1Sample init scripts and service configuration for bitcoind
2==========================================================
3
4Sample scripts and configuration files for systemd, Upstart and OpenRC
5can be found in the contrib/init folder.
6
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
12
13Service User
14---------------------------------
15
16All three Linux startup configurations assume the existence of a "bitcoin" user
17and group.  They must be created before attempting to use these scripts.
18The macOS configuration assumes bitcoind will be set up for the current user.
19
20Configuration
21---------------------------------
22
23Running bitcoind as a daemon does not require any manual configuration. You may
24set the `rpcauth` setting in the `bitcoin.conf` configuration file to override
25the default behaviour of using a special cookie for authentication.
26
27This password does not have to be remembered or typed as it is mostly used
28as a fixed token that bitcoind and client programs read from the configuration
29file, however it is recommended that a strong and secure password be used
30as this password is security critical to securing the wallet should the
31wallet be enabled.
32
33If bitcoind is run with the "-server" flag (set by default), and no rpcpassword is set,
34it will use a special cookie file for authentication. The cookie is generated with random
35content when the daemon starts, and deleted when it exits. Read access to this file
36controls who can access it through RPC.
37
38By default the cookie is stored in the data directory, but its location can be
39overridden with the option `-rpccookiefile`. Default file permissions for the
40cookie are "owner" (i.e. user read/writeable) via default application-wide file
41umask of `0077`, but these can be overridden with the `-rpccookieperms` option.
42
43This allows for running bitcoind without having to do any manual configuration.
44
45`conf`, `pid`, and `wallet` accept relative paths which are interpreted as
46relative to the data directory. `wallet` *only* supports relative paths.
47
48To generate an example configuration file that describes the configuration settings,
49see [contrib/devtools/README.md](../contrib/devtools/README.md#gen-bitcoin-confsh).
50
51Paths
52---------------------------------
53
54### Linux
55
56All three configurations assume several paths that might need to be adjusted.
57
58    Binary:              /usr/bin/bitcoind
59    Configuration file:  /etc/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
60    Data directory:      /var/lib/bitcoind
61    PID file:            /var/run/bitcoind/bitcoind.pid (OpenRC and Upstart) or
62                         /run/bitcoind/bitcoind.pid (systemd)
63    Lock file:           /var/lock/subsys/bitcoind (CentOS)
64
65The PID directory (if applicable) and data directory should both be owned by the
66bitcoin user and group. It is advised for security reasons to make the
67configuration file and data directory only readable by the bitcoin user and
68group. Access to bitcoin-cli and other bitcoind rpc clients can then be
69controlled by group membership.
70
71NOTE: When using the systemd .service file, the creation of the aforementioned
72directories and the setting of their permissions is automatically handled by
73systemd. Directories are given a permission of 710, giving the bitcoin group
74access to files under it _if_ the files themselves give permission to the
75bitcoin group to do so. This does not allow
76for the listing of files under the directory.
77
78NOTE: It is not currently possible to override `datadir` in
79`/etc/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf` with the current systemd, OpenRC, and Upstart init
80files out-of-the-box. This is because the command line options specified in the
81init files take precedence over the configurations in
82`/etc/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf`. However, some init systems have their own
83configuration mechanisms that would allow for overriding the command line
84options specified in the init files (e.g. setting `BITCOIND_DATADIR` for
85OpenRC).
86
87### macOS
88
89    Binary:              /usr/local/bin/bitcoind
90    Configuration file:  ~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
91    Data directory:      ~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin
92    Lock file:           ~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/.lock
93
94Installing Service Configuration
95-----------------------------------
96
97### systemd
98
99Installing this .service file consists of just copying it to
100/usr/lib/systemd/system directory, followed by the command
101`systemctl daemon-reload` in order to update running systemd configuration.
102
103To test, run `systemctl start bitcoind` and to enable for system startup run
104`systemctl enable bitcoind`
105
106NOTE: When installing for systemd in Debian/Ubuntu the .service file needs to be copied to the /lib/systemd/system directory instead.
107
108### OpenRC
109
110Rename bitcoind.openrc to bitcoind and drop it in /etc/init.d.  Double
111check ownership and permissions and make it executable.  Test it with
112`/etc/init.d/bitcoind start` and configure it to run on startup with
113`rc-update add bitcoind`
114
115### Upstart (for Debian/Ubuntu based distributions)
116
117Upstart is the default init system for Debian/Ubuntu versions older than 15.04. If you are using version 15.04 or newer and haven't manually configured upstart you should follow the systemd instructions instead.
118
119Drop bitcoind.conf in /etc/init.  Test by running `service bitcoind start`
120it will automatically start on reboot.
121
122NOTE: This script is incompatible with CentOS 5 and Amazon Linux 2014 as they
123use old versions of Upstart and do not supply the start-stop-daemon utility.
124
125### CentOS
126
127Copy bitcoind.init to /etc/init.d/bitcoind. Test by running `service bitcoind start`.
128
129Using this script, you can adjust the path and flags to the bitcoind program by
130setting the BITCOIND and FLAGS environment variables in the file
131/etc/sysconfig/bitcoind. You can also use the DAEMONOPTS environment variable here.
132
133### macOS
134
135Copy org.bitcoin.bitcoind.plist into ~/Library/LaunchAgents. Load the launch agent by
136running `launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.bitcoin.bitcoind.plist`.
137
138This Launch Agent will cause bitcoind to start whenever the user logs in.
139
140NOTE: This approach is intended for those wanting to run bitcoind as the current user.
141You will need to modify org.bitcoin.bitcoind.plist if you intend to use it as a
142Launch Daemon with a dedicated bitcoin user.
143
144Auto-respawn
145-----------------------------------
146
147Auto respawning is currently only configured for Upstart and systemd.
148Reasonable defaults have been chosen but YMMV.
149