P2pool-Scanner-Go

P2pool-Scanner-Go is a simple p2pool scanner written in Go. Unlike many other p2pool scanners, P2pool-Scanner-Go does not need to be run alongside an existing p2pool node or Core wallet. It is originally developed to be used for the discovery of Vertcoin P2pool nodes, but will also work for other coins such as BTC and LTC with the appropriate changes made to the config file.

TODO

[] Add a front facing web interface to display P2pool nodes

API endpoint

The program also features an API endpoint /nodes. The endpoint returns a JSON response with all known public P2pool nodes. The response features all known information about the node and additionally the geolocation of the node (if setup).

How to use

To use this scanner you firstly need to build it.

Before launching P2pool-Scanner-Go you need to set up a configuration file. See the subsection.

Config file

Setting up the config file can be as easy as renaming example_config.json to config.json, and editing the fields as required.

The BootstrapNodes and Port are the most important parts of this file. These are the first nodes that the scanner will reach and ask for peers. It is therefore essential for these nodes to be active. If you don't know about any existing node, you can find them in the P2pool codebase for your project under p2pool-vtc/p2pool/networks/<coin.py>. The port is the default port of the P2pool Node.

RescanTime sets the time in minutes before the scanner will rescan over the known nodes. The rescan updates their listed stats, and rescans their peers.

I encourage you to read the following subsections in order to use the p2pool scanner effectively.

Forward Domain Lookup

P2pool nodes' peers are always returned as IPv4 addresses. Therefore the option of doing a domain lookup exists. Using domain names looks more professional/cleaner and if the IP of the node changes for a miner using this scanner, they won't lose the connection on their next startup.

To use this feature, you need to know the domain name of the node. This information is added to config.json under NodeDomain, see example_config.json.

Geolocation

The scanner utilizes a geolocation service to display the geolocation of the public P2pool nodes. A free account can be created with (at the time of writing) 100 requests/month. Your access key needs to be added in config.json in the AccessKey field; "AcessKey": "?access_key=key".

If you don't wish to utilize this service you can leave the fields with the existing text from example_config.json or blank. This will leave the geolocation fields in the JSON response blank.

Alternatively, another geolocation service can used by modifying the fields inside GeoLocation (and possibly util/geo.go) slightly.

Building

The project utilizes one external dependency chi, to handle HTTP requests.

To build the project from the source, you firstly need to have Go installed. Then run the following commands inside the repository clones main folder:

go mod download

go build main.go

This should add chi to your GoPATH and produce an executable main.exe. Upon launching main.exe with a valid configuration file, the scanning will begin.

Donations

If you want to support the development of this program, feel free to donate!

Vertcoin: VogeggDpe5RL5hafA8prUAMFvzKqb9G2ih