dash/doc/init.md

Sample init scripts and service configuration for dashd

Sample scripts and configuration files for systemd, Upstart and OpenRC can be found in the contrib/init folder.

contrib/init/dashd.service:    systemd service unit configuration
contrib/init/dashd.openrc:     OpenRC compatible SysV style init script
contrib/init/dashd.openrcconf: OpenRC conf.d file
contrib/init/dashd.conf:       Upstart service configuration file
contrib/init/dashd.init:       CentOS compatible SysV style init script

Service User

All three Linux startup configurations assume the existence of a "dashcore" user and group. They must be created before attempting to use these scripts. The macOS configuration assumes dashd will be set up for the current user.

Configuration

At a bare minimum, dashd requires that the rpcpassword setting be set when running as a daemon. If the configuration file does not exist or this setting is not set, dashd will shutdown promptly after startup.

This password does not have to be remembered or typed as it is mostly used as a fixed token that dashd and client programs read from the configuration file, however it is recommended that a strong and secure password be used as this password is security critical to securing the wallet should the wallet be enabled.

If dashd is run with the "-server" flag (set by default), and no rpcpassword is set, it will use a special cookie file for authentication. The cookie is generated with random content when the daemon starts, and deleted when it exits. Read access to this file controls who can access it through RPC.

By default the cookie is stored in the data directory, but it's location can be overridden with the option '-rpccookiefile'.

This allows for running dashd without having to do any manual configuration.

conf, pid, and wallet accept relative paths which are interpreted as relative to the data directory. wallet only supports relative paths.

For an example configuration file that describes the configuration settings, see contrib/debian/examples/dash.conf.

Paths

Linux

All three configurations assume several paths that might need to be adjusted.

Binary: /usr/bin/dashd
Configuration file: /etc/dashcore/dash.conf
Data directory: /var/lib/dashd
PID file: /var/run/dashd/dashd.pid (OpenRC and Upstart) or /var/lib/dashd/dashd.pid (systemd)
Lock file: /var/lock/subsys/dashd (CentOS)

The configuration file, PID directory (if applicable) and data directory should all be owned by the dashcore user and group. It is advised for security reasons to make the configuration file and data directory only readable by the dashcore user and group. Access to dash-cli and other dashd rpc clients can then be controlled by group membership.

macOS

Binary: /usr/local/bin/dashd
Configuration file: ~/Library/Application Support/DashCore/dash.conf
Data directory: ~/Library/Application Support/DashCore
Lock file: ~/Library/Application Support/DashCore/.lock

Installing Service Configuration

systemd

Installing this .service file consists of just copying it to /usr/lib/systemd/system directory, followed by the command systemctl daemon-reload in order to update running systemd configuration.

To test, run systemctl start dashd and to enable for system startup run systemctl enable dashd

NOTE: When installing for systemd in Debian/Ubuntu the .service file needs to be copied to the /lib/systemd/system directory instead.

OpenRC

Rename dashd.openrc to dashd and drop it in /etc/init.d. Double check ownership and permissions and make it executable. Test it with /etc/init.d/dashd start and configure it to run on startup with rc-update add dashd

Upstart (for Debian/Ubuntu based distributions)

Upstart is the default init system for Debian/Ubuntu versions older than 15.04. If you are using version 15.04 or newer and haven't manually configured upstart you should follow the systemd instructions instead.

Drop dashd.conf in /etc/init. Test by running service dashd start it will automatically start on reboot.

NOTE: This script is incompatible with CentOS 5 and Amazon Linux 2014 as they use old versions of Upstart and do not supply the start-stop-daemon utility.

CentOS

Copy dashd.init to /etc/init.d/dashd. Test by running service dashd start.

Using this script, you can adjust the path and flags to the dashd program by setting the DASHD and FLAGS environment variables in the file /etc/sysconfig/dashd. You can also use the DAEMONOPTS environment variable here.

macOS

Copy org.dash.dashd.plist into ~/Library/LaunchAgents. Load the launch agent by running launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.dash.dashd.plist.

This Launch Agent will cause dashd to start whenever the user logs in.

NOTE: This approach is intended for those wanting to run dashd as the current user. You will need to modify org.dash.dashd.plist if you intend to use it as a Launch Daemon with a dedicated dashcore user.

Auto-respawn

Auto respawning is currently only configured for Upstart and systemd. Reasonable defaults have been chosen but YMMV.