Syscoin 4 Masternodes Setup Unofficial Guide assuming a clean install

9 min readJun 5, 2019

MASTERNODE REQUIREMENTS

100,000.00 SYSCOIN
VPS with following;

64-bit CPU — 2 Cores (4 preferred)
4gb RAM (real) minimum (8gb RAM preferred)
4gb swap (if less than 8gb real RAM) Will need to use SSD if using Swap
VM or OpenVZ (KVM preferred)
Linux OS — Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS (Bionic Beaver) preferred
80gb Disk Space (100gb+ SSD preferred

VPS Providers

There are many VPS service providers that offer and exceed the hardware requirements, as such it is recommended that you shop around and do your own homework on various potential providers. Note the following is a list of just some examples and should not be interpreted as recommendations or endorsement.

INSTALLATION

To use this procedure you must have upgraded your QT to Sys4 or for a new user download QT from the link in the guide below and just add the config file no need to dumpwallet.

https://medium.com/@bittyjohn1954/syscoin-4-conversion-from-syscoin-3-1288c5027d45

PREPARE QT & SEND 100,000 SYS COLLATERAL

To stake your masternode you will need to provide exactly 100,000 SYS in your masternode address. Use Syscoin Core Qt for your system to process this transaction.
Please Enable the Masternode Tab and Coin Control it not already enabled

Close and reopen QT if requested
Wait for your local Syscoin Core Qt to fully sync
Unlock your wallet “Window > Console” and enter

walletpassphrase "my pass phrase" 180 (180 = 180 seconds)

Select “Window > Console” and enter masternode genkey to generate your masternode private key. Copy this value as you will need it later, it will look similar to the following:

You will need to create a new HD address do not reuse a Sys3 address.
Please use the console to generate your MN collateral legacy address do NOT press Receive to create it as it will be the wrong type.
Next type getnewaddress <LABEL> legacy (replacing <LABEL> with a name eg. mn1), to generate an address to use for your 100k collateral. Masternodes require legacy addresses, and will not work with the new Bech32 addresses that start with sys. Copy down this address as well as you will need to send your collateral to it in the next step.
If the address starts with sys you have NOT included legacy and will need to regenerate a legacy address.
If the address starts with ‘3’ you have not used the console.

If you are configuring multiple masternodes you will need to create a unique masternode private key and unique collateral address for each masternode using the steps above. Once the address is created for each masternode send a collateral transaction of exactly 100,000SYS to the address for each masternode using the next steps.

- WARNING: If you use the same address for multiple masternodes your reward payouts cannot be completed.

Use Coin Control to ensure that you send your collateral from the correct address. Go to “Send” and then “Inputs” to select the input that you would like to send from.
Please note this is a Test wallet and balances are not real

Next enter your masternode collateral address from the previous step into the “Pay To” field. Enter “100,000” exactly into the “Amount” field and do NOT subtract fees from the amount as it will reduce your collateral total.

Press “Send” to send your Syscoin to your masternode collateral address. You will need to wait 1 block — approximately 1 minute — for the transaction to confirm.
Next you will need to get the transaction id for the collateral by selecting the “Transactions” tab to see ‘payment to yourself’. Right click this transaction to view the id, and copy it down as well for later use.

In Syscoin Core Qt again open the “Window > Console” menu and enter

masternode outputs

You will get a long string that is a hash of the transaction id from the previous step followed by a “0” or “1” to indicate the output index. The result should resemble the following:

Next we will have to edit the masternode.conf file.

For WIN
C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Syscoin
Or type %appdata% in the search box and click on Syscoin folderFor MAC
 CMD + Shift + G
 ~/Library/Application Support/Syscoin

If masternode.conf does not exist in the Syscoin folder you need to create one.

Right click and select New-Text document

Then change the name from ‘New Text Document.txt’ to ‘masternode.conf’

You will need to enter your masternode information using a text editor in the following format and use the public IP address of your server not your local computer. Make sure that the line does not start with a # as this will comment out the line!

masternode.conf
# Masternode config file
# Format: alias IP:port masternodeprivkey collateral_output_txid collateral_output_index
mn1 123.123.123.123:8369 7ra1rhngvNkhkiFE8STrmvH3LvYTCzLyRFHFsZvrJUBV6ZmWnc 06e38868bb8f9958e34d5155437d009b72dff33fc87fd42e51c0f74fdb 0

Save this file then close and restart Syscoin-Qt. If you don’t see your masternode listed in the “Masternode” tab please double check the above configuration.

If you now go to Coin Control you will see you collateral and it will have a padlock indicating it is locked. If you send any Syscoin from this wallet make sure that your collateral is locked.

Leave QT running whilst carrying out the VPS part.

CONFIGURE MASTERNODE ON VPS USING A SCRIPT

It’s a good idea to read through any script you find on the Internet before running it on a server with root privileges, including this one made by the community.

