Table of Contents

• 1. Overview
• 2. Build Guide
  • 2.1 Requirements
  • 2.2 Installation
• 3. Run an Aleo Node
  • 3a. Run an Aleo Client
  • 3b. Run an Aleo Prover
• 4. FAQs
• 5. Command Line Interface
• 6. Development Guide
  • 6.1 Quick Start
  • 6.2 Operations
• 7. License

1. Overview

snarkOS is a decentralized operating system for zero-knowledge applications. This code forms the backbone of Aleo network, which verifies transactions and stores the encrypted state applications in a publicly-verifiable manner.

2. Build Guide

2.1 Requirements

The following are minimum requirements to run an Aleo node:

• OS: 64-bit architectures only, latest up-to-date for security
  • Clients: Ubuntu 20.04, macOS Ventura or later, Windows 11 or later
  • Provers: Ubuntu 20.04, macOS Ventura or later
  • Validators: Ubuntu 20.04, macOS Ventura or later
• CPU: 64-bit architectures only
  • Clients: 16-cores
  • Provers: 32-cores (64-cores preferred)
  • Validators: 32-cores (64-cores preferred)
• RAM: DDR4 or better
  • Clients: 16GB of memory
  • Provers: 32GB of memory (64GB or larger preferred)
  • Validators: 64GB of memory (128GB or larger preferred)
• Storage: PCIe Gen 3 x4, PCIe Gen 4 x2 NVME SSD, or better
  • Clients: 64GB of disk space
  • Provers: 128GB of disk space
  • Validators: 2TB of disk space (4TB or larger preferred)
• Network: Symmetric, commercial, always-on
  • Clients: 100Mbps of upload and download bandwidth
  • Provers: 250Mbps of upload and download bandwidth
  • Validators: 500Mbps of upload and download bandwidth
• GPU:
  • Clients: Not required at this time
  • Provers: CUDA-enabled GPU (optional)
  • Validators: Not required at this time

Please note to run an Aleo Prover that is competitive, the machine will require more than these requirements.

2.2 Installation

Before beginning, please ensure your machine has Rust v1.66+ installed. Instructions to install Rust can be found here.

Start by cloning this Github repository:

git clone https://github.com/AleoHQ/snarkOS.git --depth 1

Next, move into the snarkOS directory:

cd snarkOS

[For Ubuntu users] A helper script to install dependencies is available. From the snarkOS directory, run:

./build_ubuntu.sh

Lastly, install snarkOS:

cargo install --path .

Please ensure ports 4133/tcp and 3033/tcp are open on your router and OS firewall.

3. Run an Aleo Node

3a. Run an Aleo Client

Start by following the instructions in the Build Guide.

Next, to start a client node, from the snarkOS directory, run:

./run-client.sh

3b. Run an Aleo Prover

Start by following the instructions in the Build Guide.

Next, generate an Aleo account address:

snarkos account new

This will output a new Aleo account in the terminal.

Please remember to save the account private key and view key. The following is an example output:

 Attention - Remember to store this account private key and view key.

  Private Key  APrivateKey1xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  <-- Save Me And Use In The Next Step
     View Key  AViewKey1xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  <-- Save Me
      Address  aleo1xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  <-- Save Me

Next, to start a proving node, from the snarkOS directory, run:

./run-prover.sh

When prompted, enter your Aleo private key:

Enter the Aleo Prover account private key:
APrivateKey1xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

4. FAQs

1. My node is unable to compile.

• Ensure your machine has Rust v1.66+ installed. Instructions to install Rust can be found here.
• If large errors appear during compilation, try running cargo clean.
• Ensure snarkOS is started using ./run-client.sh or ./run-prover.sh.

2. My node is unable to connect to peers on the network.

• Ensure ports 4133/tcp and 3033/tcp are open on your router and OS firewall.
• Ensure snarkOS is started using ./run-client.sh or ./run-prover.sh.

3. I can't generate a new address

• Before running the command above (snarkos account new) try source ~/.bashrc
• Also double-check the spelling of snarkos. Note the directory is /snarkOS, the command is snarkos

5. Command Line Interface

To run a node with custom settings, refer to the full list of options and flags available in the snarkOS CLI.

The full list of CLI flags and options can be viewed with snarkos --help:

snarkOS 
The Aleo Team <[email protected]>

USAGE:
    snarkos [OPTIONS] <SUBCOMMAND>

OPTIONS:
    -h, --help                     Print help information
    -v, --verbosity <VERBOSITY>    Specify the verbosity [options: 0, 1, 2, 3] [default: 2]

SUBCOMMANDS:
    account    Commands to manage Aleo accounts
    clean      Cleans the snarkOS node storage
    help       Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)
    start      Starts the snarkOS node
    update     Update snarkOS

The following are the options for the snarkos start command:

USAGE:
    snarkos start [OPTIONS]

OPTIONS:
        --network <NETWORK_ID>           Specify the network ID of this node [default: 3]
        
        --beacon <PRIVATE_KEY>           Specify this node as a beacon, with the account private key as an argument
        --validator <PRIVATE KEY>        Specify this node as a validator, with the account private key as an argument
        --prover <PRIVATE KEY>           Specify this node as a prover, with the given account private key as an argument
        --client <PRIVATE_KEY>           Specify this node as a client, with an optional account private key as an argument
        
        --node <IP:PORT>                 Specify the IP address and port for the node server [default: 0.0.0.0:4133]
        --connect <IP:PORT>              Specify the IP address and port of a peer to connect to
        
        --rest <REST>                    Specify the IP address and port for the REST server [default: 0.0.0.0:3033]
        --norest                         If the flag is set, the node will not initialize the REST server
        
        --nodisplay                      If the flag is set, the node will not render the display
        --verbosity <VERBOSITY_LEVEL>    Specify the verbosity of the node [options: 0, 1, 2, 3] [default: 2]
        --logfile <PATH>                 Specify the path to the file where logs will be stored [default: /tmp/snarkos.log]
        
        --dev <NODE_ID>                  Enables development mode, specify a unique ID for this node
    -h, --help                           Print help information

6. Development

6.1 Quick Start

In one terminal, start the beacon by running:

cargo run --release -- start --nodisplay --dev 0 --beacon ""

In a second terminal, run:

cargo run --release -- start --nodisplay --dev 1 --prover ""

This procedure can be repeated to start more nodes.

6.2 Operations

It is important to initialize the nodes starting from 0 and incrementing by 1 for each new node.

The following is a list of options to initialize a node (replace <NODE_ID> with a number starting from 0):

cargo run --release -- start --nodisplay --dev <NODE_ID> --beacon ""
cargo run --release -- start --nodisplay --dev <NODE_ID> --validator ""
cargo run --release -- start --nodisplay --dev <NODE_ID> --prover ""
cargo run --release -- start --nodisplay --dev <NODE_ID> --client ""
cargo run --release -- start --nodisplay --dev <NODE_ID>

When no node type is specified, the node will default to --client.

Clean Up

To clean up the node storage, run:

cargo run --release -- clean --dev <NODE_ID>

7. License

We welcome all contributions to snarkOS. Please refer to the license for the terms of contributions.