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Run an Avalanche Node

The quickest way to learn about Avalanche is to run a node and interact with the network.

In this tutorial, we will:

  • Install and run an Avalanche node
  • Connect to Avalanche
  • Send AVAX
  • Add your node to the validator set
caution

If your issue isn’t addressed in the FAQ, come ask for help in the Avalanche Discord! We will work to get you through any obstacles.

info

If you're interested in using a third-party service to host your node or run a validator, check out the options.

This tutorial is primarily geared toward developers and people interested in how the Avalanche Platform works. If you're just interested in setting up a node for staking, you may want to follow the Set Up Avalanche Node With Installer tutorial instead. Installer automates the installation process and sets it up as a system service, which is recommended for unattended operation. You may also try things out by following this tutorial first, and then later set up the node using the installer as a permanent solution.

Requirements​

Avalanche is an incredibly lightweight protocol, so nodes can run on commodity hardware. Note that as network usage increases, hardware requirements may change.

  • CPU: Equivalent of 8 AWS vCPU
  • RAM: 16 GiB
  • Storage: 512 GiB
  • OS: Ubuntu 18.04/20.04 or MacOS >= Catalina

Run an Avalanche Node and Send Funds​

Let’s install AvalancheGo, the Go implementation of an Avalanche node, and connect to the Avalanche Public Testnet.

Download AvalancheGo​

The node is a binary program. You can either download the source code and then build the binary program, or you can download the pre-built binary. You don’t need to do both.

Downloading pre-built binary is easier and recommended if you're just looking to run your own node and stake on it.

Building the node from source is recommended if you're a developer looking to experiment and build on Avalanche.

Source Code​

If you want to build the node from source, you're first going to need to install Go 1.16.8 or later. Follow the instructions here.

Run go version. It should be 1.16.8 or above. Run echo $GOPATH. It should not be empty.

Download the AvalancheGo repository:

git clone [email protected]:ava-labs/avalanchego.git

Note: This checkouts to master branch. For the latest stable version, checkout to the latest tag.

Change to the avalanchego directory:

cd avalanchego

Build AvalancheGo:

./scripts/build.sh

The binary, named avalanchego, is in avalanchego/build.

Binary​

If you want to download a pre-built binary instead of building it yourself, go to our releases page, and select the release you want (probably the latest one.)

Under Assets, select the appropriate file.

For MacOS: Download: avalanchego-macos-<VERSION>.zip Unzip: unzip avalanchego-macos-<VERSION>.zip The resulting folder, avalanchego-<VERSION>, contains the binaries.

For Linux on PCs or cloud providers: Download: avalanchego-linux-amd64-<VERSION>.tar.gz Unzip: tar -xvf avalanchego-linux-amd64-<VERSION>.tar.gz The resulting folder, avalanchego-<VERSION>-linux, contains the binaries.

For Linux on RaspberryPi4 or similar Arm64-based computers: Download: avalanchego-linux-arm64-<VERSION>.tar.gz Unzip: tar -xvf avalanchego-linux-arm64-<VERSION>.tar.gz The resulting folder, avalanchego-<VERSION>-linux, contains the binaries.

Start a Node, and Connect to Avalanche​

If you built from source:

./build/avalanchego

If you are using the pre-built binaries on MacOS:

./avalanchego-<VERSION>/build/avalanchego

If you are using the pre-built binaries on Linux:

./avalanchego-<VERSION>-linux/avalanchego

When the node starts, it has to bootstrap (catch up with the rest of the network). You will see logs about bootstrapping. When a given chain is done bootstrapping, it will print a log like this:

INFO [06-07|19:54:06] <X Chain> /snow/engine/avalanche/transitive.go#80: bootstrapping finished with 1 vertices in the accepted frontier

To check if a given chain is done bootstrapping, in another terminal window call info.isBootstrapped by copying and pasting the following command:

curl -X POST --data '{
    "jsonrpc":"2.0",
    "id"     :1,
    "method" :"info.isBootstrapped",
    "params": {
        "chain":"X"
    }
}' -H 'content-type:application/json;' 127.0.0.1:9650/ext/info

If this returns true, the chain is bootstrapped. If you make an API call to a chain that is not done bootstrapping, it will return API call rejected because chain is not done bootstrapping. If your node never finishes bootstrapping, follow this FAQ, if you are still experiencing issues please contact us on Discord.

