tREADME.md - electrum-personal-server - Maximally lightweight electrum server for a single user
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1 # Electrum Personal Server
2
3 Electrum Personal Server aims to make using Electrum bitcoin wallet more secure
4 and more private. It makes it easy to connect your Electrum wallet to your own
5 full node.
6
7 [Full node](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Full_node) wallets are important in
8 bitcoin because they are a big part of what makes the system trustless. No
9 longer do people have to trust a financial institution like a bank or Paypal,
10 they can run software on their own computers. If bitcoin is digital gold, then
11 a full node wallet is your own personal goldsmith who checks for you that
12 received payments are genuine.
13
14 Full node wallets are also important for privacy. Using Electrum under default
15 configuration requires it to send (hashes of) all your bitcoin addresses to some
16 server. That server can then easily spy on your transactions. Full node
17 wallets like Electrum Personal Server would download the entire blockchain and
18 scan it for the user's own addresses, and therefore don't reveal to anyone else
19 which bitcoin addresses they are interested in.
20
21 ## Contents
22
23 - [Features](#features)
24 - [Detailed how-to guide](#how-to)
25 - [Quick start for Debian/Ubuntu](#quick-start-on-a-debianubuntu-machine-with-a-running-bitcoin-full-node)
26 - [Links to other setup guides](#links-to-other-setup-guides)
27 - [How to expose the server to the internet](#exposure-to-the-internet)
28 - [How is this different from other Electrum servers ?](#how-is-this-different-from-other-electrum-servers-)
29 - [Articles, Discussion and Talks](#articles-discussion-and-talks)
30 - [Contributing](#contributing)
31
32 ### Features
33
34 - Fully-featured Electrum server for a single user. Combine full node security
35 and privacy with all of Electrum's feature-richness: (Hardware wallet
36 integration, [Multisignature wallets](http://docs.electrum.org/en/latest/multisig.html),
37 [Offline signing](http://docs.electrum.org/en/latest/coldstorage.html),
38 [Seed recovery phrases](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Seed_phrase), Coin control,
39 Fee-bumping)
40 - Maximally lightweight. Very low CPU, RAM and disk space requirements. Only a
41 full node required.
42 - Compatible with all Bitcoin Core resource-saving features:
43 - [Pruning](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/release-notes/release-notes-0.12.0.md#wallet-pruning)
44 - [Blocksonly](https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1377345.0)
45 - Disabled txindex
46 - Scriptable transaction broadcasting. When the user click "Send" the server
47 can be configured to run a system call with the new transaction:
48 - Broadcast transactions through Tor, for [resisting traffic analysis](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Privacy#Tor_and_tor_broadcasting).
49 - By writing a shell script (eg. `send-tx-over-sms.sh`) the server can
50 broadcast transactions via SMS, radio or any other creative way.
51
52 ## How To
53
54 - If you dont already have them, download and install Bitcoin Core version 0.17
55 or higher. Make sure you
56 [verify the digital signatures](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/50185/how-to-verify-bitcoin-core-release-signing-keys)
57 of any binaries before running them, or compile from source. The Bitcoin node
58 must have wallet functionality enabled, and must have the RPC server switched on (`server=1`
59 in bitcoin.conf). Create a wallet dedicated to Electrum Personal Server by adding
60 `wallet=electrumpersonalserver` to the bitcoin.conf file.
61
62 - If you dont already have it, download and install
63 [Electrum bitcoin wallet](https://electrum.org/), and set up your Electrum
64 wallet (for example by linking your hardware wallet). To avoid damaging
65 privacy by connecting to public Electrum servers, disconnect from the
66 internet first or run Electrum with the command line argument
67 `--server localhost:50002:s`. To avoid accidentally connecting to public
68 electrum servers, also use the command line argument `--offline`.
69
70 - Download the [latest release](https://github.com/chris-belcher/electrum-personal-server/releases)
71 of Electrum Personal Server. If using Windows OS take the packaged binary
72 release build `electrumpersonalserver-windows-release-XXX.zip`.
73
74 - Extract and enter the directory, and copy the file `config.ini_sample` to
75 `config.ini`. Edit the file `config.ini` to configure everything about the
76 server. Add your wallet master public keys or watch-only addresses to the
77 `[master-public-keys]` and `[watch-only-addresses]` sections. Master public
78 keys for an Electrum wallet (which start with xpub/ypub/zpub/etc) can be found
79 in the Electrum client menu `Wallet` -> `Information`. You can add multiple
80 master public keys or watch-only addresses by adding separate lines for the
81 different keys/addresses:
82
83 wallet1 = xpub661MyMwAqRbcF...
84 wallet2 = xpub7712KLsfsg46G...
85
86 - If you created a wallet dedicated to Electrum Personal Server in Bitcoin Core,
87 you have to modify the line `wallet_filename` in the `[bitcoin-rpc]` section
88 with the name of the wallet, for example `wallet_filename = electrumpersonalserver`.
89
90 - If using the windows packaged binary release, drag the file `config.ini` onto
91 the file `electrum-personal-server.exe` to run the server, or on the command
92 line run `electrum-personal-server config.ini`.
