How to Install and Run a Node

Intermediate

How to Install and Run a node?

Install

#Requirements

Thor requires Go 1.13+ and C compiler to build. To install Go, follow this link .

#Getting the source

Clone the Thor repo :

git clone https://github.com/vechain/thor.git
cd thor

#Building

To build the main app thor, just run

make

or build the full suite:

make all

If no error reported, all built executable binaries will appear in folder bin.

Running Thor

Connect to VeChain’s mainnet:

bin/thor --network main

Connect to VeChain’s testnet:

bin/thor --network test

or startup a custom network

bin/thor --network <custom-net-genesis.json>

example genesis config file can be found at genesis/example.json .

To find out usages of all command line options:

bin/thor -h

--network value the network to join (main|test) or path to genesis file

--data-dir value directory for block-chain databases

--cache value megabytes of ram allocated to internal caching (default: 2048)

--beneficiary value address for block rewards

--target-gas-limit value target block gas limit (adaptive if set to 0) (default: 0)

--api-addr value API service listening address (default: "localhost:8669")

--api-cors value comma separated list of domains from which to accept cross origin requests to API

--api-timeout value API request timeout value in milliseconds (default: 10000)

--api-call-gas-limit value limit contract call gas (default: 50000000)

--api-backtrace-limit value limit the distance between position and best block for subscriptions APIs (default: 1000)

--verbosity value log verbosity (0-9) (default: 3)

--max-peers value maximum number of P2P network peers (P2P network disabled if set to 0) (default: 25)

--p2p-port value P2P network listening port (default: 11235)

--nat value port mapping mechanism (any|none|upnp|pmp|extip:<IP>) (default: "none")

--bootnode value comma separated list of bootnode IDs

--skip-logs skip writing event|transfer logs (/logs API will be disabled)

--pprof turn on go-pprof

--disable-pruner disable state pruner to keep all history

--help, -h show help

--version, -v print the version

#Sub-commands

solo client runs in solo mode for test & dev

bin/thor solo --on-demand               # create new block when there is pending transaction
bin/thor solo --persist                 # save blockchain data to disk(default to memory)
bin/thor solo --persist --on-demand     # two options can work together

master-key master key management

# print the master address
bin/thor master-key

# export master key to keystore
bin/thor master-key --export > keystore.json


# import master key from keystore
cat keystore.json | bin/thor master-key --import

#Docker

This method needs running all commands by docker with the data directory mapped to the container.

#Pull image

docker pull vechain/thor

#Export Master Key

First, start an interactive shell by docker:

docker run -it --rm\
-v {path-to-your-data-directory}:/root/.org.vechain.thor\
--entrypoint /bin/sh vechain/thor

Then export master key in the shell:

thor master-key --export > /root/.org.vechain.thor/keystore.json

Enter your password and check the generated file, then exit.

#Import Master Key

docker run -it --rm\
-v {path-to-your-data-directory}:/root/.org.vechain.thor\
vechain/thor master-key --import

Follow the instruction by the program, input the KeyStore and also the password.

#Check Master Key

docker run -it --rm\
-v {path-to-your-data-directory}:/root/.org.vechain.thor\
vechain/thor master-key

This command will print the Master Key.

#Start the Authority Masternode

docker run -d\
-v {path-to-your-data-directory}:/root/.org.vechain.thor\
-p 127.0.0.1:8669:8669 -p 11235:11235 -p 11235:11235/udp\
--name thor-node vechain/thor --network main --skip-logs

Public Nodes

Please visit Public Nodes for more information.

VeChain