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Deploy your node

In this tutorial, you will learn how to deploy a replication node contributing to the network of Carmentis. This node will mainly hold and keep up-to-date the master-chain.

Deploy the replication node​

To deploy a replication node, download the latest version of the repository here and move into the folder.

git clone https://github.com/Carmentis/carmentis-node-docker.git
cd carmentis-node-docker

Then, start the replication node by executing the following commands:

# give the right to execute the script
chmod u+x ./scripts/carmentis.sh

# (optional) update the images to the latest available, useful when an older image is in cache.
./scripts/carmentis.sh update 
sudo ./scripts/carmentis.sh reset

# start the replication node (be sure to execute the script twice!)
./scripts/carmentis.sh start:themis # create the structure and halt, useful to add a validator key
./scripts/carmentis.sh start:themis # start the replication node

The replication node is now downloading all blocks composing the master-chain and is keeping up-to-date the master-chain.

Create a backup for your replication node​

When the master-chain is long, downloading all the blocks is time-consuming. While this step is necessary in a first place, the chain can be stored locally. This way, the replication node only have to restore the chain from the local backup.

In the following, we introduce the manual procedure to create a backup. We encourage interested readers to create automations in order to create backups automatically and periodically.

To save the data from the node, execute the following commands:

# install the lz4 compressor
sudo apt install lz4

# download the backup creation scripts
git clone git@github.com:Carmentis/carmentis-node-backup-script.git
cd carmentis-node-backup-scripts

# execute the backup creation script
# the "node-folder" parameter is the path of the running node,
# containing the `.carmentis`  folder (e.g., ~/carmentis-node-docker).  
./carmentis-backup.sh <node-folder>

# (optional) stop the replication node
./scripts/carmentis.sh stop

To restore the local backup of the master:

# (optional) if your replication is running, stop it
# and delete the data folder in the running node
./scripts/carmentis.sh stop
sudo rm -Rf .carmentis/data

# move the data from the backup storage to the running node folder
sudo lz4 -dc output/<backup_file>.tar.lz4 | sudo tar -xf - -C <running_node_directory>

# restart the replication node (be sure to be in the `carmentis-node-docker` folder!)
./scripts/carmentis.sh start:themis

To display the logs of your running node:

docker logs cometbft.carmentis -f

Turn replication node into validator​

A replication node can be turned into a validator node, checking the consistency of the transactions in addition to maintaining the local master-chain with the current state of the blockchain.

Get your signature key​

A validator node, at the opposite of a replication node, requires a secret signature key to authenticate a valid transaction.

Then, Copy your private key in the priv_validator_key.json file at the root of the running node folder.