(GUIDE) Masternode, Node, Full Node / Masternode setup with screens.

[wwzsocki]

How to make coins on Proof of stake (PoS) using a regular computer? What are nodes, full nodes, and masternodes? What equipment is needed for PoS mining and masternodes?

All the answers you will find in this article!

Proof of stake (PoS) - is a type of algorithm by which a cryptocurrency blockchain network aims to achieve distributed consensus. In PoS-based cryptocurrencies, the creator of the next block is chosen via various combinations of random selection and wealth or age (i.e., the stake). In contrast, the algorithm of Proof-of-Work based cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin uses mining that is: the solving of computationally intensive puzzles to validate transactions and create new blocks.

What is a node, full node, master node?
First, we define the terms. As you already know, PoS mining is that you get coins just for the work of your wallet, almost without using computer power. We will understand what and how exactly.

Node - when you download a wallet of a particular coin, you begin to synchronize with the network. Synchronization means downloading the entire history of the transfers of this coin in the network. Thus, you download the entire transaction history to continue to store it as a decentralized server. As long as synchronization is in progress, your computer is just a node.

Full node - fully synchronized wallet. When you have downloaded all transactions, you start to store them. Also, an algorithm is written in the full node that allows you to check new transactions for compliance with the network rules before the miners include them in the block. At this stage, you are already starting to earn. Just replenish the wallet with the number of coins that you can afford, and while is open, and not encrypted you earn. This is PoS mining in the classic sense. The more coins you have, the more often you will receive a reward. Check when the reward will be credited is very easy. In the right bottom of the wallet, there are various icons. Navigate on them in turn, and find the right one that will write, whether you participate in a share, and how long to wait for the reward. If you do not have the time provided to receive the reward, try either to wait a few hours (a day) or check the encryption of the wallet. If you want to earn money as a node, you must be open to the world, and the wallet has to be not encrypted.

Masternode - a node that includes transactions in the block. If you set up a masternode, you become a full-fledged miner. Masternodes task is not only to keep network history and check transactions but also include transactions in the block and ensure anonymity of transfers, in essence doing the same work that traditional miners do in PoW mining on video cards and asics. However, there are special requirements for masternodes.

Here is what you need to do:
Download the wallet with the selected coin. Wait for full synchronization. Sometimes it takes a few days if the coin is popular, and there have been a lot of transactions since its launch.
Order a dedicated (white) IP from your Internet provider. Regular local IP, which is also often dynamic, is not suitable. The cost of such a service is quite small.
Open needed ports in the router. Again, when calling the provider, ask if they block ports themselves or not. If not, open them in the router. If yes, then ask the provider to open for you certain ports. Which one and how to open the ports on the router, you will learn further.
Download the instructions for setting up masternode from the official cryptocurrency website. There you can get detailed info with how many coins you need to launch the masternode. Each currency has a different number of coins, respectively, different initial investments and payback periods.
Buy the required number of coins, initially, you can start with a small margin only with staking (POS mining). Transfer them to your wallet.
Make all the necessary settings in the system files of the wallet. The first time it took me about an hour. I'll add it here later.
Run masternode. Make sure the wallet is open. Ensure continuous work of the wallet 24/7. Receive payout 🙂.

Setting up masternode may seem complicated, but believe me, is not. The worst is the first time, then everything is simple and much easier with each new setup, then grouping them, driving them apart, connecting them to pools, watching overheating, and so on. If masternode is turned off (the city turned off the lights, Internet malfunction, you decided to give the computer a rest or went on vacation, etc.), then nothing terrible will happen. You simply will not earn until you turn on your wallet again. To launch the masternode, you just need to press the Start button and fly further.

Availability. In order to start earning there is no need for large investments. You don't need to invest in equipment, you can mine on your good old home computer. No need to rent up additional space or special ASIC miners. The cost of electricity, respectively, is also minimal.

Profitability.  For now, see for yourself - masternodes.pro.

