Create a private network using the Raft consensus protocol

A private network provides a configurable network for testing. This private network uses the Raft consensus protocol.

Important

The steps in this tutorial create an isolated, but not protected or secure, Ethereum private network. We recommend running the private network behind a properly configured firewall.

Prerequisites

GoQuorum. Ensure that PATH contains geth and bootnode.

Tip

GoQuorum is a fork of geth. GoQuorum uses the geth command to start GoQuorum nodes.

Steps

Listed on the right-hand side of the page are the steps to create a private network using Raft with two nodes.

1. Create directories

Create directories for your private network and two nodes:

Raft-Network/
├── Node-1
│   ├── data
├── Node-2
│   ├── data

2. Create genesis file

Copy the following configuration file definition to a file called raftGenesis.json and save it in the Raft-Network directory:

{
  "alloc": {
    "0xed9d02e382b34818e88b88a309c7fe71e65f419d": {
      "balance": "1000000000000000000000000000"
    },
    "0xca843569e3427144cead5e4d5999a3d0ccf92b8e": {
      "balance": "1000000000000000000000000000"
    },
    "0x0fbdc686b912d7722dc86510934589e0aaf3b55a": {
      "balance": "1000000000000000000000000000"
    },
    "0x9186eb3d20cbd1f5f992a950d808c4495153abd5": {
      "balance": "1000000000000000000000000000"
    },
    "0x0638e1574728b6d862dd5d3a3e0942c3be47d996": {
      "balance": "1000000000000000000000000000"
    }
  },
  "coinbase": "0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
  "config": {
    "homesteadBlock": 0,
    "byzantiumBlock": 0,
    "constantinopleBlock": 0,
    "chainId": 10,
    "eip150Block": 0,
    "eip155Block": 0,
    "eip150Hash": "0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
    "eip158Block": 0,
    "maxCodeSizeConfig": [
      {
        "block": 0,
        "size": 35
      }
    ],
    "isQuorum": true
  },
  "difficulty": "0x0",
  "extraData": "0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
  "gasLimit": "0xE0000000",
  "mixhash": "0x00000000000000000000000000000000000000647572616c65787365646c6578",
  "nonce": "0x0",
  "parentHash": "0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
  "timestamp": "0x00"
}

3. Generate node key

In the Node-1 directory, generate a node key and copy the key into the data directory.

bootnode --genkey=nodekey
cp nodekey data/

4. Add node to static nodes file

In the Node-1 directory, display the enode ID for node 1.

bootnode --nodekey=nodekey --writeaddress

Copy the following to a file called static-nodes.json in the Node-1/data directory.

static-nodes.json

[
  "enode://<EnodeID>@127.0.0.1:21000?discport=0&raftport=50000"
]

Replace the <EnodeID> placeholder with the enode ID returned by the bootnode command.

Example

[
  "enode://212655378f4f48ec6aa57648f9bd4ab86b596553a0825d68ae34ad55176920b0ae06bf68fd682633b0ef3662cbe68a06166aa3053077b93fd4afa9cf8855ea0b@127.0.0.1:21000?discport=0&raftport=50000"
]

5. Initialize node 1

In the Node-1 directory, initialize node 1.

geth --datadir data init ../raftGenesis.json

6. Start node 1

In the Node-1 directory, start node 1.

PRIVATE_CONFIG=ignore geth --datadir data --nodiscover --verbosity 5 --networkid 31337 --raft --raftport 50000 --rpc --rpcaddr 0.0.0.0 --rpcport 22000 --rpcapi admin,db,eth,debug,miner,net,shh,txpool,personal,web3,quorum,raft --emitcheckpoints --port 21000

The PRIVATE_CONFIG environment variable starts GoQuorum without privacy enabled.

7. Attach to node 1

In another terminal in the Node-1 directory, attach to your node.

geth attach data/geth.ipc

Use the Raft cluster command to view the cluster details.

