Geth (short for Go Ethereum) is one of the three original implementations (along with C++ and Python) of the Ethereum protocol. It is written in Go, fully open source and licensed under the GNU LGPL v3. In this article we are going to review how can you setup your own node using geth.
If you need a quick overview, checkout our video:
Introduction
An Ethereum node is a software that runs the Ethereum network.
There are many implementations of Ethereum node, and Geth, written in Go, is the most popular.
That’s the implementation we will use. Geth is the most pop Go implementation of Ethereum for running nodes
Installation
You can install the Go implementation of Ethereum using a variety of ways. These include installing it via your favorite package manager; downloading a standalone pre-built bundle; running as a docker container; or building it yourself. This document details all of the possibilities to get you joining the Ethereum network using whatever means you prefer.
It can run on Windows, Linux and MacOS.For windows, to install it you can download and run the exe executable. For linux, you can install it using the native package manager of your distribution. And for MacOS, you can install it using Homebrew. That’s what we will do in this tutorial.
If you don’t have Homebrew, install it first
After, in your terminal, run the following commands:
brew tap ethereum/ethereum
brew install ethereum
Once it is installed you have access to the geth executable: geth –help
Running Geth
$ geth --help
NAME:
geth - the go-ethereum command line interface
Copyright 2013-2021 The go-ethereum Authors
USAGE:
geth [options] [command] [command options] [arguments...]
VERSION:
1.10.15-stable-8be800ff
COMMANDS:
account Manage accounts
attach Start an interactive JavaScript environment (connect to node)
console Start an interactive JavaScript environment
db Low level database operations
dump Dump a specific block from storage
dumpconfig Show configuration values
dumpgenesis Dumps genesis block JSON configuration to stdout
export Export blockchain into file
export-preimages Export the preimage database into an RLP stream
import Import a blockchain file
import-preimages Import the preimage database from an RLP stream
init Bootstrap and initialize a new genesis block
js Execute the specified JavaScript files
license Display license information
makecache Generate ethash verification cache (for testing)
makedag Generate ethash mining DAG (for testing)
removedb Remove blockchain and state databases
show-deprecated-flags Show flags that have been deprecated
snapshot A set of commands based on the snapshot
version Print version numbers
version-check Checks (online) whether the current version suffers from any known security vulnerabilities
wallet Manage Ethereum presale wallets
help, h Shows a list of commands or help for one command
ETHEREUM OPTIONS:
--config value TOML configuration file
--datadir value Data directory for the databases and keystore (default: "~/.ethereum")
--datadir.ancient value Data directory for ancient chain segments (default = inside chaindata)
--datadir.minfreedisk value Minimum free disk space in MB, once reached triggers auto shut down (default = --cache.gc converted to MB, 0 = disabled)
--keystore value Directory for the keystore (default = inside the datadir)
--usb Enable monitoring and management of USB hardware wallets
--pcscdpath value Path to the smartcard daemon (pcscd) socket file
--networkid value Explicitly set network id (integer)(For testnets: use --ropsten, --rinkeby, --goerli instead) (default: 1)
--mainnet Ethereum mainnet
--goerli Görli network: pre-configured proof-of-authority test network
--rinkeby Rinkeby network: pre-configured proof-of-authority test network
--ropsten Ropsten network: pre-configured proof-of-work test network
--sepolia Sepolia network: pre-configured proof-of-work test network
--syncmode value Blockchain sync mode ("snap", "full" or "light") (default: snap)
--exitwhensynced Exits after block synchronisation completes
--gcmode value Blockchain garbage collection mode ("full", "archive") (default: "full")
--txlookuplimit value Number of recent blocks to maintain transactions index for (default = about one year, 0 = entire chain) (default: 2350000)
--ethstats value Reporting URL of a ethstats service (nodename:secret@host:port)
--identity value Custom node name
--lightkdf Reduce key-derivation RAM & CPU usage at some expense of KDF strength
--whitelist value Comma separated block number-to-hash mappings to enforce (<number>=<hash>)
LIGHT CLIENT OPTIONS:
--light.serve value Maximum percentage of time allowed for serving LES requests (multi-threaded processing allows values over 100) (default: 0)
