We provide a pre-built cheqd-node Docker image for installation by those who want to run on Docker-based systems.
Docker-based installations are useful when running non-validator (observer) nodes that can be auto-scaled according to demand, or if you're a developer who setup a localnet / access node CLI without running a node.
⚠️ It is NOT recommended to run a validator node using Docker since you need to be absolutely certain about not running two Docker containers as validator nodes simultaneously. If two Docker containers with the same validator keys are active at the same time, this could be perceived by the network as a validator compromise / double-signing infraction and result in jailing / slashing.
Install Docker pre-requisites below, either as individual installs or using Docker Desktop (if running on a developer machine):
Docker Engine v20.10.x and above (use docker -v to check)
Docker Compose v2.3.x and above (use docker compose version to check)
Our Docker Compose files use Compose v2 syntax. The primary difference in usage is that Docker Compose's new implementation uses docker compose commands (with a space), rather than the legacy docker-compose although they are supposed to be drop-in replacements for each other.
Most issues with Docker that get raised with us are typically with developers running Mac OS with Apple M-series chips, which Docker has special guidance for.
Other issues are due to developers using the legacy docker-compose CLI rather than the new docker compose CLI. If your issues are specifically with Docker Compose, make sure the command used is docker compose (with a space).
Pull a pre-built cheqd-node Docker image from Github Container Registry (replace latest with a different version tag if you want to pull something other than the latest version):
We provide a simple Docker Compose file to bring a node up with the required configuration. This is broken down into three files that need to be modified with the configuration parameters:
docker-compose.yml: Docker Compose file
docker-compose.env: Environment variables used in docker-compose.yml
container.env: Environment variables used inside the cheqd-node container
Both of the .env files are signposted with the REQUIRED and OPTIONAL parameters that can be defined. You must fill out the required configuration parameters.
Once the environment variable files are edited, bringing up a Docker container is as simple as:
Note: The file paths above for the -f and --env-file parameter are relative to the root folder of the cheqd-node repository. Please modify the file paths for the correct relative/absolute paths on the system where you are executing the commands.
If you decide not to use the Docker Compose method, you'll need to configure node settings and volumes for the container manually.
Once you've configured these manually, start using
Alternatively, if you want to just start with the bash terminal without actually starting a node, you could use:
To stop a detached container that was started using Docker Compose, use:
If you also want to remove the container volumes when stopping, add the --volumes flag to the command:
Be careful with removing volumes, since critical data such as node/validator keys will also be removed when volumes are removed. There's no way to get these back, unless you've backed them up independently.
We have additional guides for the following advanced usage scenarios:
Build your own image using Docker to create custom images
Run a Docker-based localnet with multiple nodes to simulate a network