Topic: Which oparating system distribution for hosting a Bitcoin Core node? (Read 138 times)

My nodes mostly run headless on Raspi 4B hardware. I have RaspiBlitz running on one device, this is based on RaspiOS which is based on Debian. As a technological study object I also run Umbrel on another Raspi 4B, no productive or locked real coins involved there, because I don't see Umbrel as well designed in terms of security.

My daily driver is Ubuntu 22.04.x on a laptop that's basically on all the time (consumes ~10W while mostly idle). I leave it on and running because on that Ubuntu another Bitcoin Core is up and running all the time GUI-less (it doesn't need to, though) and I use that Core to perform some command-line requests with which I don't want to bother my RaspiBlitz or where Umbrel is a bit too cumbersome to use the cli.

And then there's another Raspi 4B running Raspibolt on RaspiOS light (no GUI) with which I can even more play with if I'm in the mood to do so.

I guess, I have a bit too many nodes running, but... well, who cares? They have some sort of purpose for me and that's it.

The OP should ask himself, what's the purpose of my node and decide on the appropriate platform based on his needs. When it needs to run 24/7 then choose a platform with low power usage if that doesn't hinder your other needs of the node. Can you maintain a headless solution.

What are your needs? There's usually no all-fit answer.

Any debian-based, linux distro would work fine. You can find some notable, full-node related topics in this forum. OpenSUSE and Debian to name a few. Also, well-known node OSes such as Raspibolt are using the Raspberry Pi OS, which is debian-based.

Those aren't best option though. All distro you mentioned (Lubuntu, Linux Mint and Ubuntu MATE) comes with it's own graphical desktop environment which usually isn't needed for hosting purpose which usually only use terminal.

I recommend you to use either Lubuntu or Linux Mint for the purpose because both of the operating systems are based on Ubuntu, however, they are much lighter in weight than Ubuntu. The Lubuntu is the fastest and lightest Linux distro, and it is pretty less resource hungry by nature. You can also try Ubuntu MATE as that one is also good choice for running Bitcoin core.

If you just want to run Bitcoin Node, the operating system doesn't matter, really except the Tails and live distros because if you run them, then you should be 100% uptime and connected because if your pc shuts down or you somehow unplug USB flash drive, then absolutely everything that you have done is lost. That's the purpose of Tails to leave no traces.

I think it's better for you if you play with Linux distros. You can try CentOS 7, Ubuntu, Elementary OS and then pick the one you prefer the most.

That's possible, but that's not what i have in mind when OP mention hosting.


That's not the only problem though, for example,
1. Tails is meant for device which have monitor and GPU. I don't know whether Tails have CLI only mode.
2. Whenever you need to reboot, you'll need to re-configure Tails manually (e.g. connect to Tor network, opening bitcoind).

That's OK for me. I don't mind liveOS (not persistent) as databases could be stored persistently on an attached SDD independently.

You can run Bitcoin Core on macOS by itself, but indeed, Apple doesn't make any servers, so the only way it makes sense to leave a node running on a mac 24/7 is if it's a desktop.


You can even use Livepatch (for free) to automatically patch the Linux kernel while its running, without reboots: https://ubuntu.com/security/livepatch

But I think that there needs to be some kind of service for automatically downloading and updating your node. It can be a 3rd-party program or something, but I think one hurdle to that would be if Bitcoin core has any callback "configurable shell command" that it can run when Core is about to shut down, similar to the blocknotify event.

Tails isn't an option since it meant to be live OS while MacOS server has been discontinued[1]. Most linux distro should work for your needs, although i would recommend you use popular option such as Debian, Ubuntu Server LTS, Rocky Linux or OpenSUSE.

[1] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208312

Aside support, Linux is completely open source, unlike some other operating system like Windows and MaxOS which are not open source or open source completely. According to what people are posting on this forum, truly Ubuntu will be the better one to go for.

Ubuntu Linux is the best to run a Bitcoin core node because they have a large community, it's secured and is way more stable than using other OS.
This means you can get more support if you experience some issues while running a full node.

Whicj oparating system distribution for hosting a Bitcoin Core node do you recommend (e.g. Debian GNU/Linux, Tails, NixOS, MacOS)?