The purpose of this tutorial is to walk through the steps necessary to set up a masternode with Dash Platform services.

Prerequisites

Access to a Linux system configured with a non-root user (guide)
Docker (v20.10.0+) and docker-compose (v1.25.0+) installed
An installation of NodeJS v12+
A copy of the dashmate repository

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More comprehensive details of using the dashmate tool can be found in the dashmate README.

Clone the dashmate repository and prepare for use:

git clone -b master https://github.com/dashevo/dashmate.git
cd dashmate
npm ci
sudo npm link # optional: link CLI for system-wide execution

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Full Platform Node
A full node that with all Platform services can be started by simply running the setup command with the node type setup parameter set to fullnode and then starting the node.
dashmate setup testnet fullnode
dashmate start

Local Development Network

Dashmate can be used to create a local development network (devnet) containing multiple nodes to mimic conditions and features found in testnet/mainnet settings.

Setup

Run the following command to start the setup wizard, then accept the default values at each step to create a local network:

dashmate setup local

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Make a note of the key, identity, and contract ID information displayed during setup as they may be required in the future.

Example (partial) output of the setup wizard showing important information:

  ✔ Initialize SDK
    › HD private key: tprv8ZgxMBicQKsPfLTCjh8vdHkDHYM369tUeQ4aqpV9GzUfQyBKutfstB1sDfQyLERACTEYy5Qjph42gBiqqnqYmXJZZqRc4PQssGzbvwJXHnN
  ✔ Register DPNS identity
    › DPNS identity: 6whgUd1LzwzU4ob7K8FGCLV765K7dp2JbEmVgdTQEFxD
  ✔ Register DPNS contract
    › DPNS contract ID: EpCvWuoh3JcFetFY83HdwuzRUvwxF2hc3mU19MtBg2kK
  ✔ Obtain DPNS contract commit block height
    › DPNS contract block height: 5
  ✔ Register top level domain "dash"
  ✔ Register identity for Dashpay
    › Dashpay's owner identity: 2T7kLcbJzQrLhBV6BferW42Jimb3BJ5zAAore42mfNyE
  ✔ Register Dashpay Contract
    › Dashpay contract ID: EAv8ePXREdJ719ntcRiKuEYxv9XooMwL1mJmPHMGuW9r
  ✔ Obtain Dashpay contract commit block height
    › Dashpay contract block height: 15
  ✔ Register Feature Flags identity
    › Feature Flags identity: 8BsvV4RCbW7srWj81kgjJCykRBF2rzyigys8XkBchY96
  ✔ Register Feature Flags contract
    › Feature Flags contract ID: JDrDAGVqTWsM9k7KGBsSjcyC11Vd2UdPxPoPf4NzyyrP
  ✔ Obtain Feature Flags contract commit block height
    › Feature Flags contract block height: 20

Operation

Once the setup completes, start/stop/restart the network via the following commands:

dashmate group:start
dashmate group:stop
dashmate group:restart

The status of the network's nodes can be check via the group status command:

dashmate group:status

Mining Dash

During development it may be necessary to obtain Dash to create and topup identities. This can be done using the dashmate wallet:mint command. First obtain an address to fund via the Create and Fund a Wallet tutorial and then mine Dash to it as shown below:

# Stop the devnet first
dashmate group:stop

# Mine 10 Dash to a provided address
dashmate wallet:mint 10 --address=<your address> --config=local_seed

# Restart the devnet
dashmate group:start

# Stop the devnet first
dashmate group:stop

# Mine 10 Dash to a random address/key
# The address and private key will be displayed
dashmate wallet:mint 10 --config=local_seed

# Restart the devnet
dashmate group:start

Example output of dashmate wallet:mint 10 --address=yYqfdpePzn2kWtMxr9nz22HBFM7WBRmAqG --config=local_seed:

✔ Generate 10 dash to address
  ✔ Start Core
  ↓ Use specified address yYqfdpePzn2kWtMxr9nz22HBFM7WBRmAqG [SKIPPED]
  ✔ Generate ≈10 dash to address yYqfdpePzn2kWtMxr9nz22HBFM7WBRmAqG
    › Generated 172.59038279 dash
  ✔ Wait for balance to confirm
  ✔ Stop Core

Using the devnet

Once the address is funded, you can begin creating identities, data contracts, etc. and experimenting with Dash Platform. The other tutorials in this section will help you get started.

To make the Dash SDK connect to your local development network, set the network option to 'local' and set the DPNS contract ID when configuring your client:

const clientOpts = {
  network: 'local',
  // Set DPNS contract ID to the one output during setup
  apps: {
    dpns: {
      contractId: 'DPNS contract ID displayed during the setup step',
    },
  },
  ...
};

const client = new Dash.Client(clientOpts);
...

Remote Development Network

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Connecting to a remote development network
In order to connect to a remote devnet (e.g. one run by Dash Core Group), please use one of the methods described in the Connect to a Devnet section.

For development we recommend using either a local development network created via dashmate as described above or using Testnet. While configuring a remote development network is possible using the Dash network deployment tool, it is beyond the scope of this documentation. For details regarding this tool, please refer to the GitHub repository.

Testnet Masternode Setup

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Advanced Topic
Running a masternode requires familiarity with Dash Platform services. Improper configuration may impact testing so please exercise caution if running a masternode.

To setup a testnet masternode, please refer to the comprehensive documentation of the process as described here. The following video also details how to complete the process.