Run your own local network

To test out integration or workflows, it’s generally easier to run your own network rather than using the testnet or mainnet and waiting for funds. Iron Fish has a devnet with low difficulty which enables easy block mining and transfers.

You can read more about our included networks in the networks documentation.

Start a Local Node 

Run the following command to start a node on the development network:

ironfish start --networkId=2 --port=9001 --bootstrap='' --forceMining --datadir=~/.dev0

• networkId: Network ID 2 is the development network
• port: Optionally set the running port for the node
• bootstrap: Set this to an empty string to avoid connecting to the default network
• forceMining: Enables mining of blocks without being fully synced or connecting to other nodes
• datadir: Defines the file directory on where to store the node’s data

Start a Second Node 

Run the following command to connect to the first local node:

ironfish start --networkId=2 --port 9002 --bootstrap=localhost:9001 --datadir=~/.dev1

• port: This value must be different from the port of the first local node
• datadir: This value must be different from the datadir of the first local node

Run a Miner 

Run the following command to connect a miner to your node:

ironfish miners:start --threads=1 --datadir=~/.dev0

• threads: Sets the number of CPU threads for the miner to use
• datadir: Configures which data directory of the node to connect to via IPC