Host a node on Microsoft Azure

[doof]

I get a bit of free credit with Microsoft Azure, so I host a few bitcoin nodes.  Digital Ocean have some good documentation, so I thought id document the steps for MS Azure.  The goal is to have very clear steps that anyone can follow, and the smallest possible foot print / dependencies.

If anyone would like to peer review the steps, they can be found at...

https://github.com/evapeak/bitcoind/blob/master/README.md

Note:  Ill be adding a few more screen shots very soon.

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[mishax1]

That looks pretty nice and not too complex..

Do you need to have the Ubuntu server image or is it already located on the Azure ?

[grue]

I also run a node on azure, but I have a few suggestions:

• you should be running bitcoin as a separate user so in the event of a exploit in bitcoind, you server doesn't get pwned.
• you should be using a upstart/init.d script otherwise bitcoind will not restart if the server reboots (rare, but still happens on azure).
  
• you can avoid making a symlink for bitcoind's data directory by directly mounting the datadrive on ~/.bitcoin
• bitcoin uses TCP 8333, not udp
• you should use basic_a1 or basic_a0 to save a bit of money
• if you don't want sync to take forever, get a D3 or D4 vm, symlink ~/.bitcoin to /mnt/bitcoin (so bitcoin can sync on ssd). once it's synced, move the the data over to the data disk

here's my upstart script for bitcoind (put in /etc/init/bitcoind.conf)

Code:

description "bitcoind"

start on filesystem
stop on runlevel [!2345]
oom score -500

respawn
respawn limit 10 60 # 10 times in 60 seconds

script
        user=bitcoin
        home=/home/$user
        cmd=/usr/bin/bitcoind
        pidfile=$home/bitcoind.pid
        # Don't change anything below here unless you know what you're doing
        [[ -e $pidfile && ! -d "/proc/$(cat $pidfile)" ]] && rm $pidfile
        [[ -e $pidfile && "$(cat /proc/$(cat $pidfile)/cmdline)" != $cmd* ]] && rm $pidfile
        exec start-stop-daemon --start -c $user --chdir $home --pidfile $pidfile --nicelevel 10 -m --startas $cmd
end script

[Heads-Tails]

What is the $USD cost to operate a MS Azure bitcoin node for a month?

[emrebey]

here's my upstart script for bitcoind (put in /etc/init/bitcoind.conf)

Code:

description "bitcoind"

start on filesystem
stop on runlevel [!2345]
oom score -500

respawn
respawn limit 10 60 # 10 times in 60 seconds

script
        user=bitcoin
        home=/home/$user
        cmd=/usr/bin/bitcoind
        pidfile=$home/bitcoind.pid
        # Don't change anything below here unless you know what you're doing
        [[ -e $pidfile && ! -d "/proc/$(cat $pidfile)" ]] && rm $pidfile
        [[ -e $pidfile && "$(cat /proc/$(cat $pidfile)/cmdline)" != $cmd* ]] && rm $pidfile
        exec start-stop-daemon --start -c $user --chdir $home --pidfile $pidfile --nicelevel 10 -m --startas $cmd
end script

there is a upstart configuration lives in the official codebase: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/contrib/init/bitcoind.conf

What is the $USD cost to operate a MS Azure bitcoin node for a month?

depends of the machine you will use but it cost much. use digitalocean if you look for a cheap and fast solution.

[mishax1]

Just found an even cheaper solution - http://fullnode.info/howto.html

[grue]

Just found an even cheaper solution - http://fullnode.info/howto.html

if you click the link, you'll see that the $19/year offer is no longer available.

[notlist3d]

I get a bit of free credit with Microsoft Azure, so I host a few bitcoin nodes.  Digital Ocean have some good documentation, so I thought id document the steps for MS Azure.  The goal is to have very clear steps that anyone can follow, and the smallest possible foot print / dependencies.

If anyone would like to peer review the steps, they can be found at...

https://github.com/evapeak/bitcoind/blob/master/README.md

Note:  Ill be adding a few more screen shots very soon.

Azure was giving a little bit of a credit a while back when you start. 

Digital Ocean if you use high CPU usage be prepared to submit documentation proving your identity if they are like they were.  I know I had just one account and they wanted me to jump through hoops.  But this was in days of cpu mining.

[ranochigo]

I get a bit of free credit with Microsoft Azure, so I host a few bitcoin nodes.  Digital Ocean have some good documentation, so I thought id document the steps for MS Azure.  The goal is to have very clear steps that anyone can follow, and the smallest possible foot print / dependencies.

If anyone would like to peer review the steps, they can be found at...

https://github.com/evapeak/bitcoind/blob/master/README.md

Note:  Ill be adding a few more screen shots very soon.

Azure was giving a little bit of a credit a while back when you start. 

Digital Ocean if you use high CPU usage be prepared to submit documentation proving your identity if they are like they were.  I know I had just one account and they wanted me to jump through hoops.  But this was in days of cpu mining.

If you have an MSDN invite or admin, you will automatically get $150 credit per month. However, the price is very expensive for bandwidth and the VM.