93
94 - If installing from the source release, install Electrum Personal Server in
95 your home directory with `pip3 install --user .`. On Linux the script
96 `electrum-personal-server` will be installed in `~/.local/bin`. Please note,
97 if for some reason, you want to make a system-wide install, simply run
98 `pip3 install .` as root (e.g. if you have `sudo` setup, you could use:
99 `sudo pip3 install .`). Run `electrum-personal-server /path/to/config.ini`
100 to start Electrum Personal Server.
101
102 - The first time the server is run it will import all configured addresses as
103 watch-only into the Bitcoin node, and then exit.
104 If the wallets contain historical transactions you can use the rescan script
105 (`electrum-personal-server --rescan /path/to/config.ini`) to make them appear.
106 If using the windows packaged binary release build then drag the file
107 `config.ini` onto the file `electrum-personal-server-rescan.bat`.
108
109 - Run the server again which will start Electrum Personal Server. Wait until
110 the message `Listening for Electrum Wallet ...` appears and then tell
111 Electrum to connect to the server in `Tools` -> `Server`. By default the
112 server details are `localhost` if running on the same machine. Make sure the
113 port number matches what is written in `config.ini` (port 50002 by default).
114
115 Pro Tip: run Electrum wallet with the command line arguments `--oneserver --server localhost:50002:s`.
116 This stops Electrum connecting to other servers to obtain block
117 headers; and locks Electrum to connect only to your server, disabling the GUI
118 button to stop accidental connections. This helps avoid a user accidentally
119 ruining their privacy by connecting to public Electrum servers. Another way
120 to do this is to open Electrum's config file and edit the lines to
121 `oneserver=true`.
122
123 Pro Tip2: run tor on the same machine as Electrum Personal Server. Then by
124 default transactions will be broadcast through tor. If running tor, also set
125 `walletbroadcast=0` in your `bitcoin.conf`. This prevents the node from
126 rebroadcasting transactions without tor.
127
128 ### Quick start on a Debian/Ubuntu machine with a running Bitcoin full node
129
130 1. Download the [latest release](https://github.com/chris-belcher/electrum-personal-server/releases)
131 of Electrum Personal Server. (Not the Windows version, the "Source code" zip or
132 tar.gz.)
133 1. Extract the compressed file
134 1. Enter the directory
135 1. `cp config.ini_sample config.ini`
136 1. Edit the config.ini file:
137 1. Add bitcoind back-end RPC auth information
138 1. Add wallet master public keys for your wallets
139 1. Install the server to your home directory with `pip3 install --user .`
140 1. Make sure `~/.local/bin` is in your \$PATH (`echo $PATH`). If not, add it:
141 `echo 'PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.profile`, logout, and log in again
142 1. Run the server: `electrum-personal-server config.ini`
143 1. Rescan if needed: `electrum-personal-server --rescan config.ini`
144 1. Restart the server if needed
145 1. Start your Electrum wallet: `electrum --oneserver --server localhost:50002:s`.
146
147 ### Links to other setup guides
148
149 - [How to setup Electrum Personal Server on a Raspberry Pi](https://github.com/Stadicus/RaspiBolt/blob/master/raspibolt_64_electrum.md)
150 - [Electrum Personal Server on Windows 10](https://driftwoodpalace.github.io/Hodl-Guide/hodl-guide_63_eps-win.html)
151 - [Running Electrum Personal Server on Mac OS](https://driftwoodpalace.github.io/Hodl-Guide/hodl-guide_64_eps-mac.html)
152 - [How to set up your own Bitcoin node, Electrum wallet and Server](https://curiosityoverflow.xyz/posts/bitcoin-electrum-wallet/)
153 - [How to set up Wireguard to connect to EPS](https://curiosityoverflow.xyz/posts/wireguard-eps/)
154 - [Linux setup video tutorial on youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JMP4NZCC5g)
155 - [BTCPay Server integration with Electrum Personal Server](https://docs.btcpayserver.org/ElectrumPersonalServer/)
156 - [Using Electrum Personal Server with a Bitseed node](https://github.com/john-light/bitcoin/blob/master/eps.md)
157 - [Spanish language video tutorial / Instalación del servidor Electrum Personal Server](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3idwecYvcU)
158 - [Japanese language setup guide](https://freefromjp.wordpress.com/2019/07/13/electrum-personal-server-%E3%81%AE%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB/)
159 - [Connect to Electrum Personal Server via Wireguard ](https://curiosityoverflow.xyz/posts/wireguard-eps/#connecting-to-electrum-personal-server)
160
161 #### Exposure to the Internet
162
163 Right now, Electrum Personal Server is easiest to use when it, your full node
164 and your Electrum wallet are all on the same computer.
165
166 Other people should not be connecting to your server. They won't be
167 able to synchronize their wallet, and they could potentially learn all your
168 wallet transactions. By default the server will accept connections only from
169 `localhost`, though this can be changed in the configuration file.
