📜 Introduction

This guide will walk you through setting up Database 4 Everything (Db4E) on your system, from installing dependencies to launching the application.

📝 Prerequisites

✅ Debian Linux

Db4E is certified for Debian 12 “Bookworm” and works best on a clean, minimal installation.
We recommend the NetInst ISO with only the following option selected during setup:

Standard system utilities

Db4E should also run on other modern Linux distributions with minimal changes.

📥 Required Packages

Before installing Db4E, make sure the following packages are installed:

sudo apt-get install gnupg curl libhwloc15 python3.11-venv libzmq5 pip

📦 Why they’re needed

gnupg, curl — for installing MongoDB
libhwloc15 — required by XMRig
python3.11-venv, pip — for Python virtual environment and installing Db4E
libzmq5 — required by P2Pool

🕵️ Dedicated db4e Account (Optional)

Pro Tip: For security and isolation, we recommend creating a dedicated Linux user for Db4E (e.g., db4e). This step is optional, but considered a best practice.

🗃️ Install MongoDB

MongoDB is not included in Debian’s default repositories. See the Installing MongoDB page for full instructions on setting up the official MongoDB Community Edition repository and installing the database.

🔧 Set Up a Python Virtual Environment

Db4E is distributed as a PyPI package. It’s recommended to install it inside a virtual environment:

python3 -m venv db4e
. db4e/bin/activate

✅ Install Db4E

Once your virtual environment is activated:

pip install db4e

🧩 Initial Install & Setup

Launch Db4E from your virtual environment:

db4e

On first launch, you’ll be guided through the Initial Install screen.

You’ll be asked to provide:

Your Monero wallet address (for mining payouts)
A deployment directory (used to store binaries, configuration files, logs etc.)

Once you click Proceed, Db4E will perform an environment setup using elevated privileges via sudo.

⚙️ What the Installer Does

The db4e-initial-setup.sh script performs the following:

Creates a custom sudoers entry (/etc/sudoers.d/db4e) to allow system control of Monero, P2Pool, and XMRig without prompting for a password
Installs systemd service definitions for all Db4E-managed components under /etc/systemd/system/
Sets XMRig ownership to root and sets the suid bit so it can access CPU MSRs (model-specific registers) for optimized performance

🔐 Sudo Configuration (Temporary)

For the Initial Install to complete successfully, your user must be able to execute sudo commands without being prompted for a password.

If you’re using the default Debian sudo configuration:

%sudo    ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

You must temporarily change it to:

%sudo    ALL=(ALL:ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

⚠️ Important: After completing the Initial Install, you can safely revert this change.

🚀 Launch Db4E

To launch the application from your virtual environment:

db4e

Db4E will start in terminal UI (TUI) mode. If setup was successful, you’ll see the main dashboard interface.

🚧 What’s Next

The current release sets up the core environment and provides a functional TUI interface.

Coming soon:

Remote and local Monero daemon configuration
P2Pool and XMRig deployment management
Performance monitoring and system health checks

Stay tuned — these features are actively in development.
In the meantime, you can follow updates on the Blog or join the discussion on GitHub Discussions.