Payback. And here, in general, the most destructive argument. You have no recoupment! In the sense that you have nothing to pay back. The main cost is to buy a guaranteed amount of coins that give you online status as a masternode. At the time of the work, these coins are frozen. But if you decide to leave the game, then all you need to do is turn off the masternode and sell all the coins that you bought earlier and which you had mined. From the very first hour of work, you are going to a pure plus! Lossless! A properly chosen coin will not only give you the opportunity to earn on mining, but you will also earn in the future by selling hopefully more expensive than you bought at the start. Can you sell a video card after mining quickly, and even more expensive than buying? Of course not.

Why making money on a masternode is possible?
You read my article and already looking in the wallet or for the nearest branch of the bank to get a loan? The subject is generally cool but really, no risk at all?
Take your time, gentlemen, there are risks always and everywhere. If mining on masternode would be perfect, probably everyone would be doing only this. Let's look at the other side of the coin.

The chance to burn. At the moment, from the top coins, this technology offers the Dash coin. Just the coins that are needed to start the masternode (at the time of writing) will cost you more than 10 thousand dollars. The annual profitability is only about 6% yearly. I think we all can be much more profitable when we invest 10K $ in something else. But the really interesting profitability is given not by such top coins. Often the younger the coin, the higher the percentage of return (ROI) there, to lure people. Imagine that you bought a coin, tuned to a masternode, and the coin picked up and collapsed just after, to the maximum. Now you may need a very long time, in order to compensate quality with quantity. That is why, when choosing a coin, we cannot be guided only by an indicator of its profitability.

Crypto exchanges. You have to learn how to use them, one way or another. Nowadays, even Bitcoin is not always possible to buy from the hands, and if it is possible, then with huge commissions often. When working with an unpopular coin, you will have to buy it yourself and sell it later. It is not difficult but requires additional knowledge and time.

Binding to the house. You will be tied to the house anyway. The equipment should work without failures, and the probability of fire is also present at the home computer, too. Another thing is that the binding here is much smaller than the miners on the equipment (POW). I personally have 2 laptops. One worker, always with me, and the second at home works non-stop. I set up remote access, and quietly do my business, at any time checking the situation. If the node just crashes, I can run it remotely in a few minutes. All the necessary files from that computer were copied to another place, and if the computer does not sustain the load, I calmly transfer the masternode with all the money to any other computer. If you just turned off the power, then even grandmother skills are enough to start a laptop. To restart the mining rig - the process is definitely more serious.

Conclusion
Gentlemen, I always advise everyone and adhere to this rule myself - do not put all the eggs in one basket. Even if now the earnings on the masternode seem to you to be the most attractive, do not go into debt and do not throw all the money into it. There should be several sources of income.

On members request, I have added a full masternode setup found by:

...I came across this guide, he is using UBUNTU to launch a Masternode >  https://medium.com/@Panama_TJ/simplest-guide-to-setup-your-masternode-250a87349e42...

This is a very detailed step by step guide with screens and could be used for many different masternodes setups. No Ubuntu or Linux knowledge needed!!!.

1. Firstly go to Vultr and get an account.

2. Click on the + to Deploy New Server.



3. Choose your Server Location, choosing the closest place to you, this should minimize ping times.



4. Choose Server Type, choose Windows 2016 x64.



5. Choose Server Size, usually the most basic size will do, choose 20 GB SSD/1 CPU/512MB Memory/500GB Bandwidth.



6. On Additional Features I always choose only Enable IPv6" (don't know why to be honest).



7. On Server Hostname & Label, put the name you want for your VPS.

8. And finally, click on Deploy Now



9. Wait until the Status of your VPS says Running, then click on View Console.



10. You will get a screen as below, click on Send Ctrl-Alt-Del.



11. Click on the icon of Ease of access, then choose On-Screen-Keyboard". This will save you hours of frustration, facilitates typing the correct characters in the password.



12. Go back to vultr.com, click on Server Details.



13. Click on Show Password.



14. Use the password from step #13 to access your VPS. Use On-Screen Keyboard so you don't waste time typing incorrect characters.



