How does one run a wallet on a server?

[Nullu]

I've done a fair bit of PHP scripting using the jsonRPCCLIENT library, but I've always ran my scripts locally. My intention is to run this for altcoins, not necessarily have a bitcoind command-line to work with, but will have to work with an open wallet.

What do I need to take into consideration? Is there a server mode for wallets? Any help would be appreciated. I'm pretty new to running wallets on servers.

[cr1776]

There are a lot of security considerations. A few are discussed here:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=176766.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=524984.0

A low value alt is a good way to test things.

:-)

[Nullu]

There are a lot of security considerations. A few are discussed here:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=176766.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=524984.0

A low value alt is a good way to test things.

:-)

It sounds like I need to be more concerned about protecting my wallet from the host providers, rather than users of my service. I can protect against SQL injection. I can encrypt database data, but I don't see how I could protect the wallet from the host provider. If the wallet is going to be sending coins, then it's going to have to be unlocked. Even if I keep it locked and only unlock it when needed, it will still be vulnerable.

[cr1776]

Protecting from host, protecting from users, protecting from outside attackers are all considerations.  It isn't something to take lightly, cold storage is a consideration for a majority of the coins.

VPS can be a problem too.  One host wasn't erasing the disk space between VPS sessions for example.  You have to worry about hypervisor issues etc.  A lot also depends on what attacks you are trying to prevent.  E.g. if this is on a coin with a total market cap of $1.00 then it really doesn't matter much.

Here are a few more threads, there have been a number of discussions which should help to start.  Experience will be key though:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=106339.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=27250.0

[Nullu]

While security is very important, it doesn't quite answer my question.

Right now, I'm running my wallet on a windows machine. How do I run a wallet on a webhost if it's windows only?

[Dare]

All you'll need for a server wallet is bitcoind (or the altcoin's equivalent), which is cross-platform. It's the backend of the Qt wallet you're probably used to, so it's pretty much the same aside from its lack of a GUI (since it's a daemon, and therefore necessarily headless).

However, don't forget about the security concerns; I suggest encrypting the wallet and manually entering the password when you run your scripts, and carefully validating any user input, though if you're working with a low-value altcoin it may not be as important to you. I made a small altcoin to play with a while back, it has no value at the moment and probably never will so I didn't implement too much in the way of security; if you're preparing for something more important, you should spend more time on it accordingly.