Run a Mainnet Node

How to Join the Mainnet#

There are two ways to run an aelf node: using Docker (recommended) or running binaries from GitHub. Before starting, you need to install some tools and frameworks. Command line instructions are provided for most dependencies. For complex needs, see the Environment setup section.

Steps to Set Up a Node#

Execute the snapshot download script and load the snapshot into the database.

Download our template setting files and Docker run script.

Modify the appsettings according to your needs.

Run and check the node.

Configuration Requirements#

Minimum Configuration:#

c5.xlarge or N2 instance: 4 vCPU, 8GiB RAM, 1TB storage, 5 Mbps bandwidth

Recommended Configuration:#

c5.2xlarge or N2 instance: 8 vCPU, 16GiB RAM, 1TB storage, 100 Mbps bandwidth

Note:

For non-block producing nodes, there is no requirement on the number of nodes.

To become a BP, run individual nodes for both MainChain aelf and all SideChains.

Time Syncing: Ensure your server is time-synced via NTP to avoid syncing issues.

Setup the Database#

We support Redis and SSDB for storing node data. For mainnet, we provide snapshots for SSDB only. Configure two SSDB instances: one for the chain database and one for the state database (run on different machines for better performance).

Import the Snapshot Data#

Create a snapshot directory and navigate to it:

1mkdir snapshot
2cd snapshot

Fetch the snapshot download script:

1curl -O -s https://aelf-backup.s3.ap-northeast-2.amazonaws.com/snapshot/mainnet/download-mainchain-db.sh

Execute the script (specify a date if needed):

1sh download-mainchain-db.sh

Restore the chain database from snapshot:

1tar xvzf aelf-mainnet-mainchain-chaindb-*.tar.gz
2stop your chain database instance (ssdb server)
3cp -r aelf-mainnet-mainchain-chaindb-*/* /path/to/install/chaindb/ssdb/var/
4start your chain database instance
5enter ssdb console (ssdb-cli) use the "info" command to confirm that the data has been imported)

Restore the state database from snapshot:

1tar xvzf aelf-mainnet-mainchain-statedb-*.tar.gz
2stop your state database instance (ssdb server)
3cp -r aelf-mainnet-mainchain-statedb-*/* /path/to/install/statedb/ssdb/var/
4start your state database instance
5enter ssdb console (ssdb-cli) use the "info" command to confirm that the data has been imported)

Node Configuration#

Generating the Node's Account#

Install the aelf-command npm package:

1npm i -g aelf-command

Create an account/key-pair:

1aelf-command create

Follow the prompts to set a password and save the account info.

Prepare Node Configuration#

Download the settings template and Docker script:

1cd /tmp/
2wget https://github.com/aelfProject/aelf/releases/download/v1.6.0/aelf-mainnet-mainchain.zip
3unzip aelf-mainnet-mainchain.zip
4mv aelf-mainnet-mainchain /opt/aelf-node

Update the appsettings.json file with your account information:

1{
2    "Account": {
3        "NodeAccount": "2Ue31YTuB5Szy7cnr3SCEGU2gtGi5uMQBYarYUR5oGin1sys6H",
4        "NodeAccountPassword": "**"
5    },
6    "ConnectionStrings": {
7        "BlockchainDb": "redis://your chain database server ip address:port",
8        "StateDb": "redis://your state database server ip address:port"
9    },
10    "Network": {
11        "BootNodes": [
12            "xxx.xxxx.xxx.xxx:6800"
13        ],
14        "ListeningPort": 6800
15    },
16    "CrossChain": {
17        "Grpc": {
18            "LocalServerPort": 5000
19        }
20    }
21}

Running a Full Node with Docker#

Pull aelf’s Docker image and start the node:

1docker pull aelf/node:mainnet-v1.6.0
2cd /opt/aelf-node
3sh aelf-node.sh start aelf/node:mainnet-v1.6.0

To stop the node:

1sh aelf-node.sh stop

Running a Full Node with the Binary Release#

Install the .NET Core SDK (version 6.0).

Get the latest release and run the node:

1cd /tmp/
2wget https://github.com/aelfProject/aelf/releases/download/v1.6.0/aelf.zip
3unzip aelf.zip
4mv aelf /opt/aelf-node/
5cd /opt/aelf-node
6dotnet aelf/aelf.Launcher.dll

Running a Full Node with the Source#

Ensure the code version is consistent (aelf v1.6.0).

Compile on an Ubuntu Linux machine (recommended Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS) with .NET Core SDK version 6.0.

Check the Node#

Run the following command to check the node's block height:

1aelf-command get-blk-height -e http://your node ip address:port

Running Side-Chains#

Download and Restore Snapshot Data (steps are the same as in Setup the Database).

Run Side-Chain Node:

1cd /tmp/
2wget https://github.com/aelfProject/aelf/releases/download/v1.6.0/aelf-mainnet-sidechain1.zip
3unzip aelf-mainnet-sidechain1.zip
4mv aelf-mainnet-sidechain1 /opt/aelf-node

Update appsettings.SideChain.MainNet.json with your node information:

1{
2    "CrossChain": {
3        "Grpc": {
4            "ParentChainServerPort": 5001,
5            "ParentChainServerIp": "your mainchain ip address",
6            "ListeningPort": 5011
7        },
8        "ParentChainId": "aelf",
9        "Economic": {
10            "SymbolListToPayTxFee": "WRITE,READ,STORAGE,TRAFFIC",
11            "SymbolListToPayRental": "CPU,RAM,DISK,NET"
12        }
13    },
14    "Network": {
15        "BootNodes": [
16            "sidechain-bootnode-ip:6800"
17        ],
18        "ListeningPort": 6800
19    }
20}

Note#

Ensure P2P ports are open and configured correctly for node communication.

1h
2bootnode → ["xxx.xxxx.xxx.xxx:6800", "..."]
3```
4
5```json
6{
7    "Network": {
8        "BootNodes": [
9            "Add the right boot node according to sidechain"
10        ],
11        "ListeningPort": 6800
12    }
13}
14```

Edited on: 17 July 2024 03:29:40 GMT+0