Setting up AWS for staking Neblio and running NDEX Critical Node for 1 free year

 Hello Everyone,

In this short tutorial I will try to expand on some guidelines previously posted on Telegram and show you with some screenshots and details how to set-up NEBL staking in AWS free for the 1st year including running a Neblidex Critical Node.

 1. You need to create and AWS account with Amazon for the AWS Free Tier.

• Go to  and click on Create a Free Account
• We are going for EC2 instance Windows t2.micro with 750 Hours free per month for the first year. This is more than sufficient to run your QT wallet and stake NEBL. 
•  Fill in all necessary information register your account. This includes email, name, address, phone and payment details.
• After you complete the registration, confirm your email and sing-in to the AWS Management Console you can chose the most relevant geographical region on the upper right of the screen.

2. Creating and configuring your EC2 Instance

• On the main page of your AWS Management Console select Launch a virtual machine.
• Select Free tier only on the left and choose Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Base
• On the second step (tab Choose Instance Type) choose t2.micro instance type
• Got to tab 6 – Configure Security Group. Set up Source to be “Anywhere” and add:
  • For NEBL staking - two custom rules for port 6325 – one UDP and one TCP.
  • For running a NDEX CN -two custom rules for port 55364 - one UDP and one TCP. 
• Click “Review and Launch” and “Launch”
• When the next window opens up select “Create a new pair” (you will create a new pair for all instances you create). Name your key pair (ex.Neblio, Neblidex,PTN etc) and click on  “Download keypair”
• Go to your EC2 Dashboard and under Network & Security select Elastic IPs.
  • Click “Allocate new address” and then “Allocate“
  • Close
  • Put a check in the box that you are adding an Elastic IP to and click “Actions” then “Associate address”
  • You will see a Instances addresses drop down. Select the instance we have just created and click on “Associate”

3. Launching and accessing your EC2 Instance

• Click on “Launch instance”
• In the green box you will see two hyperlinks. Click on the first one.
• Wait for “Instance State” and “Status Checks” to initialize.
• Click Connect
• Select “get password”. It may have a message that you need to wait 4 minutes. Try again a minute or two later.
• In the box paste your private key and click “decrypt password”
• Note down your Administrator Password.                                                
• On the same window “Connect To Your Instance” click on the Download Remote Desktop File    
• You can now use the downloaded .rdp file and the Administrator password you retriever earlier to access your Windows Virtual Machine.

4. Configuring the Windows VM for NEBL Staking - once you login you can install the QT wallet, restore your wallet from a backup and let it sync. After that you are ready to start staking your dear NEBL.

5. Configuring the Windows VM for running a NDEX CN - in order to get the CN running you need to do few further steps in order to ensure proper network configuration:

• Open the Advanced Firewall Settings by going to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Windows Firewall ->  Advanced Settings on the left side.
• Once in the Advanced Firewall Settings you need to add 2 Inbound rules for port 55364 - one for UDP and one for TCP
  • Go to Inbound Rules and Select Port. Click Next
  • Select TCP and input the port number 55364. Click Next
  • Select “Allow the connection”. Click Next.
  • Leave all boxed checked. Click Next.
  • Give the Rule a name - NDEX TCP for example.
  • Click Finish.
  • Repeat i. to vi. but selecting UDP as Port type on step 2.

 This means that your Windows firewall is now ready to accept connection required to run a CN. 

• Last but not least we need to configure our Ethernet adapter to work with a static IP.
  • Open Command Prompt by typing cmd in the Run window.
  • Type “ipconfig /all” to display all Network configuration of the VM
  • Under Ethernet adapter note down the IPv4 Address, Subnet Mask, Default Gateway and DNS Server.
  • From Control Panel select Network and Internet -> Network and Sharing Center -> Change adapter settings on the left side.
  • Right click on the Ethernet and select Properties. Double click on Internet Protocol Version 4.
  • Select “Use the following IP address” and enter the values we captured in step iii. Click OK.
  • Restart the VM and connect again after it comes back online.

Congratulations, you are now ready to run a CN on AWS VM. Install the client, get your wallet ready with at least 39k NDEX and at least 0.00055 NEBL and Activate CN mode.

In case you experience any difficulties or have questions do not hesitate to contact me on Telegram - @sircashalot or leave a comment below the post.