Run a fullnode

Overview

This guide demonstrates how to install the Alaya Node software on Linux.

System Requirements

• CPU: 4 Cores
• Memory: 8G
• Disk: > 100G

Installation Overview

It takes three or four steps to install a new node, which depends on the operating system used. The detailed procedures are list below.

• Installing on Ubuntu (18.04)

Note: Use the normal user to execute the following command.

Installing on Ubuntu (18.04)

Install and run NTP service

Open a terminal and run the following commands

sudo apt-get update &&sudo apt-get install -y gnupg2 curl software-properties-common ntp &&sudo systemctl enable ntp && sudo systemctl start ntp

Notes:

NTP service is used for time synchronization, incorrect system time will affect the normal operation of Alaya

Validate the NTP time synchronization

ntpq -4c rv | grep leap_none

Notes:

Display associd=0 status=0615 leap_none, sync_ntp, 1 event, clock_sync, where leap_none is red, indicating that the NTP time synchronization is normal.

Install Alaya

• Backup binaries

  Tip: You can skip this step if you do not need to back up the old version binaries.

  [[ -x /usr/bin/alaya ]] && sudo mv /usr/bin/alaya /usr/bin/alaya_`alaya version | grep '^Version:' | awk -F "[ ,:,-]" '{print $3}'`[[ -x /usr/bin/alayakey ]] && sudo mv /usr/bin/alayakey /usr/bin/alayakey_`alayakey --version | awk -F "[ ,-]" '{print $3}'`

• Install binary

  The binary version number of the main network is 0.16.3, and that of the development network is 0.16.3. If you need to join the development network, please change the version number in the download link to 0.16.3.

  sudo wget https://download.alaya.network/alaya/platon/0.16.3/alaya -P /usr/binsudo wget https://download.alaya.network/alaya/platon/0.16.3/alayakey -P /usr/binsudo chmod +x /usr/bin/alaya  /usr/bin/alayakeyalaya version

  After executing the commands above, alaya and alayakey binary should be successfully installed in the /usr/bin directory on your system. You can execute corresponding commands in any directory.

Generate keys

Public and private keys

Each node in the network has an unique identity to distinguish it from others. This identity is a public and private key pair, generated in the node's working directory ( ~/alaya-node) by the following command:

mkdir -p ~/alaya-node/data && alayakey genkeypair | tee >(grep "PrivateKey" | awk '{print $2}' > ~/alaya-node/data/nodekey) >(grep "PublicKey" | awk '{print $3}' > ~/alaya-node/data/nodeid)

Remark:

Displays the following, indicating that the key pair has been successfully generated (x stands for number or letter) :

PrivateKey: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

PublicKey: : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

PrivateKey is the private key of the node, and PublicKey is the public key of the node. The public key is used to identify the identity of the node and can be made public.

Two files will be generated in the subdirectory data under the working directory of the node：

• nodeid: node public key (ID) file, which holds the node's public key
• nodekey: node private key file, which holds the node's private key

BLS public and private key

In addition to the public and private keys of the node, the Alaya node also needs a key pair called the BLS public and private key. This key pair will be used in the consensus protocol. The key pair can be generated in the node's working directory (such as ~/alaya-node) by the following command:

mkdir -p ~/alaya-node/data && alayakey genblskeypair | tee >(grep "PrivateKey" | awk '{print $2}' > ~/alaya-node/data/blskey) >(grep "PublicKey" | awk '{print $3}' > ~/alaya-node/data/blspub)

PrivateKey: f22a785c80bd1095beff1f356811268eae6c94abf0b2b4e2d64918957b74783e PublicKey : 4bf873a66df92ada50a8c6bacb132ffd63437bcde7fd338d2d8696170034a6332e404ac3abb50326ee517ec5f63caf12891ce794ed14f8528fa7c54bc0ded7c5291f708116bb8ee8adadf1e88588866325d764230f4a45929d267a9e8f264402

PrivateKey is the BLS private key of the node, and PublicKey is the BLS public key of the node. The BLS public key is used to quickly verify the signature in the consensus protocol and can be published. The BLS private key cannot be made public and needs to be backed up.

Two files will be generated in the subdirectory data under the working directory of the node:

• blspub: Node BLS public key file, which holds the node's BLS public key

• blskey: Node BLS private key file, which holds the node's BLS private key

Run Full Node

The Alaya mainnet was officially launched on October 24, 2020, Beijing time, and the ChainID is 201018; the other is the Alaya development network that is open to developers, and the ChainID is 201030.

If you need to join the Alaya mainnet, please refer to Join the Alaya mainnet.

If you need to join the Alaya development network, please refer to Join the Alaya development network.

• Alaya Mainnet Blockchain Explorer
• Alaya Development Network Blockchain Explorer

Join the Alaya Mainnet

Run the following command to join the network:

cd ~/alaya-node/ && nohup alaya --identity alaya-node --datadir ./data --port 16789 --http.port 6789 --http.api "platon,net,web3,admin,personal" --http --nodekey ./data/nodekey --cbft.blskey ./data/blskey --verbosity 1 --http.addr 127.0.0.1 --syncmode "fast" > ./data/alaya.log 2>&1 &

