Bonus guide: JoinMarket webui (Jam)

Difficulty: Intermediate

Status: Tested v3

We set up Joinmarket-webui, a graphical user interface for JoinMarket.

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Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Prerequisites
3. Dependencies
   1. Node.js
   2. Node Package Manager
   3. JoinMarket preparations
   4. Nginx preparations
   5. Ufw preparations
4. Install Jam
5. Establish systemd services for JoinMarket and Jam
   1. Create a JMwalletd service
   2. Create OBwatcher service
   3. Create Jam systemd service
6. Visit your Jam web server
7. Remote access via Tor Hidden Service
8. For the future: Jam update
   1. Not impressed? Uninstall Jam
   2. Remove Nginx configuration

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Introduction

Jam a web interface for JoinMarket focusing on user-friendliness and ease-of-use. It aims to provide sensible defaults and be easy to use for beginners while still having the features advanced users expect.

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Prerequisites

• Nginx reverse proxy section
• JoinMarket Guide

Dependencies

Node.js

To run Jam, we need to install Node.js

• With user “admin”, let’s check our version of Node.js running on the node. If the version is v14 or older, update it following this tutorial.

  $ node -v
  > v16.13.1

• If Node.js is not installed, add the Node.js package repository from user “admin” and install Node.js using the apt package manager

  $ curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_16.x | sudo -E bash -
  $ sudo apt install nodejs -y

Node Package Manager

Node Package Manager (npm) is the default package manager for the JavaScript runtime environment

• With user “admin”, let’s check our version of npm running on the node

  $ npm -v
> 8.19.2

• If not already installed, install npm package manager

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install npm -y

• Update npm to the latest version

$ sudo npm install latest-version

JoinMarket preparations

• Provide values for config variables max_cj_fee_abs and max_cj_fee_rel in joinmarket.cfg. Set them to values you feel comfortable with.

$ sudo su - joinmarket
$ cd .joinmarket
$ nano joinmarket.cfg

• Uncomment these two separate lines, set desired values, then save

max_cj_fee_rel = 0.00003

max_cj_fee_abs = 600

• Generate self-signed certificate in JoinMarket’s working directory

$ mkdir ssl/ && cd "$_"

$ openssl req -newkey rsa:4096 -x509 -sha256 -days 3650 -nodes \
  -out cert.pem -keyout key.pem \
  -subj "/C=US/ST=Utah/L=Lehi/O=Your Company, Inc./OU=IT/CN=example.com"

$ exit

Nginx preparations

• Create Nginx reverse proxy for Jam

$ sudo nano /etc/nginx/streams-enabled/jam-reverse-proxy.conf

• Add configuration below to file and save

upstream jam {
  server 127.0.0.1:3020;
}
server {
  listen 4020 ssl;
  proxy_pass jam;
}

• Verify nginx config and look for ok/successful

  $ sudo nginx -t
  > Ok
  

• Reload nginx

  $ sudo systemctl reload nginx
  

Ufw preparations

• Allow incoming https requests for Jam

$ sudo ufw allow 4020/tcp comment 'allow JAM SSL'

• Verify ufw entry

$ sudo ufw status
> ...

Install Jam

• Create a dedicated user for Jam and switch to user

$ sudo adduser --disabled-password --gecos "" jam

$ sudo su - jam

• Obtain developer pgp signature for verification

$ curl https://dergigi.com/PGP.txt | gpg --import

• Check the latest Jam release version. You can also confirm with the release page

$ LATEST_VERSION=$(wget -qO- https://api.github.com/repos/joinmarket-webui/jam/releases/latest | grep -oP '"tag_name": "\K(.*)(?=")')
$ echo $LATEST_VERSION

• Retrieve source code

You can also use the latest release version ($LATEST_VERSION). However, please be aware that newer releases might not have been thoroughly tested with the rest of the RaspiBolt configuration.

$ VERSION="v0.1.5"
$ git clone https://github.com/joinmarket-webui/jam.git --branch $VERSION --depth=1

• Verify release by looking for Good signature response

$ cd jam

$ git verify-tag $VERSION
...
> gpg: Good signature from "Gigi <dergigi@pm.me>" [unknown]
> gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature!
> gpg:          There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner.
> Primary key fingerprint: 8198 A185 30A5 22A0 9561  2439 89C4 A25E 69A5 DE7F

