🛰️ Nexus Multi-Node Setup with Docker Compose, Watchtower & Telegram Alerts

You can choose automatic installation via script or manual setup.

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⚡️ Option 1: Automatic Installation (Recommended) - Supports Multiple Nodes

Just run this one-liner in your terminal (first install or update):

curl -o nexus3.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pittpv/nexus-node/refs/heads/main/nexus3.sh && chmod +x nexus3.sh && ./nexus3.sh

For future runs:

cd $HOME && ./nexus3.sh

When installing the node(s), the script will:

• Ask for your Telegram TG_TOKEN, TG_CHAT_ID and validate it;
• Ask for batch NODE_ID upload or manual entry;
• Create separate nexus-nodes/ and watchtower/ directories in your $HOME;
• Set up .env and docker-compose.yml for Nexus;
• Set up .env and docker-compose.yml for Watchtower;
• Let you start/stop/remove containers via an interactive menu.

If Watchtower is already configured, the script will ask before overwriting.

📌 Latest Updates 29-09-2025

⚠️ On some machines, an issue occurs with node version 0.10.15 and 0.10.16 running via Docker. Please downgrade to version 0.10.14 using new feature

• Added a downgrade feature (option 8)
  • Downgrade of multiple nodes is supported
  • Choose lastest to restore automatic updates.

📅 Version History

07-07-2025

• Added support for creating multiple Nexus nodes
  • Batch loading of node IDs via the nexus-nodes.txt file or manually
  • --max-threads setting
  • Convenient node identification on the server—the node ID is added to the container name and folder
• Added batch node management
  • Delete all nodes at once or a specific one
  • Start/stop all containers at once or a specific one
  • Check and display container status (running ✅, stopped ❌)
• New log viewing mechanism based on tmux. Thanks to @leznoxx (Discord) for the function idea
  • View up to 4 containers on one screen (in one session). The number of sessions is unlimited.
  • Supports navigation between tmux sessions when dealing with more nodes. One tmux session = 4 containers.
  • Convenient usage instructions displayed right before launching log viewing. Exit log viewing with Ctrl+B then D.
• Minor UX improvements

04-07-2025

• Added a function to check machine resources and calculate recommended value for --max-threads parameter. Thanks to @leznoxx (Discord) for the function idea
• Updated main menu order
• Minor UX improvements

03-07-2025

• Added multi-thread support --max-threads to node installation function (for powerful machines)
  • Value is saved to .env file
• Added automatic download of latest Nexus image and Watchtower during node installation
• Added a Docker installation check before setting up the node (for users who are unsure whether Docker is installed on their system).
• Enhanced the create/delete swap file function for compatibility with both WSL and standard Ubuntu.

02-07-2025

• Added the function of creating and deleting a swap file.
  • You can create a file of 8, 16, 32 GB.
  • It will show if the file already exists and its size.
• Added the function of increasing ulimit (file descriptor limit)
  • Increases for the current session to a maximum value of 65535
  • Shows the previous limit

01-07-2025

Improvements:

• After exiting the container view, the terminal is cleared and returns to the menu.
• When deleting a node, there is an additional prompt to delete Watchtower (can be skipped if it's used by other containers).
• Watchtower container is removed from Stop/Start—the command now only applies to the node container.

30-06-2025

• Added a function to view the node container
• Minor improvements

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⚙️ Option 2: Manual Setup - One node setup

⚠️ Prerequisite: Make sure Docker and Docker Compose are installed on your system. You can follow this guide to install Docker and dependencies if you don't have it installed yet.

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📁 Step 1: Create Nexus Directory

mkdir nexus && cd nexus

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🐳 Step 2: Pull the Latest Nexus Image

docker pull nexusxyz/nexus-cli:latest

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🔍 Step 3: Obtain Your Node ID

1. Open the Nexus web app in your browser and Sign in.
2. Click Add Node → Add CLI node.
3. Copy your Node ID – it will look like a long alphanumeric string.

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📄 Step 4: Create docker-compose.yml for Nexus

Inside the nexus/ directory, create:

services:
  nexus-cli:
    container_name: nexus
    restart: unless-stopped
    image: nexusxyz/nexus-cli:latest
    init: true
    command: start --node-id NODE_ID
    stdin_open: true
    tty: true
    labels:
      - com.centurylinklabs.watchtower.enable=true

🔁 Replace NODE_ID with the value you copied in Step 3.

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📁 Step 5: Create Watchtower Directory

mkdir watchtower && cd watchtower

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📄 Step 6: Create docker-compose.yml for Watchtower

services:
  watchtower:
    image: containrrr/watchtower
    container_name: watchtower
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
    environment:
      - WATCHTOWER_CLEANUP=true
      - WATCHTOWER_POLL_INTERVAL=3600
      - WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATIONS=shoutrrr
      - WATCHTOWER_NOTIFICATION_URL=telegram://TG_TOKEN@telegram?channels=TG_CHAT_ID
      - WATCHTOWER_INCLUDE_RESTARTING=true
      - WATCHTOWER_LABEL_ENABLE=true

🛡️ Replace TG_TOKEN and TG_CHAT_ID with your Telegram bot token and chat ID.

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🚀 Step 7: Launch Both Containers

From each folder (nexus/ and watchtower/), run:

docker compose up -d

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🔧 Useful Docker Commands

# Show running containers
docker ps -a

# Show watchtower logs
docker logs -f watchtower

# Show Nexus logs (for one node setup)
docker attach nexus

# Exit from container viewer (for one node setup)
Ctrl+P then Ctrl+Q

# tmux exit from container viewer
Ctrl+B then D

# Restart a container
docker restart nexus

# Stop and remove containers
docker compose down

# Recreate containers
docker compose up -d

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🛠️ Troubleshooting

1. permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket on WSL

Cause: Your user is not part of the docker group.

Solution: Run the following command and restart the terminal (WSL):

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

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2. Nexus container keeps restarting

Cause: Not enough RAM available.

Solution:

• Use latest update of Nexus
• Run the node on a machine with more available memory.
• Partial workaround:
  • Create a swap file
  • Increase ulimit limits

You can do both using option 7 and option 8 in the script.

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✅ Done!

Your Nexus node is now:

✅ Running via Docker Compose

✅ Automatically updated via Watchtower

✅ Sending update notifications to Telegram

Enjoy smooth and reliable operation! 🚀

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If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me on the Nexus Discord server by mentioning @pittpv. Here’s the invite link: https://discord.gg/yCg6b7W7Zd

Official docs: https://docs.nexus.xyz/layer-1/testnet/testnet-3