15. Launch Internet Explorer, choose Internet Options, then click on Security tab, de-select Enable Protected Mode.



16. Then click on Custom level button, look for option File download, and Enable it. Then click OK, click Apply, and lastly click OK



17. On Internet Explorer address bar, go to opera.com, and download and install Opera.



18. OnceOpera is fully installed and is open, go to your coin website and download and install it.

The steps below suppose that you have already downloaded your desired Wallet to your VPS and have the necessary collateral to run a masternode (X amount of coins). You can buy the collateral needed in exchange were your coin is listed.

19. On the wallet click on Tools -> Debug Console.

Enter the command: masternode genkey and copy the output on a Notepad.

Enter the command: getnewaddress and copy the output on a Notepad.



20. Send the amount needed for masternodes collateral of (X amount of coins) to the address that you just generated.

Copy the Transaction ID (TXid).

Wait for at least 20 confirmations (if you attempt to start your masternode before you get 20 confirmations, your masternode won't work and you have to restart procedure).



21. Now you need the Transaction Out (TXout), this gets the proof of your masternode collateral transaction.

Open the Console Debug and enter the command: masternode outputs

Check that transaction is the same as previous step and copy the result of Outputidx in your .txt file, or your Notepad of step #19.



22. Go to your NAME OF COIN system folder and edit the NAMEOFCOIN.conf file with your masternode information. Easiest way to find the this file it to go to the wallet of your coin, go to Tools, you will have either Open Wallet Configuration File, or Show Automatic Backups, if Open Wallet Configuration File exists, click on it, if it does not exist, click on Show Automatic Backups.



23. If from step #22 you had to choose, Show Automatic Backups, this step applies for you. Click on the name of the folder named after the coin, see red box below.



24. Access the conf file of your coin.



25. Now you have to enter the following information and save:

rpcuser=YOUR_USERNAME
rpcpassword=YOUR_PASSWORD
rpcallowip=127.0.0.1
listen=1
server=1
daemon=1
logtimestamps=1
maxconnections=64
masternode=1
externalip=YOUR_VPS_IP
bind=YOUR_VPS_IP
masternodeaddr=YOUR_VPS_IP:XXXXX
masternodeprivkey=YOUR_MASTERNODE_KEY

a. YOUR_VPS_IP= you obtain it from your vultr.com portal is below the name of your VPS.

b. bind= same as above.

c. masternodeaddr=same as above + : XXXXX (this is port number, specified by your coin)

d. masternodeprivkey= you obtained this number in step #19.

This is an alternate conf file of your coin, if option above does not work this, should do the trick.

rpcuser=random since this is disable, but needs to have something.
rpcpassword=random since this is disable, but needs to have something.
rpcallowip=127.0.0.1
listen=1
server=1
daemon=1
logtimestamps=1
maxconnections=256
masternode=1
externalip=YOUR_VPS_IP
bind=YOUR_VPS_IP
masternodeaddr=YOUR_VPS_IP:XXXXX
masternodeprivkey=YOUR_MASTERNODE_KEY
addnode=IP specified by your coin
addnode=IP specified by your coin
addnode=IP specified by your coin
port=XXXXX specified by your coin
staking=1

26. Now it's time to get back to your Desktop Wallet, open it and click on:

Tools ->Open Masternode Configuration File.

In the Masternode Configuration file? we'll need to input the following information:

MN Label: <Enter a label for your Masternode>

VPS IP:Port: <IP address of your VPS and port XXXXX>

Masternode genkey: <Masternode Genkey> (we generated previously on step #19).

TX id: <Your transaction through the Masternode> (we generated previously on step #19).

TX out: <OutputIndex of your transaction> (we generated previously on step #21).





27. Next, save the configuration file, close and restart your coin desktop wallet:

28. After restarting your Wallet, go to Masternodes Section, select your masternode and click on Start Alias.



29. VERY IMPORTANT, go to Control Panel > System and Security > System choose Remote settings, and click on Don't allow remote connection to this computer.



30. Don't forget to encrypt your wallet, create a backup, keep your VPS up to date with the latest drivers and latest antivirus version.

31. Increase security by setting account lockout policy, so if someone tried too many times, he?ll be locked out for a while. In your VPS, go to Start (Windows logo) on your VPS console, bottom left corner, type in Local Security Policy, then click on Account Lockout Policy, input 3 in invalid login attempts, then click OK.





