Bitcoin Forum

Hi. What is the minimum equipment requirement needed to run a full node? I have an iPad Pro in lieu of a computer, i understand a raspberry pi has many of the technical specs needed to run the node, but does it need to be hooked up to a computer interface? Would I need to buy an actual computer? Would it have to be a desktop or would a laptop suffice? Any help would be greatly appreciated. TIA

I don't know your ipad's specs, but even if you found a full node implementation that would run on your device, you'd still need about ~300 Gb of space on your HDD (unless you run a pruned node)


Other than that, i can only assume that the synchronisation would go pretty slowly....

I don't own any apple devices... I wouldn't say it's impossible if you run a pruned node and find a precompiled core version you can run on your ipad... I know that long, long ago there used to be a full node implementation on android, but when the blockchain size grew i think it became obsolete.

Hi! Thank you for taking time to respond! I would hope to run it via the raspberry pi, I’m curious to know if I could CONFIGURE with the iPad or if I would need a real computer.

If you're going to run it on your rPi, I don't see why you would configure it using an ipad... Setting up a full node is basically just downloading (or compiling) a binary, editing an ascii config file and running the daemon in the background...
Not much config to do, so i don't see why you'd use a second device to do said configuration.... Unless you mean that the rPi doesn't have a screen, and you use an ssh connection to connect to it: in that case, yes you can configure your node over ssh...

I’m sorry, I’m not that technical. Could you point me to some resources so that I can do some research with this? Can I make my iPad the screen for the rPi? Sorry I’m a little slow with all of this, but I appreciate your help tremendously!

Not technically using your ipad as a screen... Using an ssh client on your ipad to connect to your rPi IF your rPi doesn't have a screen.

But like i said: i don't own any apple devices... I have no idear if this would work... There seems to be an ssh client for an ipad, but i can't endorse or test it: https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/termius-ssh-client/id549039908

But, for the sake of simplicity, let me ask you these questions:

• why do you want to run a full node?
• am i correct in saying you want to run a full node on an rPi?
• does the rPi have a screen and keyboard?

I'm going on my lunchbreak now, but when i get back i'll continue this thread (unless by that time somebody else stepped in to help you out).

But, for the sake of simplicity, let me ask you these questions:

• why do you want to run a full node?
• am i correct in saying you want to run a full node on an rPi?
• does the rPi have a screen and keyboard?

I want to run a full node because I’m reading a book of satoshi’s writings and he seemed to suggest it is a good idea.

I would like to run a full node on a raspberry pi, yes.

I could get a screen and keyboard for it, sure.

Thank you for your help with the ssh. Enjoy your lunch!

I really can't recommend you to run a full node if you do so only because you think that it is a good idea. Unless you are going to prune your node, you'll be looking at 360GB+ of data to be stored in your SD card. SD cards are not exactly suitable for constant I/O activity for extended periods of time so you'll probably have to get an external HDD as well. Given that it's quite underpowered, initial synchronization can take quite awhile as well. If your purpose is to use Bitcoin, then using an SPV client like Electrum on your Raspberry Pi might be better.

I've had some experiences running a full node on RPi. You have to get an SD card and install RaspBian on it, while adding a blank file called SSH. You'll be able to access the SSH interface on your local network with your IPad and a SSH app. The default username:password is pi:raspberry.

To get Bitcoin Core, you'll need the ARM version: https://bitcoin.org/bin/bitcoin-core-0.21.0/bitcoin-0.21.0-aarch64-linux-gnu.tar.gz.

There's a nice guide on the page itself: https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node#linux-instructions.

I agree with ranochigo, if you just want to learn how to use bitcoin, an SPV wallet is probably better suited for you. I just wanted to add that running a full node is indeed the best way to completely grasp what's happening, not just the basic usage concepts.

But, instead of running a node on the main net, you could also run a full node on the testnet... A testnet full node will take about 31Gb (so less than 10% of a mainnet full node). This means your disk can be much smaller, and it'll sync a lot faster than a mainnet node whilst still being a full learning experience.

In order to simplify, i'd just tell you to hook a screen and a keyboard to your rPi and forget about your ipad... Just focus on your rPi and use your ipad to look at documentation or walktrough videos on how to setup your node..

Thank you. I sent you all the merit I had left! Lol

iPads will only allow you to install software from the Apple Store, and to my knowledge, there is no full node software in the Apple Store. If you were to jailbreak your iPad (generally a bad idea), I don't believe Bitcoin Core is compatible with the iPad iOS.

To answer your question in the OP, the minimum requirements (https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node#minimum-requirements) to run a full node is listed on the bitcoin.org website.

It isn't. iPadOS (and iOS) run a form of Darwin kernel compiled for ARM64, and Bitcoin Core has no such architecture for it. The closest you can get is Linux on ARM or MacOS (which also uses Darwin kernel) on x86_64.

And even if there were such an app, i[Pad]OS limits the background activity that apps can do, so you would have to keep Bitcoin Core open in the foreground all the time if you want it to work, otherwise it would not sync if you were using other apps. Also, and this part also applies to Android, there would be no easy way to make a bitcoin.conf for an app. Using the GUI to configure the Core client would be the only sensible option.

You'd have to get a desktop/laptop or server machine and then connect to it from SSH using an app like Terminus if you want to control, but not run, a node from an iPad, or any mobile device.

Thank you everyone for your help! Much appreciated!