ZNode Sentinel: A 1-Click Zebra Node Installer. Worth building?

[SafeguardLabs]

hey so i had this idea for a tool and i want to share it with you guys i would like you to check the technical parts and tell me if it makes sense or if im missing something important

where did this idea come from

so i tried to set up a zebra node and it was like 2+ hours fighting with dependency errors like libclang-dev and build-essential and port conflicts with docker and manual config files and creating separate users for security and all that stuff

now i have my node syncing but the process was way harder than it needed to be you know

i also developed a web to see zcash nodes and i noticed that there are a lot of outdated nodes out there probably because maintaining them is complicated or people just dont have time for that

so i was thinking what if there was something that simplifies all of this it would be really interesting to have a tool that makes this easier

The idea: ZNode Sentinel

a tool that makes it easier to run and maintain a zcash node

What it would do:

Feature	Description
Web Dashboard	see node status without touching the terminal
One-Click Install	zebra + lightwalletd + monitoring pre-configured
Assisted Updates	notification + GPG verification + you confirm
Tor/I2P Integration	optional network privacy
Alerts	telegram/email if something fails
Security Sidecar	protection against node-specific attacks

Why does this matter?

zcash doesnt have an equivalent to umbrel (bitcoin) or dappnode (ethereum):

Feature	Umbrel	DAppNode	Zcash
Web dashboard	Yes	Yes	No
One-click	Yes	Yes	No
Auto-updates	Yes	Yes	No
Light server integrated	Yes	N/A	No

umbrel reached 90% market share in new lightning nodes so there is real demand for this kind of thing

zcash data:

• only 100-150 active nodes (vs 15000 for bitcoin)
• zcashd is deprecated in 2025 so there is urgency to migrate to zebra
• ZCG RFP 2022 asked for exactly this and nobody delivered

Proposed technical features

full stack in docker compose:

• zebra 3.0.0 (sync 35-40% faster around 15-16 hrs)
• lightwalletd for mobile wallets (zashi ywallet zingo)
• prometheus + grafana for metrics
• native health endpoints from zebra 3.0+

privacy integration:

• tor hidden services for anonymous p2p
• i2p support as alternative
• onlynet=onion + onlynet=i2p configuration

automatic hardening (with your approval):

• pre-configured ufw firewall
• ssh keys only with non-standard port
• rate limiting on rpc
• kernel hardening with sysctl
• apparmor/selinux profiles

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Vulnerabilities it would solve

documented problems that the tool would mitigate:

Vulnerability	Solution
Eclipse attacks (node isolation)	peer diversification and limit per IP
RPC 8232 publicly exposed	localhost only + reverse proxy with auth
SSH brute force	fail2ban + rate limiting + keys only
Dependencies with CVEs	automated auditing + verified updates
OOM during sync	optimized configuration for limited VPS

common errors it would automate:

• missing dependencies like libclang protobuf etc
• incompatible rust version
• port conflicts
• insufficient disk space
• clock sync issues

Security concerns and answers

auto-updates are dangerous

• they are not automatic the system notifies shows changelog verifies GPG signature and you confirm
• automatic rollback if the node doesnt sync post-update

web dashboard is an attack vector

• rpc never exposed directly
• https mandatory with lets encrypt
• auth with unique password + optional 2fa
• rate limiting + blocking after failed attempts

The novel part: security sidecar

i did some research and there is no open-source equivalent for this:

• daemon in go running alongside zebrad
• detects eclipse attacks and anomalies
• blocks dangerous rpc commands
• automatic alerts
• lightweight for limited vps

the closest thing is blockdaemon trust center but thats enterprise and closed-source

Comparison with existing tools

Feature	Umbrel	Start9	DAppNode	ZNode Sentinel
Zcash-native	No	No	Partial	Yes
Local HTTPS	No	Yes	No	Yes
Granular permissions	No	Yes	No	Yes
Shielded transactions	N/A	N/A	N/A	Optimized
License	PolyForm NC	Open Source	Open Source	Open Source

Current status

i have around 20% developed already (prototypes and basic docker compose) but before continuing i want to know what you guys think

What i would like to know

1. does this approach make sense technically?
2. do you see any security problems i havent considered?
3. what features would be most important to you?
4. do you know of any similar tool im missing?
5. is it worth continuing to develop this?

any technical feedback or criticism is welcome

[jenkin]

I think it’s a good proposal, let me share my recent experience.

I followed the z3 repo of zcash foundation without issues, it’s all dockerized and works quite well with defaults. Documentation is for quite advanced user, I faced many issues because I didn’t really know the data flow of the stack (so the services exposed).

Now I have zebra synced and discoverable and zaino running and exposed, with all TLS stuff in place. All from my home (this is a key point of my configuration, because full cloud hosting is expensive and my home router can’t accept incoming traffic).

Now I’m trying to run lightwalletd on top of the same zebra node. Then all monitoring stuff.

I think z3 is a very good starting point, but it needs a documentation for technical users that know nothing about zcash. Something that doesn’t explain what docker is, but explains why and how a grpc interface is exposed.

I want to spend some time during Xmas holidays to write down my journey and describe my setup, I’ll share it here when available.

[Mr.Monkey]

I think it’s a brilliant idea.

[SafeguardLabs]

Aside from your own expertise, I would love to hear what the community thinks about this idea and its approach. Is there anything that seems incoherent or doesn’t add up?