mev-toolkit/code/geth_and_k8s/PoCs/deployment_gcp_docker.md

Deployment of geth in GCP + docker

In this deployment, we use Container-Optimized OS to permit the deployment of a Docker image to a Google Compute Engine VM.

This is the simplest way to run the ethereum/client-go image. This will install geth, the Golang CLI Ethereum client for running a full Ethereum node and interacting with Ethereum networks.

---

Installing

Install google cloud sdk and configure it with:

gcloud init
gcloud auth login
gcloud config set project <project name>

Create the instance

gcloud beta compute instances create-with-container <docker container alias> \
--boot-disk-size=500GB \
--boot-disk-type=pd-ssd \
--container-image=ethereum/client-go \
--container-arg="--rpc" \
--container-arg="--rpcaddr=0.0.0.0" \
--container-restart-policy=always \
--container-mount-host-path=\
mount-path=/root,\
host-path=/tmp/client-go,\
mode=rw \
--image-family=cos-stable \
--image-project=cos-cloud \
--zone=<which zone?> \
--project=<project name>

The instance should be available at the project's GCP dashboard.

Geth needs to have a special CORS setting enabled to allow MetaMask to connect to it by default, so try starting it with this command:

geth --rpc --rpccorsdomain="chrome-extension://<hash>"

Start konlet-startup

konlet-startup is the systemd service that corresponds to the docker image deployment in the Container-Optimized OS.

Run:

gcloud compute ssh <docker container alias>  \
--command="sudo journalctl --unit=konlet-startup --follow" \
--project=<project name>

Confirm that the container is running

gcloud compute ssh <docker container alias> \
--command="docker ps --format='[{{.ID}}] {{.Names}}: {{.Status}}'" \
--project=<project name>

SSH and port-forwarding

gcloud compute ssh <docker container alias> \
--ssh-flag="-L 8545:localhost:8545" \
--project=<project name>

Success looks like:

  ########################[ Welcome ]########################
  #  You have logged in to the guest OS.                    #
  #  To access your containers use 'docker attach' command  #
  ###########################################################

<user>@<project name> >

Additional configuration for the intance

• Alocate a static IP.
• Prevent deletion.
• Configure CORS here.

---

Creating the Testnet

The command to create a testnet with geth is:

geth init --datadir data ./genesis.json

and then starting the node:

geth --datadir data --networkid NetworkID

NetworkID helps ensure the privacy of your network. You can use any number and peers joining the network must use the same number.

Starting the genesis block

Inside the instance, create the genesis.json file:

vim ~/genesis.json

with

{
    "config": {
      "chainId": 137,
      "homesteadBlock": 0,
      "eip150Block": 0,
      "eip155Block": 0,
      "eip158Block": 0,
      "byzantiumBlock": 0,
      "constantinopleBlock": 0,
      "petersburgBlock": 0
    },
    "difficulty": "0x400",
    "gasLimit":"0x2100000",
    "alloc": {
        "3282791d6fd713f1e94f4bfd565eaa78b3a0599d": {
          "balance": "1337000000000000000000"
        }
    }
}

Start the testnet with:

geth --identity <project name> --nodiscover --networkid 137 --datadir ~/data init ~/genesis.json

Where geth flags are:

• --datadir indicates the data for our local testnet.
• --nodiscover, --maxpeers 0, --rpc, --rpcapi make sure the network is private.

---

Interacting with the testnet

Connecting to a member node

From another terminal, run:

docker run \
--rm \
--interactive \
--net=host \
--tty \
ethereum/client-go \
  attach http://localhost:8545

or

geth attach http://localhost:8545

Success looks like:

Welcome to the Geth JavaScript console!
>

Monitoring

• GCP logs can be found here.
• To look at the output from the tesnet run:

FILTER="resource.type=\"global\" "\
"logName=\"projects/<project-name>/logs/gcplogs-docker-driver\" "

gcloud logging read "${FILTER}" \
--project=<project name> \
--format="value(jsonPayload.data)" \
--order=asc