--light.ingress value Incoming bandwidth limit for serving light clients (kilobytes/sec, 0 = unlimited) (default: 0)
--light.egress value Outgoing bandwidth limit for serving light clients (kilobytes/sec, 0 = unlimited) (default: 0)
--light.maxpeers value Maximum number of light clients to serve, or light servers to attach to (default: 100)
--ulc.servers value List of trusted ultra-light servers
--ulc.fraction value Minimum % of trusted ultra-light servers required to announce a new head (default: 75)
--ulc.onlyannounce Ultra light server sends announcements only
--light.nopruning Disable ancient light chain data pruning
--light.nosyncserve Enables serving light clients before syncing
DEVELOPER CHAIN OPTIONS:
--dev Ephemeral proof-of-authority network with a pre-funded developer account, mining enabled
--dev.period value Block period to use in developer mode (0 = mine only if transaction pending) (default: 0)
--dev.gaslimit value Initial block gas limit (default: 11500000)
ETHASH OPTIONS:
--ethash.cachedir value Directory to store the ethash verification caches (default = inside the datadir)
--ethash.cachesinmem value Number of recent ethash caches to keep in memory (16MB each) (default: 2)
--ethash.cachesondisk value Number of recent ethash caches to keep on disk (16MB each) (default: 3)
--ethash.cacheslockmmap Lock memory maps of recent ethash caches
--ethash.dagdir value Directory to store the ethash mining DAGs (default: "~/.ethash")
--ethash.dagsinmem value Number of recent ethash mining DAGs to keep in memory (1+GB each) (default: 1)
--ethash.dagsondisk value Number of recent ethash mining DAGs to keep on disk (1+GB each) (default: 2)
--ethash.dagslockmmap Lock memory maps for recent ethash mining DAGs
TRANSACTION POOL OPTIONS:
--txpool.locals value Comma separated accounts to treat as locals (no flush, priority inclusion)
--txpool.nolocals Disables price exemptions for locally submitted transactions
--txpool.journal value Disk journal for local transaction to survive node restarts (default: "transactions.rlp")
--txpool.rejournal value Time interval to regenerate the local transaction journal (default: 1h0m0s)
--txpool.pricelimit value Minimum gas price limit to enforce for acceptance into the pool (default: 1)
--txpool.pricebump value Price bump percentage to replace an already existing transaction (default: 10)
--txpool.accountslots value Minimum number of executable transaction slots guaranteed per account (default: 16)
--txpool.globalslots value Maximum number of executable transaction slots for all accounts (default: 5120)
--txpool.accountqueue value Maximum number of non-executable transaction slots permitted per account (default: 64)
--txpool.globalqueue value Maximum number of non-executable transaction slots for all accounts (default: 1024)
--txpool.lifetime value Maximum amount of time non-executable transaction are queued (default: 3h0m0s)
PERFORMANCE TUNING OPTIONS:
--cache value Megabytes of memory allocated to internal caching (default = 4096 mainnet full node, 128 light mode) (default: 1024)
--cache.database value Percentage of cache memory allowance to use for database io (default: 50)
--cache.trie value Percentage of cache memory allowance to use for trie caching (default = 15% full mode, 30% archive mode) (default: 15)
--cache.trie.journal value Disk journal directory for trie cache to survive node restarts (default: "triecache")
--cache.trie.rejournal value Time interval to regenerate the trie cache journal (default: 1h0m0s)
--cache.gc value Percentage of cache memory allowance to use for trie pruning (default = 25% full mode, 0% archive mode) (default: 25)
--cache.snapshot value Percentage of cache memory allowance to use for snapshot caching (default = 10% full mode, 20% archive mode) (default: 10)
--cache.noprefetch Disable heuristic state prefetch during block import (less CPU and disk IO, more time waiting for data)
--cache.preimages Enable recording the SHA3/keccak preimages of trie keys
ACCOUNT OPTIONS:
--unlock value Comma separated list of accounts to unlock
--password value Password file to use for non-interactive password input
--signer value External signer (url or path to ipc file)
--allow-insecure-unlock Allow insecure account unlocking when account-related RPCs are exposed by http
API AND CONSOLE OPTIONS:
--ipcdisable Disable the IPC-RPC server
--ipcpath value Filename for IPC socket/pipe within the datadir (explicit paths escape it)
--http Enable the HTTP-RPC server
--http.addr value HTTP-RPC server listening interface (default: "localhost")
--http.port value HTTP-RPC server listening port (default: 8545)
--http.api value API's offered over the HTTP-RPC interface
--http.rpcprefix value HTTP path path prefix on which JSON-RPC is served. Use '/' to serve on all paths.