Every project has different specifications for resources needed to run a masternode on computer:



Here are specifications for VPN:



I advise using VPS today. Of course one can use an old laptop to run a masternode but here is a great article why shouldn't do it.
https://coinguides.org/masternode-requirements/

This is my original text: What is a node, a full node, a masternode. How to earn on this?
Co to jest węzeł, pełny węzeł, masternode? Jak taki ustawić i na tym zarobić?
Wikipedia.org
Guide source: https://medium.com/@Panama_TJ/simplest-guide-to-setup-your-masternode-250a87349e42
My tutorial has just been translated and published in the Philippine local section (GABAY) Node,full node,masternode. Paano mag-set up at kumita ng pera mula dito?.

[wwzsocki]

This is great and very informative. This can help newbies in crypto world to add their knowledge in engaging with the new world they are in. Keep it up mate. Salute to you cheers

Thanks for this comment (the first one  ) and that you bumped my thread so there is a chance that will be not forgotten between millions of shitpost popping up every day.

I understand that this is not new and people are already familiar with the subject I try to explain here, but no comments at all after a few days is something, I haven't expected.

There is even nobody willing to show my mistakes.. I have already got used to it that there will always be someone who finds a hole in the whole  .

[bitmover]

Full node - fully synchronized wallet. When you have downloaded all transactions, you start to store them. Also, an algorithm is written in the full node that allows you to check new transactions for compliance with the network rules before the miners include them in the block. At this stage, you are already starting to earn. Just replenish the wallet with the number of coins that you can afford, and while is open, you earn. This is called PoS mining in the classic sense. The more coins you have, the more often you will receive a reward. Check when the reward will be credited is easy enough. In the bottom right of the wallet, there are various icons. Navigate on them in turn, and find the right one that will write, whether you participate in a share, and how long to wait for the reward.

I am sorry but I believe this is incorrect.

If you take a look at Casper implementation FAQ, you don't just receive coins when your wallet is open. That's just make zero sense.
https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/Proof-of-Stake-FAQ

You need to put your coins at stake. You are like betting your coins  that an specific block has valid transactions, and if that block is not accepted by the majority of the network you lose your staked coins.

It's similar to pow, where you are staking energy (processing power). In pow if the block is invalid you lose all this energy.

Also, you cannot stake a small amount of coins, unless you join a  pool

[wwzsocki]

I am sorry but I believe this is incorrect.

If you take a look at Casper implementation FAQ, you don't just receive coins when your wallet is open. That's just make zero sense.
https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/Proof-of-Stake-FAQ

This article was written some time ago and for masternode PoS coins. Still, this is up to date for these projects today like Dash, PivX, etc.

I don't know what is inside the new Casper implementation for ETH but from what I know they will use sharding, not sure about it.

You need to put your coins at stake. You are like betting your coins  that an specific block has valid transactions, and if that block is not accepted by the majority of the network you lose your staked coins.

Just like I said: " Just replenish the wallet with the number of coins that you can afford, and while is open, and not encrypted you earn. This is called PoS mining in the classic sense."

Thanks to You, I have added: "and not encrypted".

Please take into consideration that I am talking about classical PoS and once again I don't know what for new implementations are in Casper.

Also, you cannot stake a small amount of coins, unless you join a  pool

This is not true. One can stake any amount of coins in PoS projects, I have described.

With a small number of coins, one will stake a coin in a year of time when the network weight will be high enough.

I am actually staking few PoS coins in my wallets with different amounts. To be honest, never heard of PoS pools.

What I have heard is shared masternodes pools and even there are services for this like midas.investments or simplepospool.com.
Where people share together masternodes and take the profits from and split.

I hope this helps if You have any additional questions, I will be happy to help.

[finaleshot2016]

This was a very helpful thread for me since I lack some knowledge like this. I already saw "node" in different threads but didn't give any attention to me because I thought it's not very important in my business here in cryptocurrency.

As I read in some articles, the node is quite important in the blockchain, it is something special in the system. I'd like to create some innovative research about this node since I'm trying to explore blockchain for my research.

