This document assumes that you are running Ubuntu 20.04.

The following steps outline the artifact installation of a Witness Node:

1. Prepare the environment

2. Download and extract the artifacts

3. Copy the artifacts to the proper locations

4. Update the config.ini File

5. Start the node

1. Prepare the environment

1.1. Hardware requirements

Please see the general Witness hardware requirements.

For the GitLab artifact install, the requirements that we'll need for this guide would be as follows:

1.2. Install the required dependencies

The following dependencies are necessary for a clean install of Ubuntu 20.04:

sudo apt-get install \
    autoconf bash bison build-essential ca-certificates dnsutils expect flex git \
    graphviz libbz2-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev libncurses-dev libpcre3-dev \
    libsnappy-dev libsodium-dev libssl-dev libtool libzip-dev locales lsb-release \
    mc nano net-tools ntp openssh-server pkg-config python3 python3-jinja2 sudo \
    systemd-coredump wget libboost-all-dev

1.3 cmake setup

Cmake is an open-source, cross platform tool that uses independent configuration files to generate native build tool files specific to the compiler and platform. It consists of precompiled binaries and the cmake tools makes configuration, building, and debugging much easier.

Install the cmake using the below commands:

wget https://github.com/Kitware/CMake/releases/download/v3.24.2/cmake-3.24.2-linux-x86_64.sh
chmod 755 ./cmake-3.24.2-linux-x86_64.sh
sudo ./cmake-3.24.2-linux-x86_64.sh --prefix=/usr --skip-license
cmake --version

1.4 Install Boost libraries

Boost libraries provide free peer-reviewed portable C++ source libraries and it can be used across broad spectrum of application.

Install Boost libraries using the below commands:

wget https://boostorg.jfrog.io/artifactory/main/release/1.72.0/source/boost_1_72_0.tar.gz
tar -xzvf boost_1_72_0.tar.gz
cd boost_1_72_0
./bootstrap.sh
./b2
sudo ./b2 install
sudo ldconfig

1.5 Install libzmq

The components libzmp and cppzmp are used for relaying messages between nodes.

First, install libzmq using the below commands:

wget https://github.com/zeromq/libzmq/archive/refs/tags/v4.3.4.tar.gz
tar -xzvf v4.3.4.tar.gz
cd libzmq-4.3.4
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

1.6 Install cppzmq

Next, install cppzmp using the below commands:

wget https://github.com/zeromq/cppzmq/archive/refs/tags/v4.9.0.tar.gz
tar -xzvf v4.9.0.tar.gz
cd cppzmq-4.9.0
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

1.7 Install gsl

GSL is the GNU scientific library for numerical computing. It is a collection of routines for numerical computing in e.g. linear algebra, probability, random number generation, statistics, differentiation, etc.,

Install the gsl using the below commands:

wget https://github.com/imatix/gsl/archive/refs/tags/v4.1.4.tar.gz
tar -xzvf v4.1.4.tar.gz
cd gsl-4.1.4
make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

1.8 Install libbitcoin

The libbitcoin toolkit is a set of cross platform C++ libraries for building bitcoin applications. The toolkit consists of several libraries, most of which depend on the base libbitcoin-system library.

Install the libbitcoin using the below commands:

git clone --branch version3.8.0 --depth 1 https://gitlab.com/PBSA/peerplays-1.0/libbitcoin-explorer.git
cd libbitcoin-explorer
sudo ./install.sh
sudo ldconfig

1.9 Install Doxygen

Doxygen is a software utility that recognizes comments within C++ code that have a certain form, and uses them to produce a collection of HTML files containing the information in those comments.

Install the Doxygen using the below commands:

wget https://github.com/doxygen/doxygen/archive/refs/tags/Release_1_8_17.tar.gz
tar -xvf Release_1_8_17.tar.gz
cd doxygen-Release_1_8_17
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

2.0 Install Perl

Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language originally developed for text manipulation.

Install the Perl using the below commands:

wget https://github.com/Perl/perl5/archive/refs/tags/v5.30.0.tar.gz
tar -xvf v5.30.0.tar.gz
cd perl5-5.30.0
./Configure -des
make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

2. Download and extract the artifacts

Artifacts are pre-built binaries that are available to download from GitLab. You can see the available pipelines, sorted by release tags, on the GitLab Peerplays project page. The link in the code below refers to release version 1.6.1 which is the latest production release as of the writing of this document. Please make sure to replace the tag with the one you need.

cd $HOME
mkdir artifacts
cd artifacts
sudo wget https://gitlab.com/PBSA/peerplays/-/jobs/artifacts/1.6.1/download?job=build-mainnet -O artifacts.zip
unzip artifacts.zip

3. Copy the artifacts to the proper locations

Putting the witness_node and cli_wallet programs in the /usr/local/bin directory will allow us to call the program from any directory.

sudo cp $HOME/artifacts/build/programs/witness_node/witness_node /usr/local/bin/witness_node
sudo cp $HOME/artifacts/build/programs/cli_wallet/cli_wallet /usr/local/bin/cli_wallet

Now we can run start the node with:

cd $HOME
witness_node

Launching the witness creates the required directories which contain the config.ini file we'll need to edit. We'll stop the witness now with Ctrl + C so we can edit the config file.