--http.corsdomain value Comma separated list of domains from which to accept cross origin requests (browser enforced)
--http.vhosts value Comma separated list of virtual hostnames from which to accept requests (server enforced). Accepts '*' wildcard. (default: "localhost")
--ws Enable the WS-RPC server
--ws.addr value WS-RPC server listening interface (default: "localhost")
--ws.port value WS-RPC server listening port (default: 8546)
--ws.api value API's offered over the WS-RPC interface
--ws.rpcprefix value HTTP path prefix on which JSON-RPC is served. Use '/' to serve on all paths.
--ws.origins value Origins from which to accept websockets requests
--graphql Enable GraphQL on the HTTP-RPC server. Note that GraphQL can only be started if an HTTP server is started as well.
--graphql.corsdomain value Comma separated list of domains from which to accept cross origin requests (browser enforced)
--graphql.vhosts value Comma separated list of virtual hostnames from which to accept requests (server enforced). Accepts '*' wildcard. (default: "localhost")
--rpc.gascap value Sets a cap on gas that can be used in eth_call/estimateGas (0=infinite) (default: 50000000)
--rpc.evmtimeout value Sets a timeout used for eth_call (0=infinite) (default: 5s)
--rpc.txfeecap value Sets a cap on transaction fee (in ether) that can be sent via the RPC APIs (0 = no cap) (default: 1)
--rpc.allow-unprotected-txs Allow for unprotected (non EIP155 signed) transactions to be submitted via RPC
--jspath loadScript JavaScript root path for loadScript (default: ".")
--exec value Execute JavaScript statement
--preload value Comma separated list of JavaScript files to preload into the console
NETWORKING OPTIONS:
--bootnodes value Comma separated enode URLs for P2P discovery bootstrap
--discovery.dns value Sets DNS discovery entry points (use "" to disable DNS)
--port value Network listening port (default: 30303)
--maxpeers value Maximum number of network peers (network disabled if set to 0) (default: 50)
--maxpendpeers value Maximum number of pending connection attempts (defaults used if set to 0) (default: 0)
--nat value NAT port mapping mechanism (any|none|upnp|pmp|extip:<IP>) (default: "any")
--nodiscover Disables the peer discovery mechanism (manual peer addition)
--v5disc Enables the experimental RLPx V5 (Topic Discovery) mechanism
--netrestrict value Restricts network communication to the given IP networks (CIDR masks)
--nodekey value P2P node key file
--nodekeyhex value P2P node key as hex (for testing)
MINER OPTIONS:
--mine Enable mining
--miner.threads value Number of CPU threads to use for mining (default: 0)
--miner.notify value Comma separated HTTP URL list to notify of new work packages
--miner.notify.full Notify with pending block headers instead of work packages
--miner.gasprice value Minimum gas price for mining a transaction (default: 1000000000)
--miner.gaslimit value Target gas ceiling for mined blocks (default: 8000000)
--miner.etherbase value Public address for block mining rewards (default = first account) (default: "0")
--miner.extradata value Block extra data set by the miner (default = client version)
--miner.recommit value Time interval to recreate the block being mined (default: 3s)
--miner.noverify Disable remote sealing verification
GAS PRICE ORACLE OPTIONS:
--gpo.blocks value Number of recent blocks to check for gas prices (default: 20)
--gpo.percentile value Suggested gas price is the given percentile of a set of recent transaction gas prices (default: 60)
--gpo.maxprice value Maximum transaction priority fee (or gasprice before London fork) to be recommended by gpo (default: 500000000000)
--gpo.ignoreprice value Gas price below which gpo will ignore transactions (default: 2)
VIRTUAL MACHINE OPTIONS:
--vmdebug Record information useful for VM and contract debugging
LOGGING AND DEBUGGING OPTIONS:
--fakepow Disables proof-of-work verification
--nocompaction Disables db compaction after import
--verbosity value Logging verbosity: 0=silent, 1=error, 2=warn, 3=info, 4=debug, 5=detail (default: 3)
--vmodule value Per-module verbosity: comma-separated list of <pattern>=<level> (e.g. eth/*=5,p2p=4)
--log.json Format logs with JSON
--log.backtrace value Request a stack trace at a specific logging statement (e.g. "block.go:271")
--log.debug Prepends log messages with call-site location (file and line number)
--pprof Enable the pprof HTTP server
