1 Sample init scripts and service configuration for bitcoind
2 ==========================================================
4 Sample scripts and configuration files for systemd, Upstart and OpenRC
5 can be found in the contrib/init folder.
7 contrib/init/bitcoind.service: systemd service unit configuration
8 contrib/init/bitcoind.openrc: OpenRC compatible SysV style init script
9 contrib/init/bitcoind.openrcconf: OpenRC conf.d file
10 contrib/init/bitcoind.conf: Upstart service configuration file
11 contrib/init/bitcoind.init: CentOS compatible SysV style init script
14 ---------------------------------
16 All three startup configurations assume the existence of a "bitcoin" user
17 and group. They must be created before attempting to use these scripts.
20 ---------------------------------
22 At a bare minimum, bitcoind requires that the rpcpassword setting be set
23 when running as a daemon. If the configuration file does not exist or this
24 setting is not set, bitcoind will shutdown promptly after startup.
26 This password does not have to be remembered or typed as it is mostly used
27 as a fixed token that bitcoind and client programs read from the configuration
28 file, however it is recommended that a strong and secure password be used
29 as this password is security critical to securing the wallet should the
32 If bitcoind is run with "-daemon" flag, and no rpcpassword is set, it will
33 print a randomly generated suitable password to stderr. You can also
34 generate one from the shell yourself like this:
36 bash -c 'tr -dc a-zA-Z0-9 < /dev/urandom | head -c32 && echo'
38 Once you have a password in hand, set rpcpassword= in /etc/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
40 For an example configuration file that describes the configuration settings,
41 see contrib/debian/examples/bitcoin.conf.
44 ---------------------------------
46 All three configurations assume several paths that might need to be adjusted.
48 Binary: /usr/bin/bitcoind
49 Configuration file: /etc/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
50 Data directory: /var/lib/bitcoind
51 PID file: /var/run/bitcoind/bitcoind.pid (OpenRC and Upstart)
52 /var/lib/bitcoind/bitcoind.pid (systemd)
53 Lock file: /var/lock/subsys/bitcoind (CentOS)
55 The configuration file, PID directory (if applicable) and data directory
56 should all be owned by the bitcoin user and group. It is advised for security
57 reasons to make the configuration file and data directory only readable by the
58 bitcoin user and group. Access to bitcoin-cli and other bitcoind rpc clients
59 can then be controlled by group membership.
61 4. Installing Service Configuration
62 -----------------------------------
66 Installing this .service file consists of just copying it to
67 /usr/lib/systemd/system directory, followed by the command
68 "systemctl daemon-reload" in order to update running systemd configuration.
70 To test, run "systemctl start bitcoind" and to enable for system startup run
71 "systemctl enable bitcoind"
75 Rename bitcoind.openrc to bitcoind and drop it in /etc/init.d. Double
76 check ownership and permissions and make it executable. Test it with
77 "/etc/init.d/bitcoind start" and configure it to run on startup with
78 "rc-update add bitcoind"
80 4c) Upstart (for Debian/Ubuntu based distributions)
82 Drop bitcoind.conf in /etc/init. Test by running "service bitcoind start"
83 it will automatically start on reboot.
85 NOTE: This script is incompatible with CentOS 5 and Amazon Linux 2014 as they
86 use old versions of Upstart and do not supply the start-stop-daemon utility.
90 Copy bitcoind.init to /etc/init.d/bitcoind. Test by running "service bitcoind start".
92 Using this script, you can adjust the path and flags to the bitcoind program by
93 setting the BITCOIND and FLAGS environment variables in the file
94 /etc/sysconfig/bitcoind. You can also use the DAEMONOPTS environment variable here.
97 -----------------------------------
99 Auto respawning is currently only configured for Upstart and systemd.
100 Reasonable defaults have been chosen but YMMV.