Beginner

How to quickly install and setup your local development environment

This tutorial provides a quickstart guide for installing and setting up a local development environment for Solana blockchain. It covers the steps required to install Solana CLI, set up a localhost blockchain cluster, create a file system wallet, set the wallet as the default, and airdrop SOL tokens to the wallet. The guide also provides tips and explanations on each step.

Install the Solana CLI​

To interact with the Solana clusters from your terminal, install the Solana CLI tool suite on your local system:

sh -c "$(curl -sSfL https://release.solana.com/stable/install)"

Setup a localhost blockchain cluster​

The Solana CLI comes with the test validator built in. This command line tool will allow you to run a full blockchain cluster on your machine.

solana-test-validator

PRO TIP: Run the Solana test validator in a new/separate terminal window that will remain open. The command line program must remain running for your localhost cluster to remain online and ready for action.

Configure your Solana CLI to use your localhost validator for all your future terminal commands:

solana config set --url localhost

At any time, you can view your current Solana CLI configuration settings:

solana config get

Create a file system wallet​

To deploy a program with Solana CLI, you will need a Solana wallet with SOL tokens to pay for the cost of transactions.

Let’s create a simple file system wallet for testing:

solana-keygen new

By default, the solana-keygen command will create a new file system wallet located at ~/.config/solana/id.json. You can manually specify the output file location using the --outfile /path option.

NOTE: If you already have a file system wallet saved at the default location, this command will NOT override it (unless you explicitly force override using the --force flag).

Set your new wallet as default​

With your new file system wallet created, you must tell the Solana CLI to use this wallet to deploy and take ownership of your on chain program:

solana config set -k ~/.config/solana/id.json

Airdrop SOL tokens to your wallet​

Once your new wallet is set as the default, you can request a free airdrop of SOL tokens to it:

solana airdrop 2

NOTE: The solana airdrop command has a limit of how many SOL tokens can be requested per airdrop for each cluster (localhost, testnet, or devent). If your airdrop transaction fails, lower your airdrop request quantity and try again.

You can check your current wallet’s SOL balance any time:

solana balance