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Intermediate
Installing a node using Node Binary
This tutorial outlines the process for setting up a node for the Harmony blockchain. It explains the necessary steps for downloading the node binary for x86_64 and arm64 platforms (mainnet or testnet) and checking its version. The tutorial also provides instructions for setting up the node using a config file, which is the recommended method. The config file can be customized, and default options are set in a harmony.conf file in TOML format. Additionally, the tutorial covers using both flag parsing and the config file and how to setup Systemd for daemon service. The tutorial concludes with steps to enable, start, and check the status of the service, as well as how to restart or stop the service.
As per instructions on the cloud guides, the host needs to open up port 9000 for blockchain consensus messages and port 6000 for blockchain state syncing. Other ports are NOT necessary for syncing and should NOT be opened to the internet if you are staking only.
9000 port is used for blockchain consensus messages (base port)
6000 port is used for blockchain state syncing (base port – 3000)
9500 port is used for SDK RPC service (base port + 500)
9800 port is used for Websocket service (base port + 800)
The 9500, 9800 ports are only listened by localhost 127.0.0.1 by default.
Download Node Binary
Before we proceed to next steps we need to download the node binary first:
x86_64 (Mainnet)
curl -LO https://harmony.one/binary && mv binary harmony && chmod +x harmony
x86_64 (Testnet)
curl -LO https://harmony.one/binary_testnet && mv binary_testnet harmony && chmod +x harmony
arm64 (Mainnet)
curl -LO https://harmony.one/binary-arm64 && mv binary-arm64 harmony && chmod +x harmony
Check the node binary version that was downloaded:
./harmony -V
The below explain the different method the node binary can be used. Option 1 is what being used when setting up systemd (at step 2).
If you choose another method make sure to use the correct command line
Option 1: Setup Using Config File (recommended)
All the start options can be persisted and loaded from a single config file. To start a node, the following steps are also available**:**
Dump the default config.
Customize the config file.
Run harmony node with the config file.
Dump the Default Config File
Mainnet
./harmony config dump harmony.conf
Testnet
./harmony config dump --network testnet harmony.conf
A file harmony.conf is created and the default node options are set in the file in TOML formatting. Here is an example
Version = "2.5.7"
[BLSKeys]
KMSConfigFile = ""
KMSConfigSrcType = "shared"
KMSEnabled = false
KeyDir = "./.hmy/blskeys"
KeyFiles = []
MaxKeys = 10
PassEnabled = true
PassFile = ""
PassSrcType = "auto"
SavePassphrase = false
[DNSSync]
Client = true
LegacySyncing = false
Port = 6000
Server = true
ServerPort = 6000
Zone = "t.hmny.io"
[General]
DataDir = "./"
EnablePruneBeaconChain = false
IsArchival = false
IsBackup = false
IsBeaconArchival = false
IsOffline = false
NoStaking = false
NodeType = "validator"
RunElasticMode = false
ShardID = -1
TraceEnable = false
[HTTP]
AuthPort = 9501
Enabled = true
IP = "127.0.0.1"
Port = 9500
RosettaEnabled = false
RosettaPort = 9700
[Log]
Console = false
FileName = "harmony.log"
Folder = "./latest"
RotateCount = 0
RotateMaxAge = 0
RotateSize = 100
Verbosity = 3
[Log.VerbosePrints]
Config = true
[Network]
BootNodes = ["/dnsaddr/bootstrap.t.hmny.io"]
NetworkType = "mainnet"
[P2P]
DisablePrivateIPScan = false
DiscConcurrency = 0
IP = "0.0.0.0"
KeyFile = "./.hmykey"
MaxConnsPerIP = 10
MaxPeers = 0
Port = 9000
[Pprof]
Enabled = false
Folder = "./profiles"
ListenAddr = "127.0.0.1:6060"
ProfileDebugValues = [0]
ProfileIntervals = [600]
ProfileNames = []
[RPCOpt]
DebugEnabled = false
EthRPCsEnabled = true
LegacyRPCsEnabled = true
RateLimterEnabled = true
RequestsPerSecond = 1000
RpcFilterFile = "./.hmy/rpc_filter.txt"
StakingRPCsEnabled = true
[ShardData]
CacheSize = 512
CacheTime = 10
DiskCount = 8
EnableShardData = false
ShardCount = 4
[Sync]
Concurrency = 6
DiscBatch = 8
DiscHardLowCap = 6
DiscHighCap = 128
DiscSoftLowCap = 8
Downloader = false
Enabled = false
InitStreams = 8
MinPeers = 6
[TxPool]
AccountSlots = 16
AllowedTxsFile = "./.hmy/allowedtxs.txt"
BlacklistFile = "./.hmy/blacklist.txt"
GlobalSlots = 5120
LocalAccountsFile = "./.hmy/locals.txt"
RosettaFixFile = ""
[WS]
AuthPort = 9801
Enabled = true
IP = "127.0.0.1"
Port = 9800
The content of the config file can be modified for custom node start up command.
