Setup node using Java

To setup a Rootstock node using Java, you need to:

• Ensure your system meets the minimum requirements for installing the Rootstock node.
• Install Java 8 JDK.

For Mac M1 / M2 (Apple Chips) using x86 based software:

• Ensure you have Rosetta installed. This is typically pre-installed on recent macOS versions.
• Download an x86 JDK build, such as Azul Zulu 11 (x86), to ensure compatibility with x86 based software.

Install the node using a JAR file

• Download and Setup
  1. Download the JAR: Download the Fat JAR or Uber JAR from RSKj releases, or compile it reproducibly or otherwise.
  2. Create Directory: Create a directory for the node.

     mkdir rskj-node-jar
     cd ~/rskj-node-jar

  3. Move the JAR: Move or copy the just downloaded jar file to your directory.

     mv ~/Downloads/rskj-core-5.4.0-FINGERROOT-all.jar SHA256SUMS.asc /Users/{user}/rskj-node-jar/

• Configuration
  1. Create Config Directory: Create another directory inside ~/rskj-node-jar/config

     mkdir config

  2. Download Config File: Get node.conf from here.
  3. Move Config File: Move the node.conf file to the config directory.
• Run the Node
  • Linux, Mac OSX

    java -cp <PATH-TO-THE-RSKJ-JAR> co.rsk.Start

  • Windows

    java -cp <PATH-TO-THE-RSKJ-JAR> co.rsk.Start

    Replace <PATH-TO-THE-RSKJ-JAR> with the actual path to your JAR file. For example, C:/RskjCode/rskj-core-5.4.0-FINGERROOT-all.jar.

Using Import Sync

Instead of the default synchronization, you can use import sync to import a pre-synchronized database from a trusted origin, which is significantly faster.

• Running node with Import Sync
  • Linux, Mac OSX

    java -cp <PATH-TO-THE-RSKJ-JAR> co.rsk.Start --import

  • Windows

    java -cp <PATH-TO-THE-RSKJ-JAR> co.rsk.Start --import

• Resolving memory issues
  • Memory Issues? If you encounter memory errors and meet the minimum hardware requirements, consider using -Xmx4G flag to allocate more memory as shown below:
  • Linux, Mac OSX

    $ java -Xmx4G -cp <PATH-TO-THE-RSKJ-JAR> co.rsk.Start --import

  • Windows

    C:\> java -Xmx4G -cp <PATH-TO-THE-RSKJ-JAR> co.rsk.Start --import

    Replace <PATH-TO-THE-RSKJ-JAR> with your JAR file path. For configuration details, see database.import setting.

Check the RPC

If you don't get any output after starting the node, then it's running correctly. To confirm, open a new console tab (it is important you do not close this tab or interrupt the process) and test the node's RPC server.

• Run sample request
  • Run the following sample cURL request:
    • Linux, Mac OSX

      curl http://localhost:4444 -s -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" --data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"web3_clientVersion","params":[],"id":67}'

    • Windows

      curl http://localhost:4444 -s -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" --data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"web3_clientVersion","params":[],"id":67}'

      You should get a response like this:

      {"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":67,"result":"RskJ/5.4.0/Mac OS X/Java1.8/FINGERROOT-202f1c5"}

• Check block number
  • To check the block number:
    • Linux, Mac OSX

      curl -X POST http://localhost:4444/ -H "Content-Type: application/json" --data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0", "method":"eth_blockNumber","params":[],"id":1}'

    • Windows

      curl -X POST http://localhost:4444/ -H "Content-Type: application/json" --data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0", "method":"eth_blockNumber","params":[],"id":1}'

    Output:

    {"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":"0x0"}

Now, you have successfully setup a Rootstock node using the jar file. The result property represents the latest synced block in hexadecimal.

Switching networks

To change networks on the RSKj node, use the following commands:

• Mainnet

  java -cp <PATH-TO-THE-RSKJ-FATJAR> co.rsk.Start

• Testnet

  java -cp <PATH-TO-THE-RSKJ-FATJAR> co.rsk.Start --testnet

• Regtest

  java -cp <PATH-TO-THE-RSKJ-FATJAR> co.rsk.Start --regtest

Replace <PATH-TO-THE-RSKJ-FATJAR> with the actual path to your jar file. For example: C:/RskjCode/rskj-core-5.4.0-FINGERROOT-all.jar.

Video walkthrough