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Syscoin/Masternode-install-script/master/script.sh

Finally we are ready to work on your server. Connect to your VPS as root via SSH (Putty) and enter the following command to start the automated install:
Note this has only been tested on Ubuntu 16.04 and 18.04

bash <(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Syscoin/Masternode-install-script/master/script.sh)

Default values are found in brackets and pressing enter will selected the [default] value. For entries with a [Y/n] the capital letter is the default. Enter [Y] to choose “yes” or [N] to choose “no”. Likely the only value you will need to enter is your masternode private key.

Syscoin Core Github Branch [master]: 
Masternode Private Key []: Your Masternode private key
External IP Address [123.123.123.123]: 
Masternode Port [8369]:
Configure for mainnet? [Y/n]: 
 
Press any key to continue or Ctrl+C to exit...

Once the build process and configuration have completed, to access the syscoind and syscoin-cli executables via the new syscoin user type the below into cmd;

source ~/.bashrc

Check you are fully Synced and geth_sync_status = synced

syscoin-cli getblockchaininfo

The script will give you this error until you start your Masternode as below

"status": "Not capable masternode: Masternode not in masternode list"

START MASTERNODE

Back on your local computer and check the Masternode Sync progress
Go to the console and type

mnsync status

Wait for “IsSynced” True then close console.

There is a bug in QT stopping you from using the Masternode Tab to start your MN please see https://support.syscoin.org/t/i-cannot-initialize-my-masternode/27/2 for the procedure

If your “Status” ever changes after it has changed to enaled it’s recommended to confer with the #masternodes Discord Channel before restarting your node. If you restart you will need to re-qualify for rewards and won’t receive any rewards during this time.

If you get an error starting this way go back to the console and type

walletpassphrase yourpassword 600

To unlock your wallet then type

masternode initialize myMasternodeLabel

To start your Masternode (myMasternodeLabel is your label from the Masternode.conf file)

Eligibility for Rewards

Keep in mind that your masternode will not immediately be eligible for rewards. The eligibility period is determined by the formula ([number of masternodes] * 4) /60 in Hours.

Note, if you restart your masternode by pressing “Initialize” in Qt this counter will reset and you will not receive rewards until your masternode is eligible again.

Summary

This script installs the necessary dependencies to build the Syscoin Core from source. It creates a user named “syscoin” and uses a systemd service to start the syscoind process as the “syscoin” user, and it set to start on boot after the necessary networking services have started.

Updates and reconfigurations can be performed by entering the command sysmasternode or the initial auto install command bash <(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Syscoin/Masternode-install-script/master/script.sh)

SYSHUB

Now it is time to head over to SysHub and register your masternode. You can also create Proposals through the generator for Governance and Vote on upcoming Proposals. As the Governance has increased significantly we urge you to take part in voting.

GOVERNANCE

AS A PROUD OWNER OF A SYSCOIN MASTERNODE YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO TAKE PLACE IN GOVERNANCE VOTING PLEASE TAKE THE TIME ONCE A MONTH TO VOTE SEE SYSHUB FOR DETAILS.

THE AMOUNT OF GOVERNANCE HAS INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY SO MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT.

MASTERNODE COMMANDS IF YOU USED THE SCRIPT

View your syscoin.conf

nano /home/syscoin/.syscoin/syscoin.conf

View your sentinel.conf

nano /home/syscoin/sentinel/sentinel.conf

View the syscoin user crontab which should contain:

sudo crontab -u syscoin -l

Run a sentinel ping to speed up Qt syncing? why not!

sudo su -c "sentinel-ping" syscoin

View the sentinel-ping cron log, look for errors

sudo less /home/syscoin/sentinel/sentinel-cron.log

View the syscoind debug log, look for errors

sudo less /home/syscoin/.syscoin/debug.log

Start and stop the syscoind systemd service

sudo service syscoind stop
sudo service syscoind start
sudo service syscoind restart

Check that the syscoind process is running at the proper user

ps aux | grep [s]yscoind

Log out and back in or run the following to alias syscoind and syscoin-cli

source ~/.bashrc

now the commands run as the syscoin user

syscoin-cli getblockchaininfo
syscoin-cli mnsync status
syscoin-cli masternode status

It is aliased to this shorter function

syscli getblockchaininfo
syscli mnsync status
syscli masternode status

If you really want to log in as the syscoin user

sudo su - syscoin

Special thanks to demesm and doublesharp for the initial script, Bigpoppa for most of the conversion and bitje, johnp and the Syscoin team for upgrading and working out minor issues to get it running on SYS4.

MASTERNODE HELP

Never Accept Help via a Direct Message there are many scammers about and never give ANY files to anyone, the Syscoin Team will never ask for them.

SysHub: Register your masternodes with Syshub. You can also create Proposals through the generator for Governance and Vote on upcoming Proposals.

Syscoin Discord: If you require more help, jump into the Syscoin Discord and our community will be more than happy to help you out!

Sysnode.info: This website has an array of tools such as Masternode Stats, Monitoring and keeping up to date with current news with Syscoin.

CONFIGURE MASTERNODE ON VPS MANUALLY

You will have needed to have set your QT up as above then use this guide.