[oceantiger]

I must confess that this post is rich in information and educative. There is a lot that most of us in blockchain have been hearing but do not know the real meaning. Let's take for instance NODES, I never know that nodes are simply my computer when it is used for mining. This post really exposes us to much information and my day is made.

[talkbitcoin]

i don't think you should use the term "mining" for PoS coins and masternodes,... or basically anything that follow that pattern. mining a cryptocurrency is defined as the process of working to extract new coins and that work is done by using your computing power (whether it is GPU or CPU). but PoS is the process of earning a profit on your stake and they are very different concepts in my opinion and should be referred to with correct terminology.

[cabron]

Not quite a very power hungry way to run a network unlike the Sha with the ASIC devices but still crunches a lot of resources.

If you have heard of MNX, they do have a minexbank which you can stake your coins and earn either by quarterly or yearly, I think that's what they call the PoS pools I'm still unsure about it.

[wwzsocki]

i don't think you should use the term "mining" for PoS coins and masternodes,... or basically anything that follow that pattern. mining a cryptocurrency is defined as the process of working to extract new coins and that work is done by using your computing power (whether it is GPU or CPU). but PoS is the process of earning a profit on your stake and they are very different concepts in my opinion and should be referred to with correct terminology.

i don't think you should use the term "mining" for PoS coins and masternodes,... or basically anything that follow that pattern. mining a cryptocurrency is defined as the process of working to extract new coins and that work is done by using your computing power (whether it is GPU or CPU). but PoS is the process of earning a profit on your stake and they are very different concepts in my opinion and should be referred to with correct terminology.

Thank you very much for Your input. I already updated my post and added needed changes. This article was written some time ago and I haven't published here because I thought that the quality is not good enough and that this subject was already discussed on the forum for sure. Some time ago in bounty mania, I realized that my articles are not so bad compared to some posts so I try to update them and publish here to spread the knowledge between Bitcointalk members.

[wwzsocki]

Not quite a very power hungry way to run a network unlike the Sha with the ASIC devices but still crunches a lot of resources.

If you have heard of MNX, they do have a minexbank which you can stake your coins and earn either by quarterly or yearly, I think that's what they call the PoS pools I'm still unsure about it.

Minexcoin with Minexbank - is a project in which by parking MNX coin in your MinexBank account, you may earn your interest with no risk of losing your money because they are safe in your personal wallet and parking is made by signing a message. The main purpose of MinexBank is to stabilize the exchange rate within the range of no more than 5% of the previous day’s closure price. The five percent growth owes to the practice of global stock exchanges. Once the values are reached, stock markets halt the trading, thus preventing speculators and misguided investors from dictating their own prices. Once the limit values of the five percent range are reached, MinexBank has two options: it either changes interest rates for parking payouts or intervenes to keep the price within the preset range. Coin parking and intervention are the basic financial instruments used by MinexBank.

Which is a pure BS and was already proved by the price which failed to stabilize and lost 99% of its value during this bear market.

Minexcoin - is an original project which uses parking (something like PoS but it isn't) and mining PoW to secure the network.

It is a hybrid algorithm EquiHash with SHA-256.

Ethash - is used for encrypting Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. Ethash was built to be ASIC-resistant through memory-hardness (by requiring large memory, standart ASICs couldn’t decrypt the puzzles). Unfortunately for graphics miners, in early 2018 the first ASIC miners for Ethash were introduced on the market and Ethereum eventually lost its decentralization similarly like Bitcoin.

SHA256 (or Secure Hash Algorithm) - was originally designed by the NSA back in 2002. Later the algorithm found use within the Bitcoin cryptocurrency and is what runs all Bitcoin-based coins. SHA256 is a hash of 256 bits and is what miners decrypt using their mining setups which eventually validates blocks, for what miners are rewarded.

[wwzsocki]

I must confess that this post is rich in information and educative. There is a lot that most of us in blockchain have been hearing but do not know the real meaning. Let's take for instance NODES, I never know that nodes are simply my computer when it is used for mining. This post really exposes us to much information and my day is made.

