(Alternative) Install with Docker

Context

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.

Pre-requisites

pre-requisites below, either as individual installs or using (if running on a developer machine):

1. Docker Engine v20.10.x and above (use docker -v to check)

2. Docker Compose v2.3.x and above (use docker compose version to check)

Our Docker Compose files . 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.

Special guidance for Mac OS running on Apple silicon (M-series chips)

Most issues with Docker that get raised with us are typically with for.

Other issues are due to developers . If your issues are specifically with Docker Compose, make sure the command used is docker compose (with a space).

Usage

Fetch the latest stable Docker image

Pull a (replace latest with a different version tag if you want to pull something other than the latest version):

Modify environment variables used by Docker Compose

We provide . This is broken down into three files that need to be modified with the configuration parameters:

1. : Docker Compose file

2. : Environment variables used in docker-compose.yml

3. : 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.

Start Docker container

Using Docker Compose

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 . Please modify the file paths for the correct relative/absolute paths on the system where you are executing the commands.

Using Docker

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:

Stop running container

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.

Advanced usage

We have additional guides for the following advanced usage scenarios:

• to create custom images

• with multiple nodes to simulate a network