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Run a New Boot Node

Prepare the Environment​

To run a new boot node (refer to this page for node types) open the terminal and navigate to the root directory of project compose-zkverify-simplified:

cd compose-zkverify-simplified

Then, launch the initialization script by typing:

scripts/init.sh

The interactive session run by the script asks you to provide the following inputs:

  • Node type: you need to select boot node.
  • Network: currently only testnet is available.
  • Node name: just a human readable identifier.
  • Node key (node_key.dat file): you can import an already existing key or let the script to randomly generate one for you (refer to this page for node keys).

At the end of the session the script will populate the directory deployments/boot-node/network with the proper files and you will get the following message:

=== Run the compose project with the following command:

========================
docker compose -f /home/your_user/compose-zkverify-simplified/deployments/boot-node/testnet/docker-compose.yml up -d
========================

Before actually launching the node, you can further inspect and customize the execution by manually editing deployments/boot-node/network/.env file. Entries under # Node miscellaneous section are related to the Docker container, while those under # Node config section are related to the Substrate node instance.

warning

Ensure that you fully understand the implications of customizing the execution manually if you choose to do so.

Run the Node​

Now we'll start running the node.

Within the terminal type the command below which runs the Docker container:

docker compose -f /home/your_user/compose-zkverify-simplified/deployments/boot-node/testnet/docker-compose.yml up -d

Once this command is complete, your node will begin running in the background. To ensure that it is running properly, type:

docker container ls

and you should get something similar to:

CONTAINER ID   IMAGE                         COMMAND                CREATED              STATUS              NAMES
dab0c67cf5aa   horizenlabs/zkverify:latest   "/app/entrypoint.sh"   About a minute ago   Up About a minute   boot-node

This shows your node has started correctly.

Next Steps​

It's now time to make sure that the machine your node is running on is properly configured. This means checking that:

  • A public static IP address (or a DNS) is associated to it,
  • The proper ports are externally exposed. Check the values for configuration NODE_NET_P2P_PORT and NODE_NET_P2P_PORT_WS inside the .env file.

Lastly, you should notify other node operators about the existence of your bootnode. In particular you need to provide:

  • The IP address (or the DNS).
  • The open ports.
  • The public part of your node key (peer id). This is printed at the startup of your node with the log Local node identity is: ... or is retrievable with command docker run -vpath_to_your_file/node_key.dat:/data/node_key.dat --rm --entrypoint nh-node horizenlabs/zkverify:latest key inspect-node-key --file /data/node_key.dat.

In this way others will be able to leverage your boot node to join the network by inserting these configurations into the .env file of their node.

For the IP address case:

  • NH_CONF_BOOTNODES="/ip4/IP_ADDRESS/tcp/${NH_NODE_NET_P2P_PORT}/p2p/PEER_ID`,
  • NH_CONF_BOOTNODES="/ip4/IP_ADDRESS/tcp/${NH_NODE_NET_P2P_PORT_WS}/ws/p2p/PEER_ID`,

or or the DNS case:

  • NH_CONF_BOOTNODES="/dns/DNS_NAME/tcp/${NH_NODE_NET_P2P_PORT}/p2p/PEER_ID`,
  • NH_CONF_BOOTNODES="/dns/DNS_NAME/tcp/${NH_NODE_NET_P2P_PORT_WS}/ws/p2p/PEER_ID`.