Documentation: setting up hardware and installing on different OS's

[maxchernin]

Hello, iv'e recently started onboarding with cyphernode,

What im missing:

1. looking at the "low requirements, efficient use of resource" section:

• add instructions (can be external link?) on how to install pre-synced and/or pruned node
• add valid Operation systems that are supported (e.g. any standard linux dist, raspiOS, Windows 10+, macOs version ...) or specify specific OS that this cant be run on
• add instructions on how to install on Windows (if possible)
• running from your own laptop instead of a dedicated hardware (for dev purposes)

i will happily write some guidance once i progress with installation

[Kexkey]

Hi @maxchernin !

We have to put some effort to documentation. The doc/ folder needs love. :) There are several outdated texts in there that I have to get rid of and rewrite/refactor how it is structured. I'd like something very easy to follow depending on the user's profile (dev/user/operator/...)

Your contribution would be warmly welcome!

• I think it's a good idea to document that. Basically, all you need to do is copy the blocks/ and chainstate/ folders to the Cyphernode's bitcoin datapath.

• We don't support Windows because of considerations with Docker and how the file permissions are managed on Windows. It's been a while though, maybe things have improved. We could give a try... @schulterklopfer do you remember what were the particular problems with Windows? I think it was related to the installation but I'm not 100% sure.

• Cyphernode runs on all other OS that run Docker.

• I am almost constantly running CN on my laptop while developing. I'm on a Mac M1. Each docker image is built for ARM32 (RPi2-3), ARM64 (RPi4, Mac M1, NODL, etc.) and of course AMD64 (most PCs)

I am noting your points above and will try to answer and improve clarity in the existing docs.

Thanks!

[maxchernin]

Thanks for the reply, to your point:

all you need to do is copy the blocks/ and chainstate/ folders to the Cyphernode's bitcoin datapath

what datapath is that? i have a raspiblitz node synced on a HDD and want to use a different sdcard to install cyphernode and use that hdd

it also was not synced since last month so i have to resync blocks, is that supported? in case i dont have it in the path , cyphernode will download the entire blockchain to my hdd?

[Kexkey]

The datapath is the path where your Bitcoin Core data is stored. By default (during setup.sh), it is located in dist/cyphernode/bitcoin/ but maybe you changed the default. If you don't remember the path, you can have a look in the file dist/.cyphernodeconf/installer/config.sh at the BITCOIN_DATAPATH= line.

Cyphernode changed folder permissions when configuring the stack, so you may need to switch to root or cyphernode user to cd inside that folder.

Make sure cyphernode is not running when you copy the blocks/ and chainstate/ folders. On next start, Bitcoin Core should be able to use those copied files if they have to right permission (rw by the cyphernode user or your own user if you didn't choose to use the dedicated cyphernode user during setup).

You are right, when starting cyphernode, it will start Bitcoin Core and the node will start synching. Depending on your machine, it may already be synced. :-)