Your node is running and connected now. If you want to use your node as a validator on the main net, check out this tutorial to find out how to add your node as a validator using the web wallet.

You can use Ctrl + C to kill the node.

If you want to experiment and play with your node, read on.

To be able to make API calls to your node from other machines, when starting up the node include argument --http-host= (e.g. ./build/avalanchego --http-host=)

To connect to the Fuji Testnet instead of the main net, use argument --network-id=fuji. You can get funds on the Testnet from the faucet.

Create a Keystore User​

Avalanche nodes provide a built-in Keystore. The Keystore manages users and is a lot like a wallet. A user is a password-protected identity that a client can use when interacting with blockchains. You should only create a keystore user on a node that you operate, as the node operator has access to your plaintext password. To create a user, call keystore.createUser:

curl -X POST --data '{
     "jsonrpc": "2.0",
     "id": 1,
     "method": "keystore.createUser",
     "params": {
         "username": "YOUR USERNAME HERE",
         "password": "YOUR PASSWORD HERE"
     }
}' -H 'content-type:application/json;' 127.0.0.1:9650/ext/keystore

The response should be:

{
     "jsonrpc":"2.0",
     "result":{"success":true},
     "id":1
}

Now, you have a user on this node. Keystore data exists at the node level. Users you create on one node’s Keystore do not exist on other nodes but you can import/export users to/from the Keystore. See the Keystore API to see how.

danger

You should only keep a small amount of your funds on your node. Most of your funds should be secured by a mnemonic that is not saved to any computer.

Create an Address​

Avalanche is a platform of heterogeneous blockchains, one of which is the X-Chain, which acts as a decentralized platform for creating and trading digital assets. We are now going to create an address to hold AVAX on our node.

To create a new address on the X-Chain, call avm.createAddress, a method of the X-Chain’s API:

curl -X POST --data '{
    "jsonrpc":"2.0",
    "id"     :2,
    "method" :"avm.createAddress",
    "params" :{
        "username":"YOUR USERNAME HERE",
        "password":"YOUR PASSWORD HERE"
    }
}' -H 'content-type:application/json;' 127.0.0.1:9650/ext/bc/X

If your node isn’t finished bootstrapping, this call will return status 503 with message API call rejected because chain is not done bootstrapping.

Note that we make this request to 127.0.0.1:9650/ext/bc/X. The bc/X portion signifies that the request is being sent to the blockchain whose ID (or alias) is X (i.e., the X-Chain).

The response should look like this:

{
    "jsonrpc":"2.0",
    "id":2,
    "result" :{
        "address":"X-avax1xeaj0h9uy7c5jn6fxjp0rg4g39jeh0hl27vf75"
    }
}

Your user now controls the address X-avax1xeaj0h9uy7c5jn6fxjp0rg4g39jeh0hl27vf75 on the X-Chain. To tell apart addresses on different chains, the Avalanche convention is for an address to include the ID or alias of the chain it exists on. Hence, this address begins X-, denoting that it exists on the X-Chain.

Send Funds From Avalanche Wallet to Your Node​

caution

Note: the instructions below move real funds.

Let’s move funds from the Avalanche Wallet to your node.

Go to Avalanche Wallet. Click Access Wallet, then Mnemonic Key Phrase. Enter your mnemonic phrase.

Click the Send tab on the left. For amount, select, .002 AVAX. Enter the address of your node, then click Confirm.

web wallet send tab

We can check an address’s balance of a given asset by calling avm.getBalance, another method of the X-Chain’s API. Let’s check that the transfer went through:

curl -X POST --data '{
    "jsonrpc":"2.0",
    "id"     :3,
    "method" :"avm.getBalance",
    "params" :{
        "address":"X-avax1xeaj0h9uy7c5jn6fxjp0rg4g39jeh0hl27vf75",
        "assetID"  :"AVAX"
    }
}' -H 'content-type:application/json;' 127.0.0.1:9650/ext/bc/X

Note that AVAX has the special ID AVAX. Usually an asset ID is an alphanumeric string.

