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Usage

For installation, see Install or build from source.

For configuration, see configuration and how to connect with full node.

For connecting to rostrum with wallet or a programming library, see connecting article.

For public server, or websocket support, you'll want to add SSL/TLS Support.

Rostrum serves loads of metrics for monitoring, see monitoring.

Nexa Integration

Nexa on Linux includes Rostrum by default and runs it automatically alongside the node. This means you don't need to install or configure Rostrum separately when using Nexa on Linux.

On other platforms (macOS, Windows), the Electrum server is not enabled by default and must be explicitly enabled.

When the built-in Electrum server is enabled, Nexa automatically launches Rostrum as a separate process. This provides seamless integration but gives you less control over the Rostrum instance.

For better control over Rostrum, you can disable the built-in Electrum server and run Rostrum separately:

# Disable built-in Electrum server
nexad -electrum=0

# Then run Rostrum separately with full control over configuration
rostrum --db-dir ./rostrum-db --electrum-rpc-addr 127.0.0.1:20001

The Electrum server is enabled by default on Linux (equivalent to -electrum=1) and can be configured using various -electrum.* options:

  • -electrum or -electrum=1 - Enable the built-in Electrum server (default on Linux, must be specified on other platforms)
  • -electrum=0 - Disable the built-in Electrum server
  • -electrum.port - Port for Electrum RPC (default: mainnet 20001, testnet 30001, regtest 30401)
  • -electrum.host - Host for Electrum RPC (default: all interfaces)
  • -electrum.ws.port - Port for Electrum WebSocket (default: mainnet 20003, testnet 30003, regtest 30403)
  • -electrum.ws.host - Host for Electrum WebSocket (default: all interfaces)
  • -electrum.dir - Data directory for Electrum database
  • -electrum.shutdownonerror - Shutdown if the Electrum server exits unexpectedly
  • -electrum.blocknotify - Instantly notify Electrum server of new blocks
  • -electrum.rawarg - Raw argument to pass directly to underlying Electrum daemon (can be specified multiple times)

Platform-specific usage:

  • Linux: Electrum server runs by default, use -electrum=0 to disable
  • macOS/Windows: Use -electrum or -electrum=1 to enable the Electrum server

The -electrum.rawarg option is particularly powerful as it allows you to pass any Rostrum configuration option directly to the underlying daemon. For example:

# On Linux (enabled by default)
nexad -electrum.rawarg="--server-banner=\"Welcome to my server!\""

# On other platforms (must enable first)
nexad -electrum -electrum.rawarg="--server-banner=\"Welcome to my server!\""

Custom Rostrum binary location:

If your Rostrum executable is not in the same directory as nexad, you can specify the full path:

# Specify custom path to Rostrum binary
nexad -electrum.exec=/usr/local/bin/rostrum

# Or with full configuration
nexad -electrum -electrum.exec=/usr/local/bin/rostrum -electrum.host=127.0.0.1

Private Server Configuration

To make your Electrum server private and only accessible from the local machine, bind it to localhost (127.0.0.1):

# On Linux (enabled by default)
nexad -electrum.host=127.0.0.1 -electrum.ws.host=127.0.0.1

# On other platforms (must enable first)
nexad -electrum -electrum.host=127.0.0.1 -electrum.ws.host=127.0.0.1

This configuration ensures that: - The Electrum RPC server only listens on localhost (port 20001 by default) - The Electrum WebSocket server only listens on localhost (port 20003 by default) - External connections are blocked, making it a private server - Only applications running on the same machine can connect

For more configuration options, run nexad --help and look for the "Electrum server options" section.