Command

raft.cluster

Result

[{
    hostname: "127.0.0.1",
    nodeActive: true,
    nodeId: "212655378f4f48ec6aa57648f9bd4ab86b596553a0825d68ae34ad55176920b0ae06bf68fd682633b0ef3662cbe68a06166aa3053077b93fd4afa9cf8855ea0b",
    p2pPort: 21000,
    raftId: 1,
    raftPort: 50000,
    role: "minter"
}]

8. Generate node key for node 2

In another terminal in the Node-2 directory, generate a node key for node 2 and copy the key to the data directory.

bootnode --genkey=nodekey
cp nodekey data/

9. Create and update static nodes file for node 2

Copy the static-nodes.json file from the Node-1 directory to Node-2.

cp ../Node-1/data/static-nodes.json data/

In the Node-2 directory, display the enode ID for node 2.

bootnode --nodekey=nodekey --writeaddress

Add the node 2 enode ID to static-nodes.json with a different host port and Raft port.

static-nodes.json

[
  "enode://<Node1-EnodeID>@127.0.0.1:21000?discport=0&raftport=50000",
  "enode://<Node2-EnodeID>@127.0.0.1:21001?discport=0&raftport=50001"
]

Example

[
  "enode://212655378f4f48ec6aa57648f9bd4ab86b596553a0825d68ae34ad55176920b0ae06bf68fd682633b0ef3662cbe68a06166aa3053077b93fd4afa9cf8855ea0b@127.0.0.1:21000?discport=0&raftport=50000",
  "enode://104e72fd6f1a747c0b61c225a80d76ea66283b9eb04049286b525161913e343f8f6954fe41c3a3047d1115f52f01fe1c82561861f6554ffac189925097ea3dee@127.0.0.1:21001?discport=0&raftport=50001"
]

GoQuorum peers and Raft peers

The static-nodes.json file defines the GoQuorum peers only. The node must also be added as a member of the Raft cluster using the Raft addPeer command.

10. Initialize node 2

In the Node-2 directory, initialize node 2.

geth --datadir data init ../raftGenesis.json

11. Add node 2 as a Raft peer to node 1

In the terminal attached to node 1, use the Raft addPeer command to add node 2.

Command

raft.addPeer('enode://<Node2-EnodeID>@127.0.0.1:21001?discport=0&raftport=50001')

Example

raft.addPeer('enode://104e72fd6f1a747c0b61c225a80d76ea66283b9eb04049286b525161913e343f8f6954fe41c3a3047d1115f52f01fe1c82561861f6554ffac189925097ea3dee@127.0.0.1:21001?discport=0&raftport=50001')

Result of Raft ID

Important

The Raft ID is returned by addPeer must be specified when starting node 2.

Use the Raft cluster command to confirm cluster now has two nodes.

Command

raft.cluster

Result

[{
   ip: "127.0.0.1",
   nodeId: "104e72fd6f1a747c0b61c225a80d76ea66283b9eb04049286b525161913e343f8f6954fe41c3a3047d1115f52f01fe1c82561861f6554ffac189925097ea3dee",
   p2pPort: 21001,
   raftId: 2,
   raftPort: 50001
  }, {
   ip: "127.0.0.1",
   nodeId: "212655378f4f48ec6aa57648f9bd4ab86b596553a0825d68ae34ad55176920b0ae06bf68fd682633b0ef3662cbe68a06166aa3053077b93fd4afa9cf8855ea0b",
   p2pPort: 21000,
   raftId: 1,
   raftPort: 50000
 }]

12. Start node 2

In the Node-2 directory, start node 2 using the same command as for node 1 except:

Specify different ports for DevP2P, RPC, and Raft.
Specify the Raft ID using the --raftjoinexisting option.

PRIVATE_CONFIG=ignore geth  --datadir data --nodiscover --verbosity 5 --networkid 31337 --raft --raftjoinexisting 2 --raftport 50001 --rpc --rpcaddr 0.0.0.0 --rpcport 22001 --rpcapi admin,db,eth,debug,miner,net,shh,txpool,personal,web3,quorum,raft --emitcheckpoints --port 21001

Node 2 connects to node 1.