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How to install and start a testnet?

Table of Contents

Introduction​

This manual describes how you can configure a testnet.

Here are some terms to start with:

  • Testnet,
  • Test chain.

These terms mean the same, except that you can form your testnet out of more than one chain.

Testnet installation​

Attention

This testnet uses preinstalled private keys for nodes. These keys are open and used for testing purposes only. Therefore, the testnet will be compromised when using it in a real-world system.

Prerequisites​

To start the testnet, ensure you have installed Docker. Run the following command:

sudo apt-get -y install docker.io jq curl
Hint

If you use Unix, you must be included into the user group docker to use docker.

To check the groups, you are included into, run:

$ groups

To include your account into the group docker, run:

usermod -aG docker user

where:

  • -G, --groups GROUPS — new list of supplementary GROUPS
  • -a, --append — append the user to the supplemental GROUPS. Mentioned by the -G option without removing the user from other groups.

This group is available only after you have installed Docker. If you haven't installed it yet, here is a How-To. Go to the link and choose your OS.

Starting the testnet​

To start a testnet, run:

docker pull thepowerio/tpnode 
docker run -d  -p 1080:1080 --rm --name tptest thepowerio/tpnode

To test your chain, run the following sequence of commands:

curl http://localhost:44000/api/node/status | jq
curl http://localhost:44000/api/block/last | jq

Stopping the testnet​

Please, stop your local testnet after completing all necessary testing or development. To stop the testnet, run:

docker stop tptest

How to delete a Docker image?​

To delete Docker image from your machine, run:

docker rmi thepowerio/tpnode