4. Edit the config.ini file

We need to set the endpoint and seed-node addresses so we can access the cli_wallet and download all the initial blocks from the chain. Within the config.ini file, locate the p2p-endpoint, rpc-endpoint, and seed-node settings and enter the following addresses.

nano ~/witness_node_data_dir/config.ini

p2p-endpoint = 0.0.0.0:9777
rpc-endpoint = 0.0.0.0:8090
seed-node = ca.peerplays.info:9777
seed-node = de.peerplays.xyz:9777
seed-node = pl.peerplays.org:9777
seed-nodes = []

Save the changes and start the Witness back up.

witness_node

We have successfully started the witness node and it is now ready for configuration.

5. Node Configuration

Next step is to configure the witness node based on the requirement. There are different ways in which the nodes can be configured such as block producer, SON node, API node, and delayed node.

1. Becoming a block producer is one of the important steps as it is mandatory to use the node for transactions across the wallet. Follow the steps from the below document to become a block producer,

1. There are other ways it which the node can be configured. The below document showcase the other ways available for node configuration.

6. What's Next?

After configuring the node with desired configuration, click below to learn the NEXT steps 👍

7. Glossary

Witness: An independent server operator which validates network transactions.

Witness Node: Nodes with a closed RPC port. They don't allow external connections. Instead these nodes focus on processing transactions into blocks.

This is an introduction for a new witness node to get up to speed on the Peerplays blockchain. It is intended for Witnesses planning to join a live, already deployed, blockchain. The node running on ubuntu 18.04 or ubuntu 20.04 can follow the steps in the document for manual installation.

The following steps outline the manual installation of a Witness Node:

1. Preparing the Environment

2. Build Peerplays

3. Update the config.ini File

4. Start the node

1. Preparing the Environment

1.1. Hardware requirements

Please see the general Witness .

For the manual install, the requirements that we'll need for this guide would be as follows (as per the hardware requirements doc):

1.2. Installing the required dependencies

The following dependencies are necessary for a clean install of Ubuntu 20.04:

1.3 cmake setup

Cmake is an open-source, cross platform tool that uses independent configuration files to generate native build tool files specific to the compiler and platform. It consists of precompiled binaries and the cmake tools makes configuration, building, and debugging much easier.

Install the cmake using the below commands:

1.4 Install Boost libraries

Boost libraries provide free peer-reviewed portable C++ source libraries and it can be used across broad spectrum of application.

Install Boost libraries using the below commands:

1.5 Install libzmq

The components libzmp and cppzmp are used for relaying messages between nodes.

First, install libzmq using the below commands:

1.6 Install cppzmq

Next, install cppzmp using the below commands:

1.7 Install gsl

GSL is the GNU scientific library for numerical computing. It is a collection of routines for numerical computing in e.g. linear algebra, probability, random number generation, statistics, differentiation, etc.,

Install the gsl using the below commands:

1.8 Install libbitcoin

The libbitcoin toolkit is a set of cross platform C++ libraries for building bitcoin applications. The toolkit consists of several libraries, most of which depend on the base libbitcoin-system library.

Install the libbitcoin using the below commands:

1.9 Install Doxygen

Doxygen is a software utility that recognizes comments within C++ code that have a certain form, and uses them to produce a collection of HTML files containing the information in those comments.

Install the Doxygen using the below commands:

2.0 Install Perl

Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language originally developed for text manipulation.

Install the Perl using the below commands:

2. Build Peerplays

Use the below commands to build Peerplays:

2.1. Starting the Peerplays Witness Node

If we have installed the blockchain following the above steps, the node can be started as follows:

Launching the Witness for the first time creates the directories which contain the configuration files.

3. Update the config.ini File

We need to set the endpoint and seed-node addresses so we can access the cli_wallet and download all the initial blocks from the chain. Within the config.ini file, locate the p2p-endpoint, rpc-endpoint, and seed-node settings and enter the following addresses.

Save the changes and start the node back up.

We have successfully started the witness node and it is now ready for configuration.

4. Node Configuration

Next step is to configure the witness node based on the requirement. There are different ways in which the nodes can be configured such as block producer, SON node, API node, and delayed node.

