Electrs Litecoin Setup

N. P. O'Donnell, 2021

Ubuntu instructions. More info can be found here

Install Dependencies

sudo apt update
sudo apt install clang cmake build-essential rustc cargo librocksdb-dev

Cloning / Building

Clone and select version:

git clone https://github.com/romanz/electrs.git
git tag
git checkout <latest tag> # eg. git checkout v0.8.6

Build:

cargo build --locked --release

Installing Locally

Assume the Litecoin daemon runs under a user called litecoin:

ELECTRS_DATA_DIR=/electrs-ltc # perhaps change to a directory on a faster disk
sudo mkdir -p $ELECTRS_DATA_DIR
sudo mkdir -p $ELECTRS_DATA_DIR/db
sudo chown litecoin $ELECTRS_DATA_DIR
sudo chgrp litecoin $ELECTRS_DATA_DIR
sudo -u litecoin chmod 700 $ELECTRS_DATA_DIR

Copy binary:

sudo cp target/release/electrs /usr/local/bin

Preparing Litecoin Node

Modify litecoind.conf file to set at least rpccokiefile and rpcport:

# Example litecoind.conf

rpccookiefile=/litecoin/.cookie
rpcport=9332

# Does not need to be set to 1 but it's no harm.
txindex=1

Configuring Electrs

Create a file called /electrs-ltc/electrs.toml:

# electrs.toml

network = "bitcoin" # Not a mistake. Set network to "bitcoin".
db_dir = "/electrs-ltc/db"
cookie_file = "/litecoin/.cookie"
#daemon_dir = "/litecoin" # DO NOT INCLUDE daemon_dir. Electrs doesn't like litecoind's data files.
jsonrpc_import = true
daemon_rpc_addr = "127.0.0.1:9332"
electrum_rpc_addr = "0.0.0.0:50001"
verbosity = 3

Running Electrs

Make a test run in a terminal (will cause initial sync, so perhaps run with screen or tmux):

sudo su litecoin # Switch to user litecoin first. su -u ... won't work!
cd /electrs-ltc # also required.
RUST_BACKTRACE=full electrs --conf electrs.toml -vvvv

Running as a Systemd Service

Example Unit file:

# electrs-ltc.unit
[Unit]
Description=Electrs Litecoin
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/electrs --conf /electrs-ltc/electrs.toml
WorkingDirectory=/electrs-ltc
User=litecoin
Group=litecoin
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Then enable and start the service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable electrs-ltc
sudo systemctl start electrs-ltc

Ensure service is running:

systemctl status electrs-ltc

Tail logs:

journalctl --follow _SYSTEMD_UNIT=electrs-ltc.service

Running Electrum-LTC

On client machine, run Electrum-LTC with only your personal server and will not allow any other server to be used:

electrum-ltc-3.3.8.1-x86_64.AppImage --oneserver --server=<hostname>:50001:t

npodonnell/electrs_litecoin_setup.md