Running a Node
How to setup and operate an Autonity Go Client node on an Autonity testnet
All nodes on the Autonity network exchange blocks and transactions with other nodes, keeping track of the current state of the blockchain. Running a node offers the possibility of having a dedicated RPC endpoint for querying and for accepting transactions. DApps running on the network may take advantage of dedicated nodes for any “backend” or off-chain operations.
This guide describes the steps to install, configure and run an instance of the Autonity Go Client (AGC) on an Autonity testnet, and describes how to use the Autonity Utility Tool aut to connect to the node and perform some basic operations.
It is assumed that you have setup aut and have an account with funds that is able to submit transactions to the network. See the Account Holder Guide for details.
The approach taken in this guide is to run the Autonity Go Client on a dedicated host machine (a VPS or other host that is always-on and persistently available). Transactions and queries are expected to be created (and signed) on a distinct local machine, and then sent to the Autonity Go Client running on the host via the RPC endpoint. This setup may be adjusted to suit each specific deployment.
This guide is intended for use on testnets (see Networks), on which there is no real-world value at stake. A production setup will likely have requirements not covered by this guide, such as node availability and security. For example, the configuration outlined here exposes an unencrypted http RPC end-point. For production an operator may wish to configure authentication and encryption (for example using a reverse-proxy such as NGINX).
Further information about Autonity concepts and terminology are available in this documentation.
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