1. Becoming a block producer is one of the important steps as it is mandatory to use the node for transactions across the wallet. Follow the steps from the below document to become a block producer,

1. There are other ways it which the node can be configured. The below document showcase the other ways available for node configuration.

5. What's Next?

After configuring the node with desired configuration, click below to learn the NEXT steps 👍

6. Glossary

Witness: An independent server operator which validates network transactions.

Witness Node: Nodes with a closed RPC port. They don't allow external connections. Instead these nodes focus on processing transactions into blocks.

This document assumes that you are running Ubuntu 18.04 or 20.04. Other Debian based releases may also work with the provided script.

The following steps outline the Docker installation of a Witness Node:

1. Preparing the Environment

2. Installing Docker

3. Installing the Peerplays image

4. Starting the Container

5. Update the config.ini File

6. Create a Peerplays Account

7. Update config.ini with Witness Account Info

8. Start the Container and Vote for Yourself

1. Preparing the Environment

1.1 Hardware requirements

Please see the Witness node .

For the docker install on Peerplays Mainnet, the requirements that we'll need for this guide would be as follows (as per the hardware requirements doc):

1.2 Installing the required dependencies

Then we'll clone the Peerplays Docker repository.

2. Installing Docker

Docker can be installed using the run.sh script inside the Peerplays Docker repository:

The run.sh script contains many commands to make managing the node easy. A list of all its are listed in section 9 of this document.

Since the script has added the currently logged in user to the Docker group, you'll need to re-login (or close and reconnect SSH) for Docker to function correctly.

2.1. Setting up the .env file

Copy the example.env to .env located in the root of the repository (ie peerplays-docker folder)

We're going to have to make some changes to the .env file so we'll open that now using a text editor.

Here are the important parts of the .env file. These will be the parts that need to be edited or optionally edited. The rest of the file should be unchanged.

3. Installing the Peerplays image

Use run.sh to pull the node image:

4. Start the Container

With at least 8GB of disk space available in your home folder, we'll start the node. This will create and/or start the Peerplays docker container.

Then we'll check the status of the container to see if all is well.

Last we'll stop the container so we can make updates to the config.ini file.

5. Update the config.ini File

We need to set the endpoint and seed-node addresses so we can access the cli_wallet and download all the initial blocks from the chain. Within the config.ini file, locate the p2p-endpoint, rpc-endpoint, and seed-node settings and enter the following addresses.

Save the changes and start the container back up.

We have successfully started the witness node and it is now ready for configuration.

7. Edit config.ini to include your Witness ID and your private key pair

Exit the cli_wallet with the quit command. We'll stop the container and edit the config.ini file once again.

8. Start the container and vote for yourself

Once again, we need to wait for the node to sync the blocks to use the cli_wallet. After the sync, you can vote for yourself.

Now you can check your votes to verify it worked.

9. Node Configuration

Next step is to configure the witness node based on the requirement. There are different ways in which the nodes can be configured such as block producer, SON node, API node, and delayed node.

1. Becoming a block producer is one of the important steps as it is mandatory to use the node for transactions across the wallet. Follow the steps from the below document to become a block producer,

1. There are other ways it which the node can be configured. The below document showcase the other ways available for node configuration.

10. What's Next?

After configuring the node with desired configuration, click below to learn the NEXT steps 👍

11. Docker run.sh commands list

• start - starts seed container

• start_son - starts son seed container

• start_son_regtest - starts son seed container and bitcoind container under the docker network

• clean - Remove blockchain, p2p, and/or shared mem folder contents, seed, bitcoind, and son docker network (warns beforehand)

• dlblocks - download and decompress the blockchain to speed up your first start

• replay - starts seed container (in replay mode)

• replay_son - starts son seed container (in replay mode)

• memory_replay - starts seed container (in replay mode, with --memory-replay)

• shm_size - resizes /dev/shm to size given, e.g. ./run.sh shm_size 10G

• stop - stops seed container

• status - show status of seed container

• restart - restarts seed container

• install_docker - install docker

• install - pulls latest docker image from server (no compiling)

• install_full - pulls latest (FULL NODE FOR RPC) docker image from server (no compiling)

• rebuild - builds seed container (from docker file), and then restarts it

• build - only builds seed container (from docker file)

• logs - show all logs inc. docker logs, and seed logs

• wallet - open cli_wallet in the container

• remote_wallet - open cli_wallet in the container connecting to a remote seed

• enter - enter a bash session in the currently running container

• shell - launch the seed container with appropriate mounts, then open bash for inspection

10. Glossary

Witness: An independent server operator which validates network transactions.

Witness node: Nodes with a closed RPC port. They don't allow external connections. Instead these nodes focus on processing transactions into blocks.

Based on the requirement, witness node can be installed using any of the below procedure.