Node Installation

This guide explains how to install and run an Archway full node.

Installing Prerequisites

Below are the packages that your machine needs to complete the installation process.

# updates and upgrades the list of local packages 
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt upgrade -y

#installs docker, build-essential package and git 
sudo apt-get install build-essential docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin git

Installing Go

Go Version 1.16 or higher is required to run an Archway node. Please find a guide here on how to install Go.

Ensure the Go environment variables are set properly on your system.

Build Archway Daemon from Source

The next step is to get the source code from the Archway Repository.

git clone https://github.com/archway-network/archway.git

cd archway

git fetch

git checkout <version-tag>

info

For connecting to the Constantine Developer Testnet, the version tag v0.0.5 should be used:

git checkout v0.0.5

Build and install that Archway Daemon

make install

Confirm that the installation has been completed by running the following command:

archway --version

#1.2.3

Run archwayd using Docker

Make sure you have Docker installed on your machine. For Linux users, it's recommended to run the Docker daemon in Rootless Mode.

Pull the image from Docker Hub:

docker pull archwaynetwork/archwayd:latest

Each Archway network uses a different version of Archway. To connect your node to a network, you should use a tag with the corresponding network name. For example, to connect to the Constantine testnet:

docker pull archwaynetwork/archwayd:constantine

info

Make sure to always use the image tag that points to the network you want to connect.

By default, the Docker image runs the archwayd binary, so you should specify the arguments for archwayd right after the image name. For better usage, mount an external volume at /root/.archway to persist the daemon home path across different runs. For example, if you want to add a key:

docker run --rm -it \
  -v ~/.archway:/root/.archway \
  archwaynetwork/archwayd:latest \
  keys add test-key

And then list all keys:

docker run --rm -it \
  -v ~/.archway:/root/.archway \
  archwaynetwork/archwayd:latest \
  keys list

It's also important to notice that, when running a node in a network, you'll need to expose the container ports for external connectivity. The image exposes the following ports:

• 1317: Rest server
• 26656: Tendermint P2P
• 26657: Tendermint RPC

tip

To simplify using the Docker container, set an alias with the home path and the proper image tag (replacing <network-name>), like:

alias archwayd="docker run --rm -it -v ~/.archway:/root/.archway archwaynetwork/archwayd:<network-name>"

After setting this alias, you can use the other archwayd commands without typing the verbose Docker run command.

Initialize the Node

Initialize the genesis.json file that is required to establish a network.

archwayd init my-node --chain-id my-chain

If you recieve a archwayd: command not found Error message, run the follwoing command:

sudo cp /$HOME/go/bin/archwayd /usr/local/bin

If the command is run successfully, you will see the information about your chain starting with a similar message:

{"app_message":{"auth":{"accounts":[],"params":{"max_memo_characters":"256","sig_verify_cost_ed25519":"590","sig_verify_cost_secp256k1":"1000","tx_sig_limit":"7","tx_size_cost_per_byte":"10"}}....

Prepare the Account and Keys

Create a key to hold your account. After you run this command, you are prompted with a password dialogue. Enter a new password for your account.

archwayd keys add my-account

You see an output similar to the following:

- name: my-account
  type: local
  address: archway12ntzpk9fjt2x39pvll8ufma9tuhhnkh8g4zzc2
  pubkey: archwaypub1addwnpepqfgjegqxxv9srfe359t93tu9l86tpkwwjk7w63xtpwq05wmlq9emjmxfmmv
  mnemonic: ""
  threshold: 0
  pubkeys: []


**Important:** Write this mnemonic phrase in a safe place.
It is the only way to recover your account if you ever forget your password.

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Here you can see your account details and the mnemonic phrase that is very crucial to recover the account.

Starting the Node

Starting a node now will give you an error message like the one below. This is because at least one validator node must be connected for the network to run.

archwayd start

Error: error during handshake: error on replay: validator set is nil in genesis and still empty after InitChain

Next Steps

To get your node fully running, you can run a local testnet with two nodes.

If you would like to connect to a network, see the Validator Overview on how to run a validator node.