I am very happy that you found my post informative and learned something new. This is my main goal to spread the knowledge between people and there is nothing more rewarding for me as such a comment from a happy reader.

I have another part of this article about PoS and PoW mining which is very important to fully understand this subject. The title is:  "What are PoW and PoS mining? Introduction to the masternodes".

Here link if you are interested:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5120108

[wwzsocki]

If anybody has questions regarding my post or this subject, please share them and I will be happy to answer if I would be able of course.

I have moved lately few of my threads to beginners section because I think it is a lot better suited for this kind of articles.

[r1s2g3]

You put a nice guide for a newbie to understand about node, fullnode and masternodes. I see you are also referencing mnrank.com as well as the profitablity.
I think you should add pitfalls in MN concept too, specially when mnrank.com is publishing all MN projects and most of them are scam.

[wwzsocki]

You put a nice guide for a newbie to understand about node, fullnode and masternodes...

I am happy that you liked my post/article and thank you for merit support.

...I think you should add pitfalls in MN concept too, specially when mnrank.com is publishing all MN projects and most of them are scam...

That's the problem with cryptocurrencies and services like MnRank.com or Coinmarketcap.com.

They provide a service where one is able in few clicks to see the latest state of each project together with price predictions, profitability, links, analysis and many more.

I think they are here not to judge projects only to provide the best service possible and we have to evaluate them further using the tools they provided.

I don't see any reason to be angry at MnRank because is not their fault that almost 90% of masternodcoins are a scam.

[r1s2g3]

I don't see any reason to be angry at MnRank because is not their fault that almost 90% of masternodcoins are a scam.

I am not angry but it is the site that I will not like to recommend to a newbie but I thought again and I found even this forum cannot be recommended to someone who is going to put a blind faith.
I guess whenever in doubt use your commonsense  and don't hesitate to ask question.

[tranthidung]

Some other related terms are Service Nodes, Secure Nodes.
The roles on network are a bit different than Masternodes, but they can be sorted out into group of nodes, that have main roles to secure networks better, and maintain healthy networks.

[wwzsocki]

Some other related terms are Service Nodes, Secure Nodes...

This article was written some time ago and from this time many things changed and evolved.

Cryptocurrencies are developing constantly and one needs to have a finger on the puls to stay updated.

I will try to add something about Services Nodes, Secure Nodes but first I have to learn about them by myself to share proper knowledge here.

Thank you for this suggestion.

[crypto mania]

...don't see any reason to be angry at MnRank...

...I will not like to recommend to a newbie...

Some time ago I was wondering how can Coinmarketcap list all these scammy projects and exchanges on their page?
After some time I realized this same as @wwzsocki that they just provide the best service possible and to be able to do this they just have to list all this crap because this is the actual state of cryptocurrencies and they just can't hide some of them.
Like you said @r1s2g3 when one is using these services always has to remember that there is no guarantee that even the best looking project is not a scam.
Regulations are needed to change this and we need a little more time for that but is coming and will finally happen.

[wwzsocki]

I found a great service which shows real volumes on exchanges and what is more important real buy and sell walls.

We all know that almost 90% of exchanges listed on CMC are showing fake volumes and there is not much CMC can do about it as you said @crypto mania.

Service I am talking about is called Coinmarketbook

On the page you can read:

Market cap is a lie. Buy support tells the true story. Buy support rating separates investments from gamblers.

[tranthidung]

I found a great service which shows real volumes on exchanges and what is more important real buy and sells walls.

We all know that almost 90% of exchanges listed on CMC are showing fake volumes and there is not much CMC can do about it as you said @crypto mania.

Service I am talking about is called Coinmarketbook

On the page you can read:

Market cap is a lie. Buy support tells the true story. Buy support rating separates investments from gamblers.

Coinmarket cap and Coinmarketbook, I don't like them. I would prefer to use the term: CoinMarket Value. It means total value of coins on market. It changes over time, not only from supply and demands, but also from availability of capital flow from investors. When investors have more spare money to invest, and really decide to buy, total market value will increase. In contrast, total market value will decrease.