Deploy Node in Docker

The easiest way to run Waves node is by means of Waves Docker container. Waves Docker image is focused on fast and convenient deployment of Waves Node and contains scripts and configs to run the node in Mainnet, Testnet, Stagenet or any other custom network.

Prerequisites

Install Docker app from Docker website (opens new window).

Running the Image

It is recommended to learn about Waves node configuration in Node Configuration article before running the container.

Configuration Options

• You can run an image with customized config parameters by using corresponding JVM options. Use JAVA_OPTS environment variable to send options to JVM. Refer to example configuration file (opens new window) to get the full path of the configuration parameters that you want to change.

Example of command running image with customized config parameters:

docker run -v /docker/waves/waves-data:/var/lib/waves -v /docker/waves/waves-config:/etc/waves -p 6869:6869 -p 6862:6862 -e JAVA_OPTS="-Dwaves.rest-api.enable=yes -Dwaves.rest-api.bind-address=0.0.0.0 -Dwaves.wallet.password=myWalletSuperPassword" -e WAVES_NETWORK=stagenet -ti wavesplatform/wavesnode

Waves Nodes store configuration file (by default) in /etc/waves/waves.conf directory. You can mount the directory with Docker volumes. See Managing Data section for more details about Docker volumes mapping.

If the directory does not exist, the directory and default configuration file will be created. Default configuration file is used depending on type of network specified by WAVES_NETWORK environment variable. If the value of WAVES_NETWORK is not mainnet, testnet or stagenet, the default configuration will not be used. This is the case of using CUSTOM network type that requires correct configuration file. If you use CUSTOM network and the /etc/waves/waves.conf is NOT found, the container will not run.

By default, the /etc/waves/waves.conf config includes /etc/waves/local.conf. Custom /etc/waves/local.conf can be used to override default config parameters. Custom /etc/waves/waves.conf can be used to override the whole node configuration.

Environment Variables

You can override parameters specified in the node configuration file by running your container with the following optional environment variables:

Environment Variable	Description
WAVES_WALLET_SEED	Base58 encoded seed. Overrides -Dwaves.wallet.seed JVM config parameter.
WAVES_WALLET_PASSWORD	Password for the wallet file. Overrides -Dwaves.wallet.password JVM config parameter.
WAVES_LOG_LEVEL	Node logging level. Available values: OFF, ERROR, WARN, INFO, DEBUG and TRACE. Read more about logging.
WAVES_HEAP_SIZE	Default Java Heap Size limit in -X Command-line Options notation (-Xms=[your value]). Read more about -X Command-line Options (opens new window).
WAVES_NETWORK	Waves Blockchain network. The available values are mainnet, testnet and stagenet.
JAVA_OPTS	Additional Waves Node JVM configuration parameters.

Managing Data

It is recommended to store the blockchain state as well as node configuration on the host side. Consider using Docker volumes (opens new window) mapping to map host directories inside the container.

Example:

• Create directories to store Waves data with the following commands:

  mkdir -p /docker/waves
  

  mkdir /docker/waves/waves-data
  

  mkdir /docker/waves/waves-config
  

• Once the container is launched it will automatically create the following subdirectories in /docker/waves/waves-data directory:

  /docker/waves/waves-data/log - for Node logs

  /docker/waves/waves-data/data - for Blockchain state

  /docker/waves/waves-data/wallet - for Wallet data

  It will also create default configuration file /docker/waves/waves-config/waves.conf

  If you already have node configuration file or other data you can place it in the corresponding directory.

• To run the container you need to configure access permissions. Use waves user with predefined uid/gid 143/143. To do so, change the permissions of the created directories or change their owner with the following command:

  sudo chown -R 143:143 /docker/waves
  

  or

  sudo chmod -R 777 /docker/waves
  

• Add appropriate arguments to docker run command similar to the following example:

  docker run -v /docker/waves/waves-data:/var/lib/waves -v /docker/waves/waves-config:/etc/waves -e WAVES_NETWORK=stagenet -e WAVES_WALLET_PASSWORD=myWalletSuperPassword -ti wavesplatform/wavesnode
  

Blockchain State

If you are new to Waves Blockchain and running node for the first time be aware that after the launch the node will start downloading blockchain state from other nodes. This takes much time. During downloading the node will be verifying all the blocks one after another.

You can speed this process up by downloading a compressed blockchain state from our official resources, extracting and mounting it inside the container (as described in Managing Data section). In this scenario the node skips block verifying so the process takes less time. This is also the reason why you must download blockchain state only from our official resources:

Network	Link
mainnet	http://blockchain.wavesnodes.com/blockchain_last.tar
testnet	http://blockchain-testnet.wavesnodes.com/blockchain_last.tar
stagenet	http://blockchain-stagenet.wavesnodes.com/blockchain_last.tar

Note: We do not guarantee the state consistency if it is downloaded from third parties.

Example of commands to download blockchain state and run Docker image:

mkdir -p /docker/waves/waves-data

wget -qO- http://blockchain-stagenet.wavesnodes.com/blockchain_last.tar --show-progress | tar -xvf - -C /docker/waves/waves-data

chown -R 143:143 /docker/waves/waves-data

docker run -v /docker/waves/waves-data:/var/lib/waves -e WAVES_NETWORK=stagenet -e WAVES_WALLET_PASSWORD=myWalletSuperPassword -ti wavesplatform/wavesnode

Network Ports

Node REST API parameters can be specified in REST API section of the node configuration file. Node communication port for incoming connections can be specified in Network Settings section of the node configuration file.

The following example command runs image with:

• REST-API port enabled and configured on the socket 0.0.0.0:6870
• Waves node communication port enabled and configured on the socket 0.0.0.0:6868
• Ports 6868 and 6870 are mapped from the host to the container

docker run -v /docker/waves/waves-data:/var/lib/waves -v /docker/waves/waves-config:/etc/waves -p 6870:6870 -p 6868:6868 -e JAVA_OPTS="-Dwaves.network.declared-address=0.0.0.0:6868 -Dwaves.rest-api.port=6870 -Dwaves.rest-api.bind-address=0.0.0.0 -Dwaves.rest-api.enable=yes" -e WAVES_WALLET_PASSWORD=myWalletSuperPassword -ti  wavesplatform/wavesnode

Note: By default the REST API port is 6869. The default network port depends on the type of network (MAINNET - 6868, STAGENET - 6862, TESTNET/custom - 6863).

To check that the REST API is up, navigate to the following URL from the host side: http://localhost:6870/api-docs/index.html

Extensions

You can run custom extensions as follows:

1. Copy all lib/*.jar files from extension to any directory, for example plugins.

2. Add extension class in the node configuration file (for example in local.conf):

   waves.extensions += com.johndoe.WavesExtension
   

3. Run the image with the following command:

   docker run -v "$(pwd)/plugins:/usr/share/waves/lib/plugins" -v "$(pwd)/local.conf:/etc/waves/local.conf" -i wavesplatform/wavesnode