The response should indicate that we have 2,000,000 nAVAX or 0.002 AVAX.

{
    "jsonrpc":"2.0",
    "id"     :3,
    "result" :{
        "balance":2000000,
        "utxoIDs": [
            {
                "txID": "x6vR85YPNRf5phpLAEC7Sd6Tq2PXWRt3AAHAK4BpjxyjRyhtu",
                "outputIndex": 0
            }
        ]
    }
}

Send AVAX​

Now, let’s send some AVAX by making an API call to our node:

curl -X POST --data '{
    "jsonrpc":"2.0",
    "id"     :5,
    "method" :"avm.send",
    "params" :{
        "assetID"    :"AVAX",
        "amount"     :1000,
        "to"         :"X-avax1w4nt49gyv4e99ldqevy50l2kz55y9efghep0cs",
        "changeAddr" :"X-avax1turszjwn05lflpewurw96rfrd3h6x8flgs5uf8",
        "username"   :"YOUR USERNAME HERE",
        "password"   :"YOUR PASSWORD HERE"
    }
}' -H 'content-type:application/json;' 127.0.0.1:9650/ext/bc/X

amount specifies the number of nAVAX to send.

If you want to specify a particular address where change should go, you can specify it in changeAddr. You can leave this field empty; if you do, any change will go to one of the addresses your user controls.

In order to prevent spam, Avalanche requires the payment of a transaction fee. The transaction fee will be automatically deducted from an address controlled by your user when you issue a transaction. Keep that in mind when you’re checking balances below.

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Transaction Fees

When you send this request, the node will authenticate you using your username and password. Then, it will look through all the private keys controlled by your user until it finds enough AVAX to satisfy the request.

The response contains the transaction’s ID. It will be different for every invocation of send.

{
    "jsonrpc":"2.0",
    "id"     :5,
    "result" :{
        "txID":"2QouvFWUbjuySRxeX5xMbNCuAaKWfbk5FeEa2JmoF85RKLk2dD",
        "changeAddr" :"X-avax1turszjwn05lflpewurw96rfrd3h6x8flgs5uf8"
    }
}

Checking the Transaction Status​

This transaction will only take a second or two to finalize. We can check its status with avm.getTxStatus:

curl -X POST --data '{
    "jsonrpc":"2.0",
    "id"     :6,
    "method" :"avm.getTxStatus",
    "params" :{
        "txID":"2QouvFWUbjuySRxeX5xMbNCuAaKWfbk5FeEa2JmoF85RKLk2dD"
    }
}' -H 'content-type:application/json;' 127.0.0.1:9650/ext/bc/X

The response should indicate that the transaction was accepted:

{
    "jsonrpc":"2.0",
    "id"     :6,
    "result" :{
        "status":"Accepted"
    }
}

You might also see that status is Processing if the network has not yet finalized the transaction.

Once you see that the transaction is Accepted, check the balance of the to address to see that it has the AVAX we sent:

curl -X POST --data '{
    "jsonrpc":"2.0",
    "id"     :7,
    "method" :"avm.getBalance",
    "params" :{
        "address":"X-avax1w4nt49gyv4e99ldqevy50l2kz55y9efghep0cs",
        "assetID"  :"AVAX"
    }
}' -H 'content-type:application/json;' 127.0.0.1:9650/ext/bc/X

The response should be:

{
    "jsonrpc":"2.0",
    "id"     :7,
    "result" :{
        "balance":1000
    }
}

In the same fashion, we could check X-avax1xeaj0h9uy7c5jn6fxjp0rg4g39jeh0hl27vf75 to see that AVAX we sent was deducted from its balance, as well as the transaction fee.