170
171 The whitelisting feature can be used accept only certain IP addresses ranges
172 connecting to the server. The Electrum protocol uses SSL for encryption. If
173 your wallet connects over the public internet you should generate your own
174 SSL certificate instead of using the default one, otherwise your connection
175 can be decrypted. See the configuration file for instruction on how to do
176 this.
177
178 Another option is to use a SSH tunnel to reach Electrum Personal Server. SSH
179 connections are encrypted and authenticated. This can be done on the command
180 line with: `ssh username@host -L 50002:localhost:50002` or with [Putty](https://www.putty.org/)
181 for Windows. Then connect Electrum to localhost, and SSH will forward that
182 connection to the server.
183
184 ##### Number of connections
185
186 Right now Electrum Personal Server can only accept one connection at a time.
187
188 ##### Lightning Network
189
190 Right now Electrum Personal Server does not support Lightning Network which
191 Electrum wallet 4.0 and above implements.
192
193 #### How is this different from other Electrum servers ?
194
195 They are different approaches with different tradeoffs. Electrum Personal
196 Server is compatible with pruning, blocksonly and txindex=0, uses less CPU and
197 RAM, is suitable for being used intermittently rather than needing to be
198 always-on, and doesn't require an index of every bitcoin address ever used. The
199 tradeoff is when recovering an old wallet, you must import your wallet first
200 and you may need to rescan, so it loses the "instant on" feature of Electrum
201 wallet. Other Electrum server implementations will be able to sync your wallet
202 immediately even if you have historical transactions, and they can serve
203 multiple Electrum connections at once.
204
205 Traditional Electrum servers inherently are not very scalable and use many
206 resources which push people towards using centralized solutions. This is what
207 we'd like to avoid with Electrum Personal Server.
208
209 Definitely check out other implementations:
210 - [ElectrumX](https://github.com/spesmilo/electrumx) - Full Electrum server maintained by the Electrum project
211 - [Electrs](https://github.com/romanz/electrs) - Full Electrum server coded in rust
212 - [Bitcoin Wallet Tracker](https://github.com/bwt-dev/bwt) - Wallet indexer coded in rust
213 - [Obelisk](https://github.com/parazyd/obelisk) - Minimal Electrum server using zeromq and libbitcoin as backend
214
215 #### Further ideas for work
216
217 - Allowing connections from more than one Electrum instance at a time. See issue
218 [#50](https://github.com/chris-belcher/electrum-personal-server/issues/50). First
219 the server code should be separated from the networking code.
220 - Fix mempool lock/CPU bottleneck issue. See issue [#96](https://github.com/chris-belcher/electrum-personal-server/issues/96).
221 - Research and develop an easier way of rescanning the wallet when blockchain
222 pruning is enabled. See issue [#85](https://github.com/chris-belcher/electrum-personal-server/issues/85).
223 - Developing some way for Electrum servers to authenticate clients, so that
224 Electrum Personal Server can accept connections from the entire internet but
225 without a fear of privacy loss.
226 - Dynamic adding of wallet master public keys. Perhaps by polling for changes
227 in the config file.
228
229 ## Contact
230
231 I can be contacted on freenode IRC on the `#bitcoin` and `#electrum` channels,
232 by email or on [twitter](https://twitter.com/chris_belcher_/).
233
234 My PGP key fingerprint is: `0A8B 038F 5E10 CC27 89BF CFFF EF73 4EA6 77F3 1129`.
235
236 ## Articles, Discussion and Talks
237
238 - [BitcoinMagazine.com article](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/electrum-personal-server-will-give-users-full-node-security-they-need/)
239 - [Electrum Personal Server talk at London Bitcoin Developer Meetup](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKMXYdfm-is)
240 - Electrum Personal Server used as a building block for systems which use
241 bitcoin without internet access. See [here](https://twitter.com/notgrubles/status/1091011511961731073)
242 and [here](https://medium.com/hackernoon/completely-offline-bitcoin-transactions-4e58324637bd)
243 for information and setup guide.
244 - [Mailing list email](https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2018-February/015707.html)
245 - [Bitcointalk thread](https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2664747.msg27179198)
246 - [Nasdaq article](https://www.nasdaq.com/article/the-electrum-personal-server-will-give-users-the-full-node-security-they-need-cm920443)
247 - [Bitcoinnews.ru article (russian)](https://bitcoinnews.ru/novosti/electrum-personal-server-uluchshennaya-versiya-/)
248 - [bits.media article (russian)](https://bits.media/razrabotchiki-electrum-opublikovali-alfa-versiyu-electrum-personal-server/)
249
250 ## Contributing
251
252 Donate to help improve Electrum Personal Server: `bc1qwt8kh83dpdj4yuquvsf28rhcft2rjh6jvy6678` or `15wAE63DG8RH6xp7nTucgYn1Jb4acR1EvM`. Signed donation addresses can be found [here](/docs/signed-donation-addresses.txt).
253
254 This is open source project which happily accepts coding contributions from
255 anyone. See [developer-notes.md](docs/developer-notes.md).