#BareMetal or VM Install (APN | Mainnet)

#Installation Using the Official Installation Script

On a fresh Ubuntu installation, follow these commands.

#1. Update and Upgrade

Always ensure your server has the latest set of updates, due to performance and security considerations.

1sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

#2. Add a New User and Add to the Sudo Group

It is best to create a specific ARK-related user, which can later own the required databases as well.

1# replace 'your_username' with the username of your choosing
2sudo adduser your_username
3sudo usermod -aG sudo your_username

#3. Switch to the New User

Switch to the new user account and go to the base directory.

1# replace 'your_username' with your chosen username
2sudo su - your_username
3cd ~

#4. Install Dependencies and ARK Core

We will use ARK installer script that will install all of the necessary dependencies, ARK Core onto your server and publish configuration files for it. To install essentials run this command.

1bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ArkEcosystem/core/master/install.sh)

You will be asked to input your current users password for sudo privileges. Write or paste it and press enter to start installation process.

Process might take a while, don’t interrupt it and wait for it to finish.

#5. Selecting ARK Core Network

Once installation of dependencies and ARK Core is finished you will need to select on which network you wish to operate, since we are setting mainnet node select it. This can be achieved by pressing up or down arrow keys and confirming selection with enter.

After you made your selection you will need to confirm by pressing y and confirm with enter.

#6. Configuring ARK Core Database

Last step of the ARK Core essential configuration is to configure database parameters. You will be presented with a prompt:

1Would you like to configure the database? [y/N]:

Press y and confirm with enter.

You can input any custom database credentials you want to use or use the one provided below:

1Enter the database username: ark
2Enter the database password: password
3Enter the database name: ark_mainnet

This will create PostgreSQL role and database to be used for storing blockchain data.

#7. Starting ARK Relay Process

To start ARK relay process and with it synchronization process with ARK blockchain we need to start relay process with our integrated CLI:

1ark relay:start

If the process has started you will get a message:

1Starting ark-relay... done

#8. Checking to See if Everything Is Working

Now we want to see if the ARK relay process has started the synchronization process you can do that by running one of these two commands

1ark relay:log

or

1pm2 logs

If the process has started you will see a lot of messages like this (with actual data)

1[YYYY-DD-MM hh:mm:ss][DEBUG]: Delegate <delegate name> (<public key>) allowed to forge block <#> 👍

Synchronization of the blockchain can take upwards of 10 hours so let it run, once its synchronized allowed to forge block messages will only pop-up every 8 seconds. A single round consists of 51 delegates each forging a single block.

Ensure you properly restart the node process when editing your .env file. Use the --update-env flag, for example:

1pm2 restart all --update-env

#Next Steps

Please note that API will be available when the node has synced with the network, which can take up to 15 hours depending on your network speed.

Now that the relay node has been configured, you should head over to the JSON-RPC Getting Started

or look at relevant Public API endpoints related to blockchain functionality to manage your wallets and transactions.

#Notes

Please read the documentation pages for all of our ARK SDK clients and cryptography libraries (offered in many programming languages).

Also, read the API documentation.