I've recently setup my testnet for Steem and I noticed that there isn't much documentation on how to do that, so I decided to write a quick guide.
Requirements
Ubuntu: 16.04
8GB+ RAM
10GB+ Diskspace
I've got a seperate boot-partition with Linux, but docker would work as well (however I will not cover docker in this guide.)
Instructions
Step 1: Install Packages
sudo apt-get install -y autoconf automake cmake g++ git libssl-dev libtool make pkg-config python3 python3-jinja2 libboost-chrono-dev libboost-context-dev libboost-coroutine-dev libboost-date-time-dev libboost-filesystem-dev libboost-iostreams-dev libboost-locale-dev libboost-program-options-dev libboost-serialization-dev libboost-signals-dev libboost-system-dev libboost-test-dev libboost-thread-dev libsnappy-dev libbz2-dev doxygen libncurses5-dev libreadline-dev perl
Step 2: Clone Steem
git clone https://github.com/steemit/steem # or https://github.com/SteemCommunity/steem
cd steem
git checkout master # or another branch
git submodule update --init --recursive
Step 3: Build Steem
mkdir build && cd build/
cmake -DENABLE_COVERAGE_TESTING=ON -DBUILD_STEEM_TESTNET=ON -DLOW_MEMORY_NODE=OFF -DCLEAR_VOTES=ON -DSKIP_BY_TX_ID=ON -DCHAINBASE_CHECK_LOCKING=OFF ..
make -j$(nproc) steemd cli_wallet
make -j$(nproc) chain_test # optional for tests
Step 4: Edit Config
# Start and stop steemd once to create the default config
./programs/steemd/steemd -d testnet/
# You'll see something like this
# ------------------------------------------------------
#
# STARTING TEST NETWORK
#
# ------------------------------------------------------
# initminer public key: TST6LLegbAgLAy28EHrffBVuANFWcFgmqRMW13wBmTExqFE9SCkg4
# initminer private key: 5JNHfZYKGaomSFvd4NUdQ9qMcEAC43kujbfjueTHpVapX1Kzq2n
# COPY the private key
nano testnet/config.ini
After you've copied the private key and opened up the config.ini, change the following lines
# name of witness controlled by this node (e.g. initwitness )
witness = "initminer"
# WIF PRIVATE KEY to be used by one or more witnesses or miners
private-key = 5JNHfZYKGaomSFvd4NUdQ9qMcEAC43kujbfjueTHpVapX1Kzq2n
# Enable block production, even if the chain is stale.
enable-stale-production = true
# Percent of witnesses (0-99) that must be participating in order to produce blocks
required-participation = 0
# Local http endpoint for webserver requests.
webserver-http-endpoint = 127.0.0.1:8090
# Local websocket endpoint for webserver requests.
webserver-ws-endpoint =127.0.0.1:8091
Step 5: Start Steemd
Once you've configured the config.ini, start steemd.
./programs/steemd/steemd -d testnet/
It will take roughly half a minute and then you should see initminer producing blocks.
Which means: you have now a testnet running. Congratulations!
(Optional) Step 6: Start CLI_Wallet
./programs/cli_wallet/cli_wallet --server-rpc-endpoint="ws://127.0.0.1:8091"
# set_password & unlock
import_key 5JNHfZYKGaomSFvd4NUdQ9qMcEAC43kujbfjueTHpVapX1Kzq2n
create_account "initminer" "testaccount" "" true
(Optional) Step 7: Run Tests
If you haven't build them before:
make -j$(nproc) chain_test
Afterwards, you can run all of them or a specific one with the -t flag.
./tests/chain_test # -t "basic_tests"
More info about testing and different types of tests: https://github.com/steemit/steem/blob/master/doc/devs/testing.md
Also make sure to check out the developer resources: https://developers.steem.io/testnet/index
And that's it.
I hope this helps with setting up your own testnet and if there are any questions or something else, let me know in the comments below!
I'll get back to coding.
Do you believe that my work is valuable for Steem? Then please vote for me as witness.