• Install Jam using npm

$ npm install

• Update Jam’s default port to prevent overlap with any existing services

$ nano .env

• Add the following to file and save

PORT=3020

• Logout of Jam user

$ exit

Establish systemd services for JoinMarket and Jam

• Using admin user create the following systemd services

Create a JMwalletd service

$ sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/jmwalletd.service

• Add the following text to file and save

# RaspiBolt: systemd unit for JoinMarket API
# /etc/systemd/system/jmwalletd.service

[Unit]
Description=JoinMarket API daemon
After=bitcoind.service

[Service]
WorkingDirectory=/home/joinmarket/joinmarket/scripts/
ExecStart=/bin/sh -c '. /home/joinmarket/joinmarket/jmvenv/bin/activate && python3 jmwalletd.py'
User=joinmarket

Restart=always
RestartSec=30

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

• Enable and start service

$ sudo systemctl enable jmwalletd

$ sudo systemctl start jmwalletd

Create OBwatcher service

$ sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/obwatcher.service

• Add the following text to file and save

# RaspiBolt: systemd unit for JoinMarket Orderbook Watcher
# /etc/systemd/system/obwatcher.service

[Unit]
Description=JoinMarket Orderbook Watcher daemon
After=bitcoind.service

[Service]
WorkingDirectory=/home/joinmarket/joinmarket/scripts/
ExecStart=/bin/sh -c '. /home/joinmarket/joinmarket/jmvenv/bin/activate && python3 obwatch/ob-watcher.py --host=127.0.0.1'
User=joinmarket

Restart=always
RestartSec=30

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

• Enable and start service

$ sudo systemctl enable obwatcher

$ sudo systemctl start obwatcher

Create Jam systemd service

$ sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/jam.service

• Add the following text to file then save and exit

# RaspiBolt: systemd unit for JoinMarket WebUI (Jam)
# /etc/systemd/system/jam.service

[Unit]
Description=JoinMarket WebUI (Jam) daemon
After=jmwalletd.service obwatcher.service

[Service]
WorkingDirectory=/home/jam/jam/
ExecStart=/usr/bin/npm start
User=jam

Restart=always
RestartSec=30

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

• Enable and start service

$ sudo systemctl enable jam

$ sudo systemctl start jam

Visit your Jam web server

• Congratulations! You now have the Jam web interface integrated with your JoinMarket back-end on your node. Using your web browser, visit the Jam web located at https://raspibolt.local:4020 and unlock wallet using your JoinMarket wallet password.

• Take a moment to review the Jam cheatsheet and FAQ before diving in.

Remote access via Tor Hidden Service

• Add the following three lines in the “location-hidden services” section in the torrc file then save and exit.

$ sudo nano /etc/tor/torrc

# Hidden Service Jam
HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/hidden_service_jam/
HiddenServiceVersion 3
HiddenServicePort 443 127.0.0.1:4020

• Reload Tor configuration and get your connection address.

$ sudo systemctl reload tor
$ sudo cat /var/lib/tor/hidden_service_jam/hostname
> abcdefg..............xyz.onion

• With the Tor browser, you can access this onion address from any device.

For the future: Jam update

Updating to a new release is straight-forward. Make sure to read the release notes first.

• From user ‘admin’, stop the Jam service then switch to ‘jam’ user

$ sudo systemctl stop jam

$ sudo su - jam

• Remove the Jam directory

$ rm -rf jam

• Repeat installation steps in the ‘Install Jam’ section. Don’t forget to verify the release and configure the port!

• Finally, start the Jam service again.

$ sudo systemctl start jam

Not impressed? Uninstall Jam

• Add ‘admin’ user, stop and remove JoinMarket/Jam services

 $ sudo systemctl stop jam.service 
 $ sudo systemctl disable jam.service 
 $ sudo rm /etc/systemd/system/jam.service

 $ sudo systemctl stop obwatcher.service 
 $ sudo systemctl disable obwatcher.service 
 $ sudo rm /etc/systemd/system/obwatcher.service

 $ sudo systemctl stop jmwalletd.service 
 $ sudo systemctl disable jmwalletd.service 
 $ sudo rm /etc/systemd/system/jmwalletd.service

• Remove Jam user

$ sudo userdel -r jam

• Remove Tor configuration. Comment or remove the following lines the restart Tor service.

$ sudo nano /etc/tor/torrc

# Hidden Service Jam
#HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/hsv3/
#HiddenServiceVersion 3
#HiddenServicePort 443 127.0.0.1:4020

$ sudo systemctl restart tor

Remove Nginx configuration

• Remove Nginx configuration for Jam

$ sudo rm /etc/nginx/streams-enabled/jam-reverse-proxy.conf
$ sudo systemctl reload nginx