![Building_Steem.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmNqsbQU8pzAB23N4LXpqGFue2Hsx3GaYYtgzvNaBQEadN/Building_Steem.png)

---

The next Hardfork, HF20 <a href="https://steemit.com/steem/@therealwolf/simply-explained-hard-fork-20">(what is that?)</a>, is planned for Tuesday, 25th September 2018 15:00 UTC. 

I've already gone ahead and <a href="https://steemit.com/witness-update/@therealwolf/ready-for-hf20-or-witness-server-updated">updated steemd</a> on my primary witness-server and my seed-node to v0.20.0.

Instead of relying only on docker scripts, I also build Steem manually. And I know how difficult it is to find information/instructions about this. So I thought I'd make a post about it, for my fellow witnesses and those who want to become one in the future.

---

<h1>Building Steem Manually: Instructions</h1>

*The official instructions can be found on the Steem Github: https://github.com/steemit/steem/blob/master/doc/building.md*

I'm using Ubuntu 16.04 so that's what I'll use as the requirement here. (Other versions of Ubuntu need manually fiddelling with different versions of g++, boost etc.)

Additionally, you need at least 64GB RAM (or know how to deal with lower) in addition with 250GB+ disk space.

*Disclaimer: If you read this post much later than the time of posting, the requirements will prob. have changed.*

---

##  1.) Install Packages

The first step is to install all the needed packages.

### Required packages
`sudo apt-get install -y autoconf automake cmake g++ git libssl-dev libtool make pkg-config python3 python3-jinja2`

### Boost packages
`sudo apt-get install -y libboost-chrono-dev libboost-context-dev libboost-coroutine-dev libboost-date-time-dev libboost-filesystem-dev libboost-iostreams-dev libboost-locale-dev libboost-program-options-dev libboost-serialization-dev libboost-signals-dev libboost-system-dev libboost-test-dev libboost-thread-dev libsnappy-dev libbz2-dev`

### Other Packages

`sudo apt-get install -y ntp screen`

### Optional packages (not required, but will make a nicer experience for building)
`sudo apt-get install -y doxygen libncurses5-dev libreadline-dev perl`



---

## 2.) Clone Steem
Afterwards, we're going to clone the repository and checkout the correct branch.

```
git clone https://github.com/steemit/steem
cd steem
git checkout master #master is v0.20.0, stable is the  version before
git submodule update --init --recursive
```

---

### 3.) Build Binaries
Next up we are going to build the binaries - steemd & cli-wallet.
```
mkdir build
cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DLOW_MEMORY_NODE=ON -DCLEAR_VOTES=ON -DSKIP_BY_TX_ID=ON ..
make -j$(nproc) steemd
make -j$(nproc) cli_wallet

# create a local bin folder and copy the binaries there
mkdir ~/bin
cp programs/steemd/steemd ~/bin
cp programs/cli_wallet/cli_wallet ~/bin
cd ~/bin
```

---

### 4.) Verify Steemd Version

Afterwards, make sure you've got the right steemd version, by entering `steemd -v` while inside the `~/bin` folder.

It should look like:

```
steem_blockchain_version: 0.20.0
steem_git_revision:       9ea7ddf28c13b60df750434ddead8f7182d03e40
fc_git_revision:          9ea7ddf28c13b60df750434ddead8f7182d03e40

------------------------------------------------------

            STARTING STEEM NETWORK

------------------------------------------------------
initminer public key: STM8GC13uCZbP44HzMLV6zPZGwVQ8Nt4Kji8PapsPiNq1BK153XTX
chain id: 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
blockchain version: 0.20.0
------------------------------------------------------
```

---

### 5.) Set Up TMPFS

If you want to use TMPFS for the shared memory file:

```
sudo mount -o remount,size=64G /dev/shm #change the size AND/OR the path if you need to
sudo sysctl vm.swappiness=1
```

---

### 6.) Create Config

Once you've got the steemd bin, you need to run it, so that the default config gets created.