--pprof.addr value pprof HTTP server listening interface (default: "127.0.0.1")
--pprof.port value pprof HTTP server listening port (default: 6060)
--pprof.memprofilerate value Turn on memory profiling with the given rate (default: 524288)
--pprof.blockprofilerate value Turn on block profiling with the given rate (default: 0)
--pprof.cpuprofile value Write CPU profile to the given file
--trace value Write execution trace to the given file
METRICS AND STATS OPTIONS:
--metrics Enable metrics collection and reporting
--metrics.expensive Enable expensive metrics collection and reporting
--metrics.addr value Enable stand-alone metrics HTTP server listening interface (default: "127.0.0.1")
--metrics.port value Metrics HTTP server listening port (default: 6060)
--metrics.influxdb Enable metrics export/push to an external InfluxDB database
--metrics.influxdb.endpoint value InfluxDB API endpoint to report metrics to (default: "http://localhost:8086")
--metrics.influxdb.database value InfluxDB database name to push reported metrics to (default: "geth")
--metrics.influxdb.username value Username to authorize access to the database (default: "test")
--metrics.influxdb.password value Password to authorize access to the database (default: "test")
--metrics.influxdb.tags value Comma-separated InfluxDB tags (key/values) attached to all measurements (default: "host=localhost")
--metrics.influxdbv2 Enable metrics export/push to an external InfluxDB v2 database
--metrics.influxdb.token value Token to authorize access to the database (v2 only) (default: "test")
--metrics.influxdb.bucket value InfluxDB bucket name to push reported metrics to (v2 only) (default: "geth")
--metrics.influxdb.organization value InfluxDB organization name (v2 only) (default: "geth")
ALIASED (deprecated) OPTIONS:
--nousb Disables monitoring for and managing USB hardware wallets (deprecated)
MISC OPTIONS:
--snapshot Enables snapshot-database mode (default = enable)
--bloomfilter.size value Megabytes of memory allocated to bloom-filter for pruning (default: 2048)
--help, -h show help
--catalyst Catalyst mode (eth2 integration testing)
--override.arrowglacier value Manually specify Arrow Glacier fork-block, overriding the bundled setting (default: 0)
--override.terminaltotaldifficulty value Manually specify TerminalTotalDifficulty, overriding the bundled setting (default: 0)
COPYRIGHT:
Copyright 2013-2021 The go-ethereum Authors
When you run Geth for the first time, it will need to download the data from the Ethereum Blockchain.
That’s what we call the syncing process.
Geth has three syncmodes:
- The Full sync mode will download the entire blockchain
- The Fast sync mode will also download the entire blockchain but using a snapshot from another peer
- And the Light sync mode will start a bare minimum node, with only the current state, and without the historical state
The most powerful and trustless option is full sync, but it requires a lot of resources on your
laptop.
[requires a few hundred GB of free space]
For this tutorial, we will keep it simple and use the light sync mode.
Run this command in your terminal geth –ropsten –syncmode “light”
It will start the node in light sync mode and connect to the ropsten testnet.
[Notice the IPC endpoint that should look something like this : (INFO [01-19|13:18:33.610] IPC endpoint opened url=/home/rahul/.ethereum/ropsten/geth.ipc) this is the URL of your node]
You can interact with your local node using the Javascript console or by using JSON RPC
To use the Javascript console, in a new terminal run geth attach
Once you the console is connected you can run admin.nodeInfo to see information about the nodes
You can check Web3js documentation for a full list of commands available on the console
You can also programmatically connect to the node using web3js and JSON RPC.
For this, run:
geth --http --ropsten --syncmode "light"
This will start a JSON RPC server at localhost:8545 which you can use as a provider in Web3js to connect to Ethereum
So that’s how you run a local ethereum node.
To run on mainnet, you just have to remove the ropsten flag.
It’s also possible to buy a physical machine specially designed to run an Ethereum node
Conclusion
Geth is a powerfool tool that can help you give insights about how ethereum works under the hood. Hey what do you think about running an Ethereum node? Have you tried it already? That’s it for today, see you next time!
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