For example, to open the public HTTP RPCs, change the field IP under [HTTP] tag to "0.0.0.0":
:
[HTTP] Enabled = true IP = "0.0.0.0" Port = 9500 RosettaEnabled = false RosettaPort = 9700
To run harmony internal nodes under legacy mode instead of staking mode, change the field NoStaking under [General] tag to true:
[General] DataDir = "./" IsArchival = false IsBeaconArchival = false IsOffline = false NoStaking = true NodeType = "validator" ShardID = -1
To enable streamsync, modify the below two sections (Experimental. use at your own risk)
Testnet
[DNSSync] Client = false LegacySyncing = false Port = 6000 Server = true ServerPort = 6000 Zone = "b.hmny.io" [Sync] Concurrency = 4 DiscBatch = 8 DiscHardLowCap = 4 DiscHighCap = 1024 DiscSoftLowCap = 4 Downloader = true InitStreams = 4 MinPeers = 4
Stream Sync is the new harmony P2P syncing method allowing to get rid of the previous sync via DNS causing issue when the DNS
Start the node with Config File
Harmony node binary is able to start with options provided by the config file:
./harmony -c harmony.conf
The values stored in the config file will be read and parsed to harmony as node start options.
Option 2: Setup Using Flag Parsing
You can run your node binary using flag parsing:
Mainnet
./harmony
Testnet
./harmony --network testnet
A full list of active flags as well as examples can be accessed through running the binary with --help option:
./harmony --help
Output:
Examples usage:
# start a validator node with default bls folder (default bls key files in ./.hmy/blskeys)
./harmony
# start a validator node with customized bls key folder
./harmony --bls.dir [bls_folder]
# start a validator node with open RPC endpoints and customized ports
./harmony --http.ip=0.0.0.0 --http.port=[http_port] --ws.ip=0.0.0.0 --ws.port=[ws_port]
# start an explorer node
./harmony --run=explorer --run.shard=[shard_id]
# start a harmony internal node on testnet
./harmony --run.legacy --network testnet
Usage:
harmony [flags]
harmony [command]
Available Commands:
config dump or update config
dumpdb dump a snapshot db.
help Help about any command
version print version of the harmony binary
Flags:
--bls.dir string directory for BLS keys (default "./.hmy/blskeys")
--bls.keys strings a list of BLS key files (separated by ,)
--bls.kms enable BLS key decryption with AWS KMS service
--bls.kms.config string json config file for KMS service (region and credentials)
--bls.kms.src string the AWS config source (region and credentials) for KMS service (shared, prompt, file) (default "shared")
--bls.pass enable BLS key decryption with passphrase (default true)
--bls.pass.file string the pass file used for BLS decryption. If specified, this pass file will be used for all BLS keys
--bls.pass.save after input the BLS passphrase from console, whether to persist the input passphrases in .pass file
--bls.pass.src string source for BLS passphrase (auto, file, prompt) (default "auto")
--bootnodes strings a list of bootnode multiaddress (delimited by ,)
-c, --config string load node config from the config toml file.
