# Content Node Setup

## Prerequisites

#### Infrastructure Requirements

* Ubuntu Linux
* 2 dedicated vCPUs (2015+ vintage from AMD/Intel)
* 4GB RAM
* 100GB SSD storage
* Datacenter-quality internet connection
* Static public IP

#### Network Requirements

* Fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for each node (eg. `content4.us-east-2.operator.com`) that accepts HTTPs traffic (See [#setup](#setup "mention") Step 3)

#### Ethereum Prerequisites

Note – Our Testnet currently runs on Sepolia

* Ethereum wallet (`OperatorWallet)` to manage EarthFast resources on-chain (staking, node registration, etc.)
* Sufficient ETH balance in Wallet. On Testnet, we have a faucet that will fund your wallet with Sepolia ETH.
* EARTHFAST token balance, used for staking. On Testnet, we have a faucet that will fund your wallet with Sepolia test EARTHFAST tokens.
* \[Optional] Ethereum RPC provider capable of serving up to 100,000 requests per day (e.g. Chainstack, Blockdaemon, Infura, Alchemy, Quicknode or your own Ethereum node). We have a default RPC built into the CLI but for better performance it's recommended to use a custom RPC.

#### Operational requirements

Ensure operations support for high uptime and availability

***

## Setup

{% hint style="info" %}
If you have previously setup a node, skip to [#id-3-node-setup](#id-3-node-setup "mention")
{% endhint %}

### Step 1 – Setup Wallet with earthfast-cli <a href="#id-1-install-earthfast-cli" id="id-1-install-earthfast-cli"></a>

<https://github.com/earthfast/earthfast-cli> – You will use this CLI to manage all EarthFast resources.

Below commands instruct you to use this cli via `npx`, which means you don't have to install anything.

For all available commands and options run `npx earthfast-cli --help`. For help on individual commands append `--help` to a command, eg. `npx earthfast-cli node create --help`.

#### Where to run CLI

This is intended to run on your local machine, although you can run on your content node VM if you choose to. Currently supported on MacOS + Debian.

#### If running on Debian, install deps

```sh
> sudo apt-get install libsecret-1-dev gnome-keyring dbus-x11
```

#### \[Optional] Alias

For brevity, consider setting up a shell alias like `alias ef="npx earthfast-cli"`

#### Decide how you will sign Eth transactions

The CLI can sign transactions for you if you import your `OperatorWallet` into its keystore. This is done locally using [`keytar`](https://github.com/atom/node-keytar) – you can see the [code here](https://github.com/earthfast/earthfast-cli/blob/main/src/keystore.ts).

```sh
npx earthfast-cli key import
```

Alternatively, you can set the optional `signer` flag to `--signer=ledger` for use with a Ledger, or `--signer=raw` to export transaction info for external signing.

#### Fund your wallet from our testnet fauce

```bash
npx earthfast-cli operator faucet <address>
```

### 2 – Operator Setup

#### 2a – Get your OperatorID

Nodes on EarthFast must be owned by an onchain **Operator**. After registering your **Operator** onchain with your `OperatorWallet`, you'll get a unique `OperatorID` which you will later use to register and manage your nodes.

```
> npx earthfast-cli operator create <address> <name> <enmail>
```

This should output an `operatorId`, use that in the steps below<br>

#### 2b – Stake EARTHFAST Tokens for your Operator

For Testnet, just use the below command, which stakes 100 tokens by default.

{% code overflow="wrap" %}

```sh
> npx earthfast-cli operator stake <OperatorID> 100
```

{% endcode %}

### 3 – Node Setup

{% hint style="info" %}
Repeat this setup for each Content Node
{% endhint %}

Each **Content Node** must be addressable by a unique FQDN.

Be prepared to serve HTTPS traffic at these hostnames, provisioning SSL certificates as necessary. If you use our provided [node-operator-tooling](https://github.com/earthfast/node-operator-tooling) it can provision SSL certificates.

Since you will likely run multiple nodes, we recommend a naming convention of `content<number>.<location>.testnet-sepolia.example.com.`

#### 3a – Register a Node onchain

Register your Node onchain before setting up the server so you can get the unique network `NodeID` . This will be passed during **Content Node** container setup (see Step 5 below).

```sh
> npx earthfast-cli node create <OperatorID> <FQDN>:<RegionCode>:false:1.0
```

Explanation of `<RegionCode>:false:1.0` from above command:

* `<RegionCode>` United States - `us`, Africa - `af`, Asia - `as`, Australia - `au`, Europe - `eu`, North America - `na`, South America - `sa`
* `false` indicates the node is in disabled state since the server will be configured in subsequent steps, after which you will update its state
* `1.0` sets initial reservation price. This is a fine default for Testnet.

If the transaction was successful, your new node's `NodeID` will be logged. Save this; you'll need it later.

#### 3b – [Configure & run the Content Node](https://github.com/earthfast/node-operator-tooling/tree/main/content-node) on each VM

Follow the instructions in the [`node-operator-tooling`](https://github.com/earthfast/node-operator-tooling/tree/main/content-node/docker-compose) repo to configure your node with Docker Compose: <https://github.com/earthfast/node-operator-tooling/tree/main/content-node>

#### 3c – Enable your Node onchain

Once you've successfully configured the node, it needs to be enabled on-chain before a project can reserve it.

```sh
> npx earthfast-cli node enable <NodeID> true
```

## Monitoring

You should monitor the container health of content nodes that are running in production, including:

* CPU utilization
* Memory utilization
* Disk utilization
* Network utilization

Additionally, the content node exposes a `/metrics` endpoint that exports internal metrics in Prometheus format. These include, for instance, HTTP request latency distributions. The endpoint is exposed on `HTTP_PORT`, and is therefore publicly accessible - this is intentional as projects themselves should be able to monitor the performance of their reserved content node fleet.