If you want to have a global data folder (outside the bin folder), you need to create it first.

```
#cd ~/bin
steemd -d data/ #data is the directory

# close steemd again
nano data/config.ini
```

---

### 7.) Edit Config

Now, change the following parameters, based on your requirements and save the config.

```
shared-file-dir = /dev/shm/
shared-file-size = 64G
witness = YOURWITNESSNAME
private-key = PRIVATEKEY
plugin = # use the plugins you need
```

---

### 8.) Download Blocklog

Normally you would need to reindex steemd, which takes a lot of time, instead of just replaying.

So to save time, we'll first download the block-log and decompress it. (or you can download the decompressed version directly)

```
cd ~/bin/data/blockchain
rm block_log # delete old log
rm block_log.index # delete old index

# Either you can downloaded the compressed version and decompress it
wget https://gtg.steem.house/get/blockchain.xz/block_log.xz
xz -d block_log.xz -v # decompress block_log (will take roughly 1+ hour based on log size)

# Or download the decompressed version directly (it is 3-4x bigger)
wget https://gtg.steem.house/get/blockchain/block_log
```

Once we've done that, we're nearly done.

---

### 9.) Screen Session

The only thing that is left: making sure steemd is running, even if we're not connected via ssh to the server.

For that I'm going to use `Screen` with bash scripts (all credits go to @drakos for those)



```
# First make sure you have screen installed.
sudo apt-get install -y screen

# Then we're going to create the scripts (change path if needed)
cd ~/bin
echo -e '#!/usr/bin/env bash\nsteemd -d ~/data' > ~/bin/steemd-start.sh
echo -e '#!/usr/bin/env bash\nsteemd -d ~/data --replay-blockchain' > ~/bin/steemd-replay.sh
chmod +x ~/bin/steemd*.sh

# Next, we're adding aliases to the ~/.bashrc file
nano ~/.bashrc

# Copy those lines below into the file and save (change path if needed)
echo -e 'logfile steemd.log\nlogfile flush 1\nlog on' > ~/bin/steemd.conf
alias startsteemd='screen -X -S steem quit ; rm ~/steemd.log ; cd ~ ; screen -c ~/bin/steemd.conf -dmSL steem ~/bin/steemd-start.sh'
alias replaysteemd='screen -X -S steem quit ; rm ~/steemd.log ; cd ~ ; screen -c ~/bin/steemd.conf -dmSL steem ~/bin/steemd-replay.sh'
alias entersteemd='screen -x steem'
alias logsteemd='tail ~/steemd.log -f -n30'
```

Afterwards logout and login or enter `source ~/.bashrc`.

#### Commands
- replaysteemd: replay steemd
- logsteemd: monitor the logs (tail)
- startsteemd: starts a screen session or kills it and starts again. (Exit with CTRl+A+D to leave process running)

When you run `startsteemd` or `replaysteemd` for the first time, you might get an error. Just enter it again.

Also, you should monitor the steemd.log size and delete it if it gets too big.

---

### 10.) NTP

Last but not least, to make sure you have an exact time-source and to prevent missed blocks due to time-differenes, we use NTP.

```
sudo apt-get install -y ntp # if you haven't already

sudo nano /etc/ntp.conf

# And then add these two lines
minpoll 5
maxpoll 7

# After saving the conf
sudo systemctl enable ntp
sudo systemctl restart ntp
```

To learn more about NTP: https://steemit.com/howto/@l0k1/howto-configuring-more-frequent-time-synchronisation-on-ubuntu

---

And that's it.

You should now have a Steem node that is ready to use.

I hope you found this post & the instructions helpful. And if there is an error or typo in this post, please let me know.

With that said: 

Take care!

*@therealwolf*

---
<sup>*Witness Infrastructure:*
`Primary Node: 128GB - v0.20.0 | Backup Node: 64GB - v0.19.12 | Seed Node: 64GB - v0.20.0`</sup>

<sup>*Projects I've developed on Steem:*
`Smartsteem.com > Investment & Promotion Service on Steem`
`Steem Chat-Wallet & Witness Essentials > Github: https://github.com/therealwolf42`
</sup>

<sup>If you believe that I'm of value for Steem, then please <a href="https://steemit.com/~witnesses">vote for me</a> as witness. You can also set me as a <a href="https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/account-witness-proxy?proxy=therealwolf&approve=1">proxy</a> and I'll vote on great witnesses for you.</sup>