ElectrumX Setup on Ubuntu

Setup and run ElectrumX Server

1. Install

   apt install python3-pip
   pip3 install plyvel
   git clone https://github.com/spesmilo/electrumx.git
   cd electrumx
   pip3 install .
   cp contrib/systemd/electrumx.service /etc/systemd/system/
   mkdir /path/for/electrumx-data-dir
   

2. Edit electrumx.service

   ...
   ExecStart=/path/to/electrumx/git/electrumx_server
   User=yourusername
   ...
   

3. Generate self-signed certificate (so Electrum wallet can connect over TLS):

   cd /path/for/electrumx-data-dir
   openssl genrsa -out server.key 2048
   openssl req -new -key server.key -out server.csr
   # leave everything blank if desired
   openssl x509 -req -days 1825 -in server.csr -signkey server.key -out server.crt
   

4. Create config file /etc/electrumx.conf. Populate with environment variables:

   COIN=BitcoinSegwit
   DB_DIRECTORY=/path/to/data-dir/
   DAEMON_URL=bitcoin-rpc-username:[email protected]
   TOR_PROXY_HOST=127.0.0.1
   PEER_DISCOVERY=self
   PEER_ANNOUNCE=
   SERVICES=tcp://:50001,ssl://:50002
   SSL_CERTFILE=/path/for/electrumx-data-dir/server.crt
   SSL_KEYFILE=/path/for/electrumx-data-dir/server.key
   

5. Start and monitor

   systemctl daemon-reload
   systemctl enable electrumx.service   # start at boot
   service electrumx start
   journalctl -u electrumx -f
   

6. Test via commandline

   ### Via 50001
   echo '{ "id": "1", "method": "blockchain.headers.subscribe"}' | nc 127.0.0.1 50001
   
   ### Or, for SSL connection on 50002
   openssl s_client -connect 127.0.0.1:50002
   
   ### Then
   {"id":"1", "method":"server.version"}
   {"id":"1", "method":"blockchain.scripthash.get_history", "params":["956f9b4a458184b75680fe5737a0854208ad960923d3cfe5a1c07769a26ce5dc"]}