--consensus.aggregate-sig (multi-key) aggregate bls signatures before sending (default true)
--datadir string directory of chain database (default "./")
--dns.port int dns sync remote server port (default 6000)
--dns.server-port int dns sync local server port (default 6000)
--dns.zone string use customized peers from the zone for state syncing
-h, --help help for harmony
--http enable HTTP / RPC requests (default true)
--http.auth-port int rpc port to listen for auth HTTP requests (default 9501)
--http.ip string ip address to listen for RPC calls. Use 0.0.0.0 for public endpoint (default "127.0.0.1")
--http.port int rpc port to listen for HTTP requests (default 9500)
--http.rosetta enable HTTP / Rosetta requests
--http.rosetta.port int rosetta port to listen for HTTP requests (default 9700)
--log.console output log to console only
--log.dir string directory path to put rotation logs (default "./latest")
--log.max-size int rotation log size in megabytes (default 100)
--log.name string log file name (e.g. harmony.log) (default "harmony.log")
--log.rotate-count int maximum number of old log files to retain
--log.rotate-max-age int maximum number of days to retain old log files
-v, --log.verb int logging verbosity: 0=silent, 1=error, 2=warn, 3=info, 4=debug, 5=detail (default 3)
--log.verbose-prints strings debugging feature. to print verbose internal objects as JSON in log file. available internal objects: config (default [config])
--metrics flag required to enable the eth metrics
--metrics.expensive flag required to enable the expensive eth metrics
-n, --network string network to join (mainnet, testnet, pangaea, localnet, partner, stressnet, devnet) (default "mainnet")
--p2p.disc.concurrency int the pubsub's DHT discovery concurrency num (default with raw libp2p dht option)
--p2p.ip string ip to listen for p2p protocols (default "0.0.0.0")
--p2p.keyfile string the p2p key file of the harmony node (default "./.hmykey")
--p2p.no-private-ip-scan disable scanning of private ip4/6 addresses by DHT
--p2p.port int port to listen for p2p protocols (default 9000)
--p2p.security.max-conn-per-ip int maximum number of connections allowed per remote node, 0 means no limit (default 10)
--p2p.security.max-peers int maximum number of peers allowed, 0 means no limit (default 10)
--pprof enable pprof profiling
--pprof.addr string listen address for pprof (default "127.0.0.1:6060")
--pprof.profile.names strings a list of pprof profile names (separated by ,) e.g. cpu,heap,goroutine
--prometheus enable HTTP / Prometheus requests (default true)
--prometheus.ip string ip address to listen for prometheus service (default "0.0.0.0")
--prometheus.port int prometheus port to listen for HTTP requests (default 9900)
--prometheus.push enable prometheus pushgateway
--prometheus.pushgateway string prometheus pushgateway URL (default "https://gateway.harmony.one")
--rpc.ratelimit int the number of requests per second for RPCs (default 1000)
--rpc.ratelimiter enable rate limiter for RPCs (default true)
--run string run node type (validator, explorer) (default "validator")
--run.archive run shard chain in archive mode
--run.beacon-archive run beacon chain in archive mode
--run.legacy whether to run node in legacy mode
--run.offline run node in offline mode
--run.shard int run node on the given shard ID (-1 automatically configured by BLS keys) (default -1)
--sharddata.cache_size int local cache storage size (MB) (default 512)
--sharddata.cache_time int local cache save time (minute) (default 10)
--sharddata.disk_count int the count of disks you want to storage block data (default 8)
--sharddata.enable whether use multi-database mode of levelDB
--sharddata.shard_count int the count of shards you want to split in each disk (default 4)
--sync Enable the stream sync protocol (experimental feature)
--tracing indicates if full transaction tracing should be enabled
--txpool.accountslots int number of executable transaction slots guaranteed per account (default 16)
--txpool.allowedtxs string file of allowed transactions (default "./.hmy/allowedtxs.txt")
--txpool.blacklist string file of blacklisted wallet addresses (default "./.hmy/blacklist.txt")
--txpool.globalslots int maximum global number of non-executable transactions in the pool (default 5120)
--txpool.locals string file of local wallet addresses (default "./.hmy/locals.txt")
--txpool.rosettafixfile string file of rosetta fix file
-V, --version display version info
--ws enable websocket endpoint (default true)
--ws.auth-port int port for websocket auth endpoint (default 9801)
--ws.ip string ip endpoint for websocket. Use 0.0.0.0 for public endpoint (default "127.0.0.1")
--ws.port int port for websocket endpoint (default 9800)
Use "harmony [command] --help" for more information about a command.
