description: Learn how to set up and run a testnet node
description: Set up and run a testnet node with Docker
icon: TestnetIcon
duration: 15 minutes
experience: beginners
@ -13,239 +13,180 @@ images:
## Introduction
This tutorial will walk you through the following steps:
This procedure demonstrates how to run a local testnet node using Docker images.
- Download and install the node software
- Run the node against testnet
- Mine Stacks token
-> This procedure focuses on Unix-like operating systems (Linux and MacOS). This procedure has not been tested on
Windows.
## Requirements
## Prerequisites
In order to run a node, some software and hardware requirements need to be considered.
Running a node has no specialized hardware requirements. Users have been successful in running nodes on Raspberry Pi
boards and other system-on-chip architectures. In order to complete this procedure, you must have the following software
installed on the node host machine:
### Hardware
- [Docker](https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/)
- [curl](https://curl.se/download.html)
- [jq](https://stedolan.github.io/jq/download/)
Running a node has no specialized hardware requirements. People were successful at running a node on Raspberry Pis, for instance.
Minimum requirements are moving targets due to the nature of the project and some factors should be considered:
### Firewall configuration
- compiling node sources locally requires computing and storage resources
- as the chain grows, the on-disk state will grow over time
In order for the API node services to work correctly, you must configure any network firewall rules to allow traffic on
the ports discussed in this section. The details of network and firewall configuration are highly specific to your
machine and network, so a detailed example isn't provided.
With these considerations in mind, we suggest hardware based on a general-purpose specification, similarly to [GCP E2 machine standard 2](https://cloud.google.com/compute/docs/machine-types#general_purpose) or [AWS EC2 t3.large standard](https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/instance-types/):
The following ports must open on the host machine:
- 2 vCPUs
- 8 GB memory
- ~50-GB disk (preferably SSDs)
Ingress:
It is also recommended to run the node with a publicly routable IP, that way other peers in the network will be able to connect to it.
- stacks-blockchain (open to `0.0.0.0/0`):
- `20443 TCP`
- `20444 TCP`
### Software
Egress:
If you use Linux, you may need to manually install [`libssl-dev`](https://wiki.openssl.org/index.php/Libssl_API) and other packages. In your command line, run the following to get all packages:
Ensure that you have Rust installed. If you are using macOS, Linux, or another Unix-like OS, run the following. If you are on a different OS, follow the [official Rust installation guide](https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install).
In case you just installed Rust, you will be prompted to run the following command to make the `cargo` command available:
```bash
source $HOME/.cargo/env
```
## Installing the node from pre-built binary
### Step 1: Get the distributable
Download and unzip the distributable which cooresponds to your environment [from the latest release](https://github.com/blockstack/stacks-blockchain/releases/latest).
If you're running on Windows, [please follow our instructions from installing a node on Windows.](#running-the-testnet-node-on-windows)
### Step 2: Run the binary
To run the `stacks-node` binary, execute the following:
These egress ports are for syncing [`stacks-blockchain`][] and Bitcoin headers. If they're not open, the sync will fail.
```bash
./stacks-node xenon
```
**Awesome. Your node is now connected to the testnet network.**
Your node will receive new blocks when they are produced, and you can use the [Stacks Node RPC API](/understand-stacks/stacks-blockchain-api#proxied-stacks-node-rpc-api-endpoints) to send transactions, fetch information for contracts and accounts, and more.
## Installing the node from source
## Step 1: initial setup
You might want to build and install from source if there are some updates in the [main branch](https://github.com/blockstack/stacks-blockchain) which aren't yet released, or if there is no pre-built binary for your environment.
In order to run the testnet node, you must download the Docker images and create a directory structure to hold the
persistent data from the services. Download and configure the Docker images with the following commands:
### Step 1: Install the node
Clone this repository:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/blockstack/stacks-blockchain.git; cd stacks-blockchain
```sh
docker pull blockstack/stacks-blockchain
```
Change the below values to reflect the version, branch, and git commit of the source code being built for accuracy:
Create a directory structure for the service data with the following command:
```bash
# The following values are just an example
export STACKS_NODE_VERSION=2.0.9
export GIT_BRANCH=master
export GIT_COMMIT=e7f178b
```sh
mkdir -p ./stacks-node/{persistent-data/stacks-blockchain/testnet,config/testnet} && cd stacks-node
The first time you run this, you'll see some logs indicating that the Rust code is being compiled. Once that's done, you should see some logs that look something like the this:
You can verify the running [`stacks-blockchain`][] container with the command:
```bash
INFO [1588108047.585] [src/chainstate/stacks/index/marf.rs:732] First-ever block 0f9188f13cb7b2c71f2a335e3a4fc328bf5beb436012afca590b1a11466e2206
```sh
docker ps --filter name=stacks-blockchain
```
## Running the testnet node on Windows
### Prerequisites
Before you begin, check that you have the below necessary softwares installed on your PC
## Step 3: verifying the services
- [Microsoft C++ Build Tools](https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/visual-cpp-build-tools/).
