corda/docs/source/deploying-a-node.rst

Deploying a node to a server

Note

These instructions are intended for people who want to deploy a Corda node to a server, whether they have developed and tested a CorDapp following the instructions in generating-a-node or are deploying a third-party CorDapp.

Note

When deploying multiple nodes in parallel the package tool (Capsule) that Corda uses can encounter issues retrieving dependencies. This is due to each node trying to download the dependencies in a common location. In these cases it is recommended to set the environment variable CAPSULE_CACHE_DIR which will allow the Capsule to maintain a separate cache for each node. This is used in the example descriptions below. See the Capsule documentation for more details.

Linux: Installing and running Corda as a system service

We recommend creating system services to run a node and the optional test webserver. This provides logging and service handling, and ensures the Corda service is run at boot.

Prerequisites:

• A supported Java distribution. The supported versions are listed in getting-set-up

1. As root/sys admin user - add a system user which will be used to run Corda:

   sudo adduser --system --no-create-home --group corda

2. Create a directory called /opt/corda and change its ownership to the user you want to use to run Corda:

   mkdir /opt/corda; chown corda:corda /opt/corda

3. Download the Corda jar (under /|corda_version|/corda-|corda_version|.jar) and place it in /opt/corda

4. (Optional) Download the Corda webserver jar (under /|corda_version|/corda-|corda_version|.jar) and place it in /opt/corda

5. Create a directory called cordapps in /opt/corda and save your CorDapp jar file to it. Alternatively, download one of our sample CorDapps to the cordapps directory

6. Save the below as /opt/corda/node.conf. See corda-configuration-file for a description of these options:

p2pAddress = "example.com:10002"
rpcSettings {
    address: "example.com:10003"
    adminAddress: "example.com:10004"
}
h2port = 11000
emailAddress = "you@example.com"
myLegalName = "O=Bank of Breakfast Tea, L=London, C=GB"
keyStorePassword = "cordacadevpass"
trustStorePassword = "trustpass"
devMode = false
rpcUsers= [
    {
        user=corda
        password=portal_password
        permissions=[
            ALL
        ]
    }
]
custom { jvmArgs = [ "-Xmx2048m", "-XX:+UseG1GC" ] }

7. Make the following changes to /opt/corda/node.conf:
   • Change the p2pAddress, rpcSettings.address and rpcSettings.adminAddress values to match your server's hostname or external IP address. These are the addresses other nodes or RPC interfaces will use to communicate with your node.
   • Change the ports if necessary, for example if you are running multiple nodes on one server (see below).
   • Enter an email address which will be used as an administrative contact during the registration process. This is only visible to the permissioning service.
   • Enter your node's desired legal name (see node-naming for more details).
   • If required, add RPC users

Note

Ubuntu 16.04 and most current Linux distributions use SystemD, so if you are running one of these distributions follow the steps marked SystemD. If you are running Ubuntu 14.04, follow the instructions for Upstart.

8. SystemD: Create a corda.service file based on the example below and save it in the /etc/systemd/system/ directory

   [Unit]
   Description=Corda Node - Bank of Breakfast Tea
   Requires=network.target
   
   [Service]
   Type=simple
   User=corda
   WorkingDirectory=/opt/corda
   ExecStart=/usr/bin/java -jar /opt/corda/corda.jar
   Restart=on-failure
   Environment="CAPSULE_CACHE_DIR=./capsule"
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target

9. Upstart: Create a corda.conf file based on the example below and save it in the /etc/init/ directory

   description "Corda Node - Bank of Breakfast Tea"
   
   start on runlevel [2345]
   stop on runlevel [!2345]
   
   respawn
   setuid corda
   chdir /opt/corda
   exec java -jar /opt/corda/corda.jar

10. Make the following changes to corda.service or corda.conf:

    • Make sure the service description is informative - particularly if you plan to run multiple nodes.

    • Change the username to the user account you want to use to run Corda. We recommend that this user account is not root

    • SystemD: Make sure the corda.service file is owned by root with the correct permissions:

      • sudo chown root:root /etc/systemd/system/corda.service
      • sudo chmod 644 /etc/systemd/system/corda.service

    • Upstart: Make sure the corda.conf file is owned by root with the correct permissions:

      • sudo chown root:root /etc/init/corda.conf
      • sudo chmod 644 /etc/init/corda.conf

Note

The Corda test webserver provides a simple interface for interacting with your installed CorDapps in a browser. Running the webserver is optional.