Or you can use the service unit to manage your alaya process:

sudo tee <<EOF >/dev/null /etc/systemd/system/alaya.service[Unit]Description=Alaya node serviceAfter=network.target
[Service]Type=simpleStandardOutput=syslogStandardError=syslogSyslogIdentifier=alayaExecStart=/usr/bin/alaya \\    --identity alaya-node \\    --datadir ${HOME}/alaya-node/data \\    --port 16789 \\    --http.addr 127.0.0.1 \\    --http.port 6789 \\    --http \\    --http.api "platon,net,web3,admin,personal" \\    --nodekey ${HOME}/alaya-node/data/nodekey \\    --cbft.blskey ${HOME}/alaya-node/data/blskey \\    --verbosity 1 \\    --syncmode "fast" User=${USER}Restart=on-failureStartLimitInterval=5RestartSec=3
[Install]WantedBy=multi-user.targetEOF
sudo systemctl daemon-reloadsudo systemctl enable alaya.servicesudo systemctl start alaya.service

Notes:

Item	Description
--identity	Specify network name
--datadir	Specify data directory path
--port	p2p port number
--http.addr	Specify rpc server address
--http.port	pecify rpc protocol communication port
--http.api	API's offered over the HTTP-RPC interface
--http	Enable the HTTP-RPC server
--nodekey	Specify the private key file of the node
--cbft.blskey	Specify the bls private key file of the node (a non-validator is a full node. This parameter is optional)
--verbosity	Log level, 0: CRIT; 1: ERROR; 2: WARN; 3: INFO; 4: DEBUG; 5: TRACE
--syncmode	fast: fast synchronization mode; full: full synchronization mode
–-db.nogc	Enable the archive mode
--allow-insecure-unlock	Enable unlockAccount function

More parameter meanings can be viewed through the alaya --help command.

Mainnet-related Resources

Documents or Resources	Address	Note
alaya binary file	https://download.alaya.network/alaya/platon/0.16.3/alaya
alayakey	https://download.alaya.network/alaya/platon/0.16.3/alayakey
mtool windows	https://download.alaya.network/alaya/mtool/windows/0.16.2/alaya_mtool.exe	You need to modify the chain ID in the configuration file config.properties to the development network chain ID: 201030
mtool linux	https://download.alaya.network/alaya/mtool/linux/0.16.2/alaya_mtool.zip	You need to modify the chain ID in the configuration file config.properties to the development network chain ID: 201030
samurai	https://github.com/AlayaNetwork/Samurai/releases/download/v8.1.0/samurai-chrome-8.1.0.zip
explorer address	https://scan.alaya.network/

View Node State

When Alaya is successfully started, it will automatically establish a connection with the nearest node through the node discovery protocol under normal circumstances. After the connection is successful, block synchronization will be started, so you can check the peers of the node and the increase in the current node block height to determine if you have joined the network.

If the key is not generated in advance, the node is automatically generated in the data directory of the node when it is started. If it is generated automatically, only the private key and the BLS private key of the node will be generated, not any other related public key.

# Enter the Alaya consolealaya attach http://localhost:6789
## The following commands are executed in the Alaya console# View peers of the nodeadmin.peers
# View the current block heightplaton.blockNumber
# View synchronization stateplaton.syncing
# Exit the consoleexit

If a series of Alaya network nodes appear in the node list and the block height is increasing, then the connection succeeds! (As the new node needs to be synchronized, there may be a delay).

The fast synchronization makes it impossible to query the current block height. When it is synchronized to the latest height, the full synchronization mode will be automatically enabled, and at that time you can view the latest height.

Join the Alaya Development Network

If you are deploying a mainnet node, you can skip the following content.

The development network provides a development and test environment for developers or nodes. There may be instability and network reset. The current version of the development network is 0.16.2.

Initialize the Genesis Block

# Download the genesis block file genesis.jsoncd ~/alaya-node && wget https://download.alaya.network/alaya/platon/0.16.0/genesis.json
# Initialize the genesis block filecd ~/alaya-node && alaya --datadir ./data init genesis.json

Note:

The prompt of Successfully wrote genesis state indicates that the genesis information is synchronized.

Start the Validator

Execute the following command to make the validator to join the Alaya development network; if you need to become a validator, please apply for a large amount of test ATP through the follow-up instructions (the development network will be reset from time to time according to the test needs, and the test ATP has no actual value).

cd ~/alaya-node/ && nohup alaya --identity alaya-node --datadir ./data --port 16789 --http.port 6789 --http.api "platon,net,web3,admin,personal" --http --nodekey ./data/nodekey --cbft.blskey ./data/blskey --verbosity 1 --rpcaddr 127.0.0.1 --bootnodes enode://48f9ebd7559b7849f80e00d89d87fb92604c74a541a7d76fcef9f2bcc67043042dfab0cfbaeb5386f921208ed9192c403f438934a0a39f4cad53c55d8272e5fb@devnetnode1.alaya.network:16789 --syncmode "fast" > ./data/alaya.log 2>&1 &

You can also refer to the mainnet configuration service unit file to manage the Alaya process.

Resources Related to the Development Network

Documents or Resources	Address	Note
alaya binary files	https://download.alaya.network/alaya/platon/0.16.3/alaya
alayakey	https://download.alaya.network/alaya/platon/0.16.2/alayakey
mtool windows	https://download.alaya.network/alaya/mtool/windows/0.16.2/alaya_mtool.exe	You need to modify the chain ID in the configuration file config.properties to the development network chain ID: 201030
mtool linux	https://download.alaya.network/alaya/mtool/linux/0.16.2/alaya_mtool.zip	You need to modify the chain ID in the configuration file config.properties to the development network chain ID: 201030
Samurai	https://github.com/AlayaNetwork/Samurai/releases/download/v8.1.0/samurai-chrome-8.1.0.zip
Open RPC URL	http://47.241.91.2:6789 and ws://47.241.91.2:6790
explorer address	https://devnetscan.alaya.network