Run an RPC Node

An RPC node provides JSON-RPC and WebSocket endpoints for developers, dApps, indexers, infrastructure providers, and testing or integration environments. RPC nodes do not validate blocks and do not require staking.

RPC nodes should not expose consensus ports publicly and must follow strict security practices.

1. System Requirements

Recommended:

OS: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
CPU: 4 cores
RAM: 8–16 GB
Storage: 500 GB+ NVMe SSD
Network: High-bandwidth connection
Dependencies: git, jq, curl, make, build-essential, pkg-config
Go: v1.25+

Install dependencies:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install git jq curl make build-essential pkg-config -y

2. Install Shardeum Node Binary

git clone https://github.com/shardeum/shardeum-evm.git
cd shardeum-evm
make install

Verify:

shardeumd version
command -v shardeumd

3. Environment Variables

export SHARDEUM_CONFIG_DIR="$PWD/config"
export SHARDEUM_NETWORK=testnet

4. Initialize the Node

NODE_ID="rpcnode"
MONIKER="shardeum-testnet-rpc"
 
shardeumd init "$MONIKER" \
  --chain-id shardeum-testnet \
  --home $HOME/.testnet/$NODE_ID \
  --overwrite

5. Copy Genesis File

cp config/environments/testnet-genesis.json $HOME/.testnet/$NODE_ID/config/genesis.json
jq -r '.chain_id' $HOME/.testnet/$NODE_ID/config/genesis.json

6. Start and Sync the Node

Start:

shardeumd start \
  --home $HOME/.testnet/$NODE_ID \
  --chain-id shardeum-testnet \
  --p2p.seeds "c15cdf69a0332a29a12b448ecf310b39d1d7659d@34.57.163.115:27656,1d6f78c5a0d3302b3b3ee963a9414b4909a5032f@34.170.136.184:27656,2773057c346152646bb71639dcc88828d1bbd1cf@34.63.57.148:27656" \
  --p2p.laddr tcp://0.0.0.0:27656 \
  --rpc.laddr tcp://127.0.0.1:26657 \
  > $HOME/.testnet/$NODE_ID/node.log &

Monitor:

shardeumd status | jq '.SyncInfo'
tail -f $HOME/.testnet/$NODE_ID/node.log

Wