your masternode. This was given to you by the VPS provider when you set up the server. Then enter the TCP port number. This should be 9999 for mainnet.
Click Locate collateral to view unused collateral funding transactions available on the connected hardware wallet. Select the address to which you sent the collateral and click Apply. The Collateral address, path, Collateral TX hash and index fields should be filled automatically.

../../../_images/setup-collateral-dmt-ready.png — Dash Masternode Tool with masternode configuration#

Leave DMT open and continue with the next step: Software Installation.

Option 2: Holding collateral in Dash Core wallet#

Attention

Storing your collateral in a Dash Core wallet is not recommended. Using a hardware wallet is highly recommended to enhance security and protect yourself against hacking. Only proceed with using Dash Core if you understand the risks.

Masternode Installation#

Dash Platform will include multiple services that must be configured properly for an Evolution masternode to operate correctly. A dashmate-based installation is recommended to ensure your configuration is functional.

Dashmate installation#

Dashmate is a universal tool designed to help you set up and run Dash nodes in a containerized environment. It is based on Docker technology and features an interactive setup command. Dashmate handles the installation of Dash Core, as well as all dependencies and supporting services. See this dashmate documentation for more information.

Open PuTTY or a console again and connect to the server using the username and password you just created for your new, non-root user. Begin by installing dashmate dependencies:

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh && sh ./get-docker.sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

Download the dashmate installation package for your CPU architecture from the GitHub releases page and install it using apt:

wget https://github.com/dashpay/platform/releases/download/v1.3.1/dashmate_1.3.1.ebe01a0f8-1_amd64.deb
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ./dashmate_1.3.1.ebe01a0f8-1_amd64.deb

Note

At the end of the installation process, apt may display an error due to installing a downloaded package. You can ignore this error message:

N: Download is performed unsandboxed as root as file '/home/ubuntu/dashmate_1.3.1.ebe01a0f8-1_amd64.deb' couldn't be accessed by user '_apt'. - pkgAcquire::Run (13: Permission denied)

Alternative installation options are available on the dashmate page.

Continue with the Registration step to setup the collateral, keys and construct the ProTx transaction required to enable your masternode.

Register your masternode#

The keys required for the different masternode roles are described briefly under Masternode Concepts in this documentation.

Option 1: Registering from a hardware wallet#

Go back to DMT and ensure that all fields from the previous step are still filled out correctly. Click Generate new for the private keys required for the masternode:

Owner private key
Operator private key
Voting private key
Platform Node private key (evonodes only)

For evonodes, click the button beside the Platform P2P port and Platform HTTP port fields to set the default values.

Click Apply changes when these fields have been set.

../../../_images/setup-dmt-full.png — Dash Masternode Tool ready to register a new masternode#

Then click MN actions and select Register masternode. Optionally specify a different Payout address and/or Operator reward, then click Continue.

Important

Assigning a payout address from a non-hardware wallet like Dash Core is recommended for the initial release of Dash Platform. Currently, the Dash Masternode Tool does not support the credit withdraw process that will be used to transfer Dash Platform rewards.

Select Remote Dash RPC Node (automatic method). (For details about using your own local RPC node, see the Dash Masternode Tool documentation.) Confirm the following two messages:

../../../_images/setup-dmt-sent.png — Dash Masternode Tool confirmation dialogs to register a masternode#

Complete server configuration#

At this point the masternode registration is complete, but the BLS private key must be added to the server so it can become operational. The BLS key allows the masternode to watch the blockchain for relevant Pro*Tx transactions, and will cause it to start serving as a masternode when the signed ProRegTx is broadcast by the owner, as we just did above.

Take note of your BLS private key and then proceed with the relevant instructions below.

Dashmate#

For dashmate-based masternodes, enter the BLS private key during the initial dashmate setup process. Run the dashmate setup wizard on your server:

dashmate setup

Select the network and masternode type. Select Yes when asked if your masternode is already registered since this was done earlier in the section.

Enter the BLS private key and the Platform node key from DMT when requested by dashmate.

Dashmate will automatically detect the external IP address and select the default ports for the network you are setting up. You can modify these values if necessary for a specific reason, but typically the defaults should be used.

Once the dashmate wizard has completed successfully, start your node as follows:

dashmate start

You can manage your masternode status, configuration, and running state entirely from within dashmate. See the dashmate node operation documentation for details.

Option 2: Registering from dashmate#

Attention

For mainnet masternodes, it highly is recommended to store the collateral on a hardware wallet and use the Dash Masternode Tool to register as described in Option 1: Registering from a hardware wallet.

Dashmate can assist with masternode registration by requesting the parameters necessary to construct a valid protx command that can be sent from Dash Core. This option is most useful for setting up testnet masternodes where the collateral is stored in Dash Core rather than a hardware wallet.

Collect required information#

Prior to running the dashmate setup wizard you should obtain the collateral transaction info and the owner, voting, and payout addresses for the new evonode. For example, use Dash Core to generate the addresses as described in the Get masternode addresses section.

Run the setup wizard#

To begin masternode setup, run dashmate setup to start the interactive wizard:

dashmate setup

You will be prompted to select a network, node type, IP address and BLS private key. When setting up an unregistered masternode, you will also be prompted for the collateral transaction information and owner, voting, and payout addresses.

Enter the requested information or accept the detected/generated defaults. For an example showing all steps of the setup wizard, refer to the dashmate section.

Submit the ProRegTx#

The dashmate wizard will output a command you can use to submit the provider registration special transaction that registers the masternode on the network. Copy the provided protx command and run it using dash-cli or the Dash Core console.

../../../_images/10b-protx-command-successful.png — Registration command#

Start the node#

Once the dashmate wizard has completed successfully, start your node as follows:

dashmate start

You can manage your masternode status, configuration, and running state entirely from within dashmate. See the dashmate node operation documentation for details.

Option 3: Registering from Dash Core wallet#

Attention

If you prefer managing the collateral and keys using Dash Core, the following sections show how to generate and retrieve information that may be required by dashmate or the Dash Masternode Tool.

Identify the funding transaction#

If you used an address in Dash Core wallet for your collateral transaction, you now need to find the txid of the transaction. Click Window > Console and enter the following command:

masternode outputs

This should return a string of characters similar to the following:

{
"16347a28f4e5edf39f4dceac60e2327931a25fdee1fb4b94b63eeacf0d5879e3-1",
}

The first long string is your collateralHash, while the last number is the collateralIndex.

Generate a BLS key pair#

A public/private BLS key pair is required to operate a masternode. The private key is specified on the masternode itself, and allows it to be included in the deterministic masternode list once a provider registration transaction with the corresponding public key has been created.

If you are using a hosting service, they may provide you with their public key, and you can skip this step. If you are hosting your own masternode or have agreed to provide your host with the BLS private key, generate a BLS public/private keypair in Dash Core by clicking Tools > Console and entering the following command:

bls generate

{
  "secret": "6d93ececa9993d9f1de4f3ae837115442a48a8e4c757ebb6261090af2f57547b",
  "public": "b4dfbe01becd50c9d754c3b87f9d6728f3bff30b8b820f894e1fd249fd11aa27b0b4145ad550cbc35e9796e60329ad0a",
  "scheme": "basic"
}

Warning

These keys are NOT stored by the wallet and must be backed up and kept secure.

Generate a Platform Node ID#

The following command will generate new P2P key using Tenderdash and display it on the screen:

docker run --entrypoint /usr/bin/tenderdash --rm -ti dashpay/tenderdash gen-node-key

{"id":"1e8e241c05ca350c8fe0b8ba4680e7652673dae2","priv_key": ...

Save the value contained in the id field for use as your platformNodeID.

Alternatively, the following commands can be used generate P2P key, save it to privkey.pem, and generate platformNodeID in hex format:

openssl genpkey -algorithm ed25519 -out privkey.pem
openssl pkey -in privkey.pem -noout  -text_pub |tail -n +3 | tr -d '[:space:]' | xxd -r -p| sha256sum | head -c 40

1e8e241c05ca350c8fe0b8ba4680e7652673dae2

Warning

These keys are NOT stored by the wallet and must be backed up and kept secure.

Get masternode addresses#

Owner address#

First, we need to get a new, unused address from the wallet to serve as the owner key address (ownerKeyAddr). This is not the same as the collateral address holding 4000 Dash. Generate a new address as follows:

getnewaddress

yfgxFhqrdDG15ZWKJAN6dQvn6dZdgBPAip

Voting address#

This address can also be used as the voting key address (votingKeyAddr). Alternatively, you can specify an address provided to you by your chosen voting delegate, or simply generate a new voting key address as follows:

getnewaddress

yfRaZN8c3Erpqj9iKnmQ9QDBeUuRhWV3Mg

Payout address#

Then either generate or choose an existing address to receive the owner’s masternode payouts (payoutAddress). It is also possible to use an address external to the wallet:

getnewaddress

yjZVt49WsQd6XSrPVAUGXtJccxviH9ZQpN

Upgrade Core-only evonode#

There are three options to proceed with upgrading an existing Core-only evonode to support Platform. Please choose one which is suitable for you:

Upgrade an existing dashmate node. If you already have a dashmate-based evonode that meets the minimum system requirements, you just need to update dashmate and obtain SSL certificates. You can upgrade from dashmate v0.25 or dashmate v1.0.
Set up a dashmate node on a new host. If you are running an evonode with dashd on a host that does not meet the minimum system requirements, we recommend setting up a new server and migrating your evonode to it. Consider the following details when evaluating this option:
- You will need to set up a new server and keep the existing and new servers running while Core is syncing on the new server.
- You must either be able to move your current public IP to the new server or update the IP address using a ProUpServTx update.
- Your existing node will continue to operate while you set up the new server, so any problems with the new node will not affect the existing one.
- This is a good opportunity to upgrade the OS and software to current versions.
Set up a dashmate node on your existing host. If you prefer to install dashmate on the same server as your existing node, make sure you have enough disk space to store two copies of the Core blockchain at the same time during the migration (for about 10 mins).

Prerequisites#

ARM64 or x86-64 Linux host (Ubuntu is recommended) that meets the minimum requirements
Public IPv4 address
Network configuration (firewall, security groups) allowing public access to the following TCP ports:
- 9999/tcp
- 443/tcp
- 26656/tcp
- 80/tcp (if you are going to use ZeroSSL)
Backup of any existing Dash Core and dashmate configuration data, including private keys
ZeroSSL API access key or SSL certificate for the public IPv4 address (not DNS name)

SSL certificates#

There are two ways to get SSL certificates:

Register for the ZeroSSL service and set your API key. Since ZeroSSL provides an API, dashmate can update your certificates automatically. The free plan only provides 3 free certificates (or 3 renewals of 1 certificate). Other plans require paying with a credit card. You can get an API key for dashmate by completing the following steps:
- Register on https://zerossl.com/. We recommend not using your personal email address.
- Log in and click Developer on the left sidebar.
- Copy your ZeroSSL API key to provide to dashmate later. Do not create a “New certificate”.
ZeroSSL Developer tab showing the API key#
Obtain SSL certificates for your IP address using any available provider and upload the certificate files to your server. SSL Dragon and SuperbitHost are two options that accept cryptocurrency.

Please make sure that the certificate chain file contains your server certificate at the top and intermediate/root certificates if present. If a bundle file is present, you need to concatenate it with the certificate file:
```
cat certificate.crt bundle.crt > full_chain.crt
```
Verify the validity of the private key and certificate chain by running these commands:
```
openssl rsa -noout -modulus -in private.key | openssl md5
openssl x509 -noout -modulus -in bundle.crt | openssl md5
```
The output of these two commands should be the same.