Setting up a masternode requires a basic understanding of Linux and blockchain technology, as well as an ability to follow instructions closely. It also requires regular maintenance and careful security, particularly if you are not storing your Hellar on a hardware wallet. There are some decisions to be made along the way, and optional extra steps to take for increased security.
Commercial masternode hosting services are available if you prefer to delegate day-to-day operation of your masternode to a professional operator. When using these hosting services, you retain full control of the masternode collateral and pay an agreed percentage of your reward to the operator.
A VPS, more commonly known as a cloud server, is fully functional installation of an operating system (usually Linux) operating within a virtual machine. The virtual machine allows the VPS provider to run multiple systems on one physical server, making it more efficient and much cheaper than having a single operating system running on the “bare metal” of each server.
A VPS is ideal for hosting a Hellar masternode because they typically offer guaranteed uptime, redundancy in the case of hardware failure and a static IP address that is required to ensure you remain in the masternode payment queue. While running a masternode from home on a desktop computer is technically possible, it will most likely not work reliably because most ISPs allocate dynamic IP addresses to home users.
Before beginning, take a few minutes to review the masternode hardware requirements which may help you decide which VPS provider best suits your needs. We will use Vultr hosting as an example of a VPS, although DigitalOcean, Amazon EC2, Google Cloud, Choopa and OVH are also popular choices. First create an account and add credit. Then go to the Servers menu item on the left and click + to add a new server. Select a location for your new server on the following screen:
Vultr server location selection screen
Select Ubuntu 20.04 x64 as the server type. We use this LTS release of Ubuntu instead of the latest version because LTS releases are supported with security updates for 5 years, instead of the usual 9 months.
Vultr server type selection screen
Select a server size offering at least 2GB of memory.
Vultr server size selection screen
Enter a hostname and label for your server. In this example we will use dashmn1 as the hostname.
Vultr server hostname & label selection screen
Vultr will now install your server. This process may take a few minutes.
Vultr server installation screen
