Hosted Bitsquare using VPS

[meapistol]

I have managed to install and view Bitsquare using a Google Compute Engine instance. This is the way I did it:

Go to Google compute engine (https://cloud.google.com/compute/) and start an instance using the free trial. One gets $300 credit and 60 days trial period. I used one CPU, 40 GByte of boot disk, and the default value of RAM, 3.75 GB.
I chose Ubuntu 16.04 LTS as the operating system.
How to make a project and start an instance is explained in: https://goo.gl/1Ljy7O
which also explains how to install a vnc-server. In short, ssh to your instance, which can be done from the google compute engine (gce) console, then execute:
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install tightvncserver
$ sudo apt-get install aptitude tasksel
$ sudo tasksel install gnome-desktop --new-install
$ sudo apt-get install gnome-panel gnome-settings-daemon metacity nautilus gnome-terminal
$ sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop
$ sudo apt-get install gnome-session-fallback
$ vncserver

Some of these installations are not given in https://goo.gl/1Ljy7O, but I found them to be either necessary or useful.

The last command will prompt you for a password and the option of having a view only password.

One then has to open the Firewall on the instance which is best explained in: https://goo.gl/1Ljy7O
This is done on the gce console in the web browser.

After this download a vnc viewer for your local computer. I used https://www.realvnc.com/ and the free trial version.
There is also a Chrome extension for vnc, which seems to work.
My computer is a MacBook running OS X 10.9.5.

It is necessary to change the .vnc/xstartup file. From your home directory:
$ cd .vnc
and then edit xstartup using your favourite editor, e. g. vim.
I use the following script in xstartup:

!/bin/sh

[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -solid grey -cursor_name left_ptr
vncconfig -iconic &
x-terminal-emulator -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &
x-window-manager &
gnome-session &
gnome-panel &
gnome-settings-daemon &
metacity &
nautilus &

Having done this you might have to do a reboot:
$ sudo reboot

After the instance has rebooted, ssh to it from gce console and start vncserver. If you want you may specify a geometry.

$ vncserver
$ vncserver -geometry 1280x1024

and then login using the vncviewer on your local computer. You should now have a nicely looking desktop in your vncviewer, either interactive or view only depending on which password you used. You still have to download Bitsquare and install it.

$ wget https://github.com/bitsquare/bitsquare/releases/download/v0.4.8/Bitsquare-64bit-0.4.8.deb
$ sudo dpkg -i Bitsquare-64bit-0.4.8.deb

On the vnc-desktop under application/other you should find Bitsquare and be able to start it by selecting it. It resides under /opt/Bitsquare.

I have tried to use vnc on my Android Nexus phone and can interact with Bitsquare also then. It is thus seems possible to trade using a mobile phone.

UPDATE Aug. 21: A problem I found and could not solve is that cut and paste does not work using RealVNC. I now switched the client to Jump Desktop without any changes to the server that I connect to. This works much better and seems to be faster also. I bought Jump Desktop for about $35 from Apple Store. Worth every penny given the trouble I've had with RealVNC.

IMPORTANT I have found that ssh from the gce console can become nonworking quite easily. I suggest that you find another safer way to access your instance. In my case I tried gcloud shell which can be found on the gce console. The login command is:

$ gcloud compute ssh INSTANCENAME

which will prompt for the time-zone of your instance. I guess Google needs to know which datacenter to connect to.

This worked even if the console ssh did not work. Having established a connection I could establish a normal ssh connection (with a new key-pair) using the standard OS X terminal.

Even if ssh fails, VNC will tend to work if it is setup.

[ManfredKarrer]

Great thanks! I added it to the wiki as well: https://github.com/bitsquare/bitsquare/wiki/Hosted-Bitsquare-using-VPS

[ivilata]

Cool! @meapistol, I suggest that you have a look at X2Go as a replacement for VNC, it's way faster over bad links and it has the ability to start new remote sessions from the client, so that you can avoid the xstartup script.

[meapistol]

Thks, I will try this. VNC is indeed very slow and I have not been able to cut and paste yet, which is almost necessary for Bitsquare. On a positive note, I can always ssh to the instances now, using a terminal.

[haiqu]

This is good news, since I'm in no position to keep a computer running 24/7 here on the yacht. I may even be able to wedge it in with the HOdlcoin node I run on Scaleway, which would make it a freebie.

Thanks.

[haiqu]

Had an extended though on this. If the app were running on a server, a thin client or web browser plugin could allow multiple users via FIDO U2F keys for the login.

[meapistol]

I have now updated the instructions on the wiki, using a simple installation script instead. Rebooting does not seem necessary anymore.
https://github.com/bitsquare/bitsquare/wiki/Hosted-Bitsquare-using-VPS

[ManfredKarrer]

Great thanks @meapistol !!! Now people can access Bitsquare via mobile as well!

[ripcurlx]

Do we still need this issue open, as there is the wiki entry for it already available? Also we have the API (https://github.com/mrosseel/bisq-api) by @mrosseel which covers this in a way.

[cbeams]

Closing as complete (or at least no longer needed / relevant). Probably should have been closed a long time ago.