VPS Setup & Configuration

We aim for Nym Network to be reliable and quality base layer of privacy accross the globe, while growing as distributed as possible. It's essential to have a fine tuned machine as a foundation for the nodes to meet the requirements and be rewarded for their work.

VPS Hardware Specs

You will need to rent a VPS to run your node on. One key reason for this is that your node must be able to send TCP data using both IPv4 and IPv6 (as other nodes you talk to may use either protocol).

Tor community created a very helpful table called Good Bad ISPs (opens in a new tab), you can use that one as a guideline for your choice of ISP for your VPS.

Update: Nym community started an ISP table called Where to host your nym node?, check it out and add your findings!

nym-node

Before we conclude the testing with exact results, these are the rough specs:

Nyx validator

The specification mentioned below is for running a full node alongside the nym-api. It is recommended to run nym-api and a full Nyx node on the same machine for optimum performance.

Bear in mind that credential signing is primarily CPU-bound, so choose the fastest CPU available to you.

Minimum Requirements

Recommended Requirements

Full node configuration (validator)

To install a full node from scratch, refer to the validator setup guide and follow the steps outlined there.

VPS Configuration

Before node or validator setup, the VPS needs to be configured and tested, to verify your connectivity and make sure that your provider wasn't dishonest with the offered services.

Install Dependencies & Configure Firewall

SSH to your server as root or become one running sudo -i or su. If you prefer to administrate your VPS from a user environment, supply the commands with prefix sudo.

apt update -y && apt --fix-broken install

apt -y install ca-certificates jq curl wget ufw jq tmux pkg-config build-essential libssl-dev git

apt install ufw --fix-missing

ufw version

apt install ufw -y

ufw enable

ufw status

ufw allow 443/tcp

ufw status

For more information about your node's port configuration, check the port reference table below.

Setting ulimit

Linux machines limit how many open files a user is allowed to have. This is called a ulimit.

ulimit is 1024 by default on most systems. It needs to be set higher, because Nym Nodes make and receive a lot of connections with each others.

If you see errors such as:

Failed to accept incoming connection - Os { code: 24, kind: Other, message: "Too many open files" }

This means that the operating system is preventing network connections from being made.

Set the ulimit via systemd service file

The ulimit setup is relevant for maintenance of Nym Node only.

grep -i "open files" /proc/$(ps -A -o pid,cmd|grep nym-node | grep -v grep |head -n 1 | awk '{print $1}')/limits

grep -i "open files" /proc/$(ps -A -o pid,cmd|grep nymd | grep -v grep |head -n 1 | awk '{print $1}')/limits

Max open files            65536                65536                files

LimitNOFILE=65536

echo "DefaultLimitNOFILE=65535" >> /etc/systemd/system.conf

# for nym-node
cat /proc/$(pidof nym-node)/limits | grep "Max open files"
 
# for validator
cat /proc/$(pidof nym-validator)/limits | grep "Max open files"

Set ulimit on non systemd based distributions

In case you choose tmux option for Nym Node automation, see your ulimit list by running:

ulimit -a

Watch for the output line -n:

-n: file descriptors          1024

You can change it either by running a command:

ulimit -u -n 4096

or editing etc/security/conf and add the following lines:

# Example hard limit for max opened files
username        hard nofile 4096
 
# Example soft limit for max opened files
username        soft nofile 4096

Then reboot your server and restart your node.

Running nym-node as a non-root

Some operators prefer to run nym-node without root privileges. It's possible but still nym-node binary needs higher privileges for network-level operations demanding these permissions. If you are starting a new nym-node and want to run it as a non-root, follow this guide before you proceed with the node setup sections.

Ports reference tables

All node-specific port configuration can be found in $HOME/.nym/<BINARY_TYPE>/<ID>/config/config.toml. If you do edit any port configs, remember to restart your client node processes and change the configuration in the wallet settings.

Nym node port reference

Mix Node functionality ports

Gateway functionality ports

Embedded Network Requester functionality ports

Validator port reference

All validator-specific port configuration can be found in $HOME/.nymd/config/config.toml. If you do edit any port configs, remember to restart your validator.