Creating Startup Scripts and Services

To run an instance of Cardano Node, create a bash script to configure options.

Also, implement Cardano Node as a systemd service. Running Cardano Node as a systemd service maximizes the uptime of your stake pool by restarting the stake pool automatically if any stake pool processes may crash, or when the computer reboots.

The following procedure configures options for all the nodes in your stake pool—including the block-producing node—to operate as relay nodes. Temporarily configuring the block-producing node to operate as a relay node is sufficient for Starting the Nodes in order to synchronize a local copy of the Cardano blockchain. Every node in a stake pool configuration, including the block-producing node, stores a local copy of the Cardano blockchain. The topic Generating Keys for the Block-producing Node explains how to configure the block-producing node with the capabilities required to mint blocks.

To create a startup script and service for an instance of Cardano Node:

1. On the computer hosting your block producing node, using a terminal window type the following command to navigate to the folder containing configuration files and scripts related to operating your Cardano node:

cd $NODE_HOME

You set the $NODE_HOME environment variable when Installing GHC and Cabal.

1. To retrieve the values of the $NODE_HOME and $USER environment variables, type:

echo $NODE_HOME
echo $USER

1. In the folder where you navigated in step 1, using a text editor create a file named startCardanoNode.sh and then add the following contents to the file where <NodeHomeValue> is the value of your $NODE_HOME environment variable that you retrieved in step 2, and <ConfigFileName> is config-bp.json on your block-producing node and config.json on all your relay nodes:

#!/bin/bash
#
# Set variables to indicate Cardano Node options
#
# Set a variable to indicate the port where the Cardano Node listens
PORT=6000
# Set a variable to indicate the local IP address of the computer where Cardano Node runs
# 0.0.0.0 listens on all local IP addresses for the computer
HOSTADDR=0.0.0.0
# Set a variable to indicate the file path to your topology file
TOPOLOGY=<NodeHomeValue>/topology.json
# Set a variable to indicate the folder where Cardano Node stores blockchain data
DB_PATH=<NodeHomeValue>/db
# Set a variable to indicate the path to the Cardano Node socket for Inter-process communication (IPC)
SOCKET_PATH=<NodeHomeValue>/db/socket
# Set a variable to indicate the file path to your main Cardano Node configuration file
CONFIG=<NodeHomeValue>/<ConfigFileName>
#
# Run Cardano Node using the options that you set using variables
#
/usr/local/bin/cardano-node run --topology ${TOPOLOGY} --database-path ${DB_PATH} --socket-path ${SOCKET_PATH} --host-addr ${HOSTADDR} --port ${PORT} --config ${CONFIG}

You configured the topology.json file when Configuring Topology. You downloaded the config-bp.json and config.json files when Downloading Configuration Files. For more details on options for the cardano-node run command, see the topic How to run cardano-node in the Cardano Developer Portal.

1. Save and close the startCardanoNode.sh file.

2. To set execute permissions for the startCardanoNode.sh file, type:

chmod +x $NODE_HOME/startCardanoNode.sh

1. To create the folder where Cardano Node stores blockchain data, type:

mkdir $NODE_HOME/db

1. To run Cardano Node as a service, using a text editor create a file named cardano-node.service and then add the following contents to the file where <UserValue> is the value of your $USER environment variable and <NodeHomeValue> is the value of your $NODE_HOME environment variable that you retrieved in step 2:

# The Cardano Node service (part of systemd)
# file: /etc/systemd/system/cardano-node.service  
  
 [Unit]
Description       = Cardano Node Service
Wants             = network-online.target
After             = network-online.target  
  
 [Service]
User              = <UserValue>
Type              = simple
WorkingDirectory  = <NodeHomeValue>
ExecStart         = /bin/bash -c '<NodeHomeValue>/startCardanoNode.sh'
KillSignal        = SIGINT
RestartKillSignal = SIGINT
TimeoutStopSec    = 300
LimitNOFILE       = 32768
Restart           = always
RestartSec        = 5
SyslogIdentifier  = cardano-node  
  
 [Install]
WantedBy          = multi-user.target

1. Save and close the cardano-node.service file.

2. To move the cardano-node.service file to the folder /etc/systemd/system and set file permissions, type:

sudo mv $NODE_HOME/cardano-node.service /etc/systemd/system/cardano-node.service
sudo chmod 644 /etc/systemd/system/cardano-node.service

1. To start Cardano Node as a service when the computer boots, type:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable cardano-node.service

1. Repeat steps 1 to 10 on each computer hosting a relay node in your stake pool configuration.

Managing Services

To help administer an instance of Cardano Node running as a systemd service, use the following commands.

To view the status of the Cardano Node service, type:

sudo systemctl status cardano-node

To restart the Cardano Node service, type:

sudo systemctl reload-or-restart cardano-node

To stop the Cardano Node service, type:

sudo systemctl stop cardano-node

To display and filter logs, type one of the following commands, for example:

journalctl --unit=cardano-node --follow
journalctl --unit=cardano-node --since=yesterday
journalctl --unit=cardano-node --since=today
journalctl --unit=cardano-node --since='2022-07-29 00:00:00' --until='2022-07-29 12:00:00'

📈 Improving Cardano Node Performance

If you are not satisfied with the performance of an instance of Cardano Node, then see the topic Configuring Runtime Options.