_Note: the initial burnchain header sync can take several minutes, until this is done the following commands will not work_
-> **Tip**: While installing the Microsoft Visual Studio Build tools using the above link, select the C++ Build tools option when prompted.
To verify the [`stacks-blockchain`][] burnchain header sync progress:
-> **Note**: Please make sure to download the new Binary and follow the below steps as and when a [new release build](https://github.com/blockstack/stacks-blockchain/releases/latest) is available.
First, Visit the [Stacks Github releases repo](https://github.com/blockstack/stacks-blockchain/releases/latest). From the various binary list, click to download the Windows binary. Refer the image below.
Next, click on save file and Press **Ok** in the popup window.
Once saved, Extract the binary. Open the command prompt **from the folder where binary is extracted** and execute the below command:
```bash
stacks-node xenon
# This command will start the testnet follower node.
```sh
docker logs stacks-blockchain
```
-> **Note** : While starting the node for the first time, windows defender will pop up with a message to allow access. If so, allow access to run the node.
To execute Stacks node with extra debugging enabled, run:
The output should be similar to the following:
```bash
set RUST_BACKTRACE=full
set STACKS_LOG_DEBUG=1
stacks-node xenon
# This command will execute the binary and start the follower node with debug enabled.
```
The first time you run this, you'll see some logs indicating that the Rust code is being compiled. Once that's done, you should see some logs that look something like the this:
```bash
INFO [1588108047.585] [src/chainstate/stacks/index/marf.rs:732] First-ever block 0f9188f13cb7b2c71f2a335e3a4fc328bf5beb436012afca590b1a11466e2206
INFO [1626290705.886954] [src/burnchains/bitcoin/spv.rs:926] [main] Syncing Bitcoin headers: 1.2% (8000 out of 2034380)
INFO [1626290748.103291] [src/burnchains/bitcoin/spv.rs:926] [main] Syncing Bitcoin headers: 1.4% (10000 out of 2034380)
INFO [1626290776.956535] [src/burnchains/bitcoin/spv.rs:926] [main] Syncing Bitcoin headers: 1.7% (12000 out of 2034380)
```
**Awesome. Your node is now connected to the testnet network.**
## Optional: Running with Docker
Alternatively, you can run the testnet node with Docker.
To verify the [`stacks-blockchain`][] tip height is progressing use the following command:
-> Ensure you have [Docker](https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/) installed on your machine.
```bash
docker run -d \
--name stacks_follower \
-p 20443:20443 \
-p 20444:20444 \
blockstack/stacks-blockchain \
stacks-node xenon
```sh
curl -sL localhost:20443/v2/info | jq
```
-> To enable debug logging, add the ENV VARS `RUST_BACKTRACE="full"` and `STACKS_LOG_DEBUG="1"`.
If the instance is running you should recieve terminal output similar to the following:
In addition, you're also able to run a testnet node in a Kubernetes cluster using the [stacks-blockchain Helm chart](https://github.com/blockstack/stacks-blockchain/tree/master/deployment/helm/stacks-blockchain).
Ensure you have the following prerequisites installed on your machine:
## Stopping the testnet node
- [minikube](https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io/docs/start/) (Only needed if standing up a local Kubernetes cluster)
For more information on the Helm chart and configuration options, please refer to the [chart's homepage](https://github.com/blockstack/stacks-blockchain/tree/master/deployment/helm/stacks-blockchain).
## Optional: Mining Stacks token
Now that you have a running testnet node, you can easily set up a miner.
## Additional reading
[@page-reference | inline]
| /start-mining/testnet
- [Running an API instance with Docker][]
[running a mainnet node with docker]: /understand-stacks/running-mainnet-node
[running an api instance with docker]: /understand-stacks/running-api-node
wileyj
4 years ago