10. SystemD: Create a corda-webserver.service file based on the example below and save it in the /etc/systemd/system/ directory

    [Unit]
    Description=Webserver for Corda Node - Bank of Breakfast Tea
    Requires=network.target
    
    [Service]
    Type=simple
    User=corda
    WorkingDirectory=/opt/corda
    ExecStart=/usr/bin/java -jar /opt/corda/corda-webserver.jar
    Restart=on-failure
    
    [Install]
    WantedBy=multi-user.target

11. Upstart: Create a corda-webserver.conf file based on the example below and save it in the /etc/init/ directory

    description "Webserver for Corda Node - Bank of Breakfast Tea"
    
    start on runlevel [2345]
    stop on runlevel [!2345]
    
    respawn
    setuid corda
    chdir /opt/corda
    exec java -jar /opt/corda/corda-webserver.jar

12. Provision the required certificates to your node. Contact the network permissioning service or see permissioning

13. SystemD: You can now start a node and its webserver and set the services to start on boot by running the following systemctl commands:

• sudo systemctl daemon-reload
• sudo systemctl enable --now corda
• sudo systemctl enable --now corda-webserver

12. Upstart: You can now start a node and its webserver by running the following commands:

• sudo start corda
• sudo start corda-webserver

The Upstart configuration files created above tell Upstart to start the Corda services on boot so there is no need to explicitly enable them.

You can run multiple nodes by creating multiple directories and Corda services, modifying the node.conf and SystemD or Upstart configuration files so they are unique.

Windows: Installing and running Corda as a Windows service

We recommend running Corda as a Windows service. This provides service handling, ensures the Corda service is run at boot, and means the Corda service stays running with no users connected to the server.

Prerequisites:

• A supported Java distribution. The supported versions are listed in getting-set-up

1. Create a Corda directory and download the Corda jar. Here's an example using PowerShell:

mkdir C:\Corda
wget http://jcenter.bintray.com/net/corda/corda/|corda_version|/corda-|corda_version|.jar -OutFile C:\Corda\corda.jar

2. Create a directory called cordapps in C:\Corda\ and save your CorDapp jar file to it. Alternatively, download one of our sample CorDapps to the cordapps directory
3. Save the below as C:\Corda\node.conf. See corda-configuration-file for a description of these options:

p2pAddress = "example.com:10002"
rpcSettings {
    address = "example.com:10003"
    adminAddress = "example.com:10004"
}
h2port = 11000
emailAddress = "you@example.com"
myLegalName = "O=Bank of Breakfast Tea, L=London, C=GB"
keyStorePassword = "cordacadevpass"
trustStorePassword = "trustpass"
devMode = false
rpcSettings {
   useSsl = false
   standAloneBroker = false
   address = "example.com:10003"
   adminAddress = "example.com:10004"
}
custom { jvmArgs = [ '-Xmx2048m', '-XX:+UseG1GC' ] }

4. Make the following changes to C:\Corda\node.conf:

   • Change the p2pAddress, rpcSettings.address and rpcSettings.adminAddress values to match your server's hostname or external IP address. These are the addresses other nodes or RPC interfaces will use to communicate with your node.
   • Change the ports if necessary, for example if you are running multiple nodes on one server (see below).
   • Enter an email address which will be used as an administrative contact during the registration process. This is only visible to the permissioning service.
   • Enter your node's desired legal name (see node-naming for more details).
   • If required, add RPC users

5. Copy the required Java keystores to the node. See permissioning

6. Download the NSSM service manager

7. Unzip nssm-2.24\win64\nssm.exe to C:\Corda

8. Save the following as C:\Corda\nssm.bat:

   nssm install cordanode1 java.exe
   nssm set cordanode1 AppParameters "-jar corda.jar"
   nssm set cordanode1 AppDirectory C:\Corda
   nssm set cordanode1 AppStdout C:\Corda\service.log
   nssm set cordanode1 AppStderr C:\Corda\service.log
   nssm set cordanode1 AppEnvironmentExtra CAPSULE_CACHE_DIR=./capsule
   nssm set cordanode1 Description Corda Node - Bank of Breakfast Tea
   nssm set cordanode1 Start SERVICE_AUTO_START
   sc start cordanode1

9. Modify the batch file:

   • If you are installing multiple nodes, use a different service name (cordanode1), and modify AppDirectory, AppStdout and AppStderr for each node accordingly
   • Set an informative description

10. Provision the required certificates to your node. Contact the network permissioning service or see permissioning

11. Run the batch file by clicking on it or from a command prompt

12. Run services.msc and verify that a service called cordanode1 is present and running

13. Run netstat -ano and check for the ports you configured in node.conf

    • You may need to open the ports on the Windows firewall

Testing your installation

You can verify Corda is running by connecting to your RPC port from another host, e.g.:

telnet your-hostname.example.com 10002

If you receive the message "Escape character is ^]", Corda is running and accessible. Press Ctrl-] and Ctrl-D to exit telnet.