Option 3: Setup Using Flag Parsing and a Config file combined
If both config file and flag is provided, the node option stored in config file will be override by the values given in flag.
For example, In config file harmony.conf, HTTP server is enabled, and is open to public:
[HTTP] Enabled = true IP = "0.0.0.0" Port = 9500 RosettaEnabled = false RosettaPort = 9700
And a flag is also provided during the node start command to disable the HTTP server:
./harmony -c harmony.conf --http=false
In this case, the command line flags will override the settings in the config file and thus the HTTP server is disabled.
> curl localhost:9500 curl: (7) Failed to connect to localhost port 9500: Connection refused
The above steps would have you started the node, please CTRL+C, so you can continue with step 2.
Non-Validating/Explorer Nodes
A Non-validating Node is a node that does not join the consensus.
Check here for Explorer Node requirements.
Check here for instructions on how to sync your node in archival mode.
Keep in mind that the storage space used increases around ~50+ GB per month on s0 due to staking transaction being stored. Other shard should take around 25GB per month. Please plan your storage space accordingly.
The following steps assume the node is connected to mainnet on shard 0, which is required for all exchanges.
If you are using the config file, which is the recommended way to configure your node, change the settings to the ones below:
[General] DataDir = "./" IsArchival = true IsBeaconArchival = false IsOffline = false NoStaking = true NodeType = "explorer" ShardID = 0
NoStaking = true will verify if the BLS keys in your .hmy/blskeys folder are part of the original FN keys. You will need add in the folder dummy empty files and remove all others
# remove all keys, save it before if necessary rm -f .hmy/blskeys/* # create dummy files touch .hmy/blskeys/bls.key touch .hmy/blskeys/bls.pass
IsBeaconArchival flag is applicable to explorer node only. For shard 1/2/3 the beacon shard 0 doesn’t need to be in archival mode. So to save space, the recommendation is to set to false. For shard 0 explorer node, IsArchival flag will determine if the database is in archival mode or not.
DataDir (or –db_dir below for cli flag) is the folder where the blockchain data will be store (ie location of harmony_db_0)
Alternatively, you can also run it using flag parsing:
./harmony --run=explorer --run.archive --run.shard=0 --db_dir=./
Make sure to follow the upgrading Explorer DB schema process here afterwards. This fixes a critical issue on Explorer DB.
Setup Systemd
On this example, we will be installing the harmony daemon for user harmony on its home directory. Daemon will be configured with sudobut it will run with the harmonyuser at the end.
Create the harmony.service file:
sudo vi /etc/systemd/system/harmony.service
Add the content below to the file and save it. Change User to the local user you will be running the daemon and also WorkingDirectory to the home directory where you downloaded the harmony binary file previously. Parameter ExecStart needs to point to this same directory. On the example below we will be running the harmony binary using the harmony.conf file.
[Unit] Description=Harmony daemon After=network-online.target [Service] Type=simple Restart=always RestartSec=1 User=harmony WorkingDirectory=/home/harmony ExecStart=/home/harmony/harmony -c harmony.conf SyslogIdentifier=harmony StartLimitInterval=0 LimitNOFILE=65536 LimitNPROC=65536 [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target
Give the necessary permissions to run the daemon service, enable it and start it:
sudo chmod 755 /etc/systemd/system/harmony.service sudo systemctl enable harmony.service sudo service harmony start
If you want to check the status of the daemon you can use:
sudo service harmony status
To restart, or stop the service daemon you can run:
Restart
sudo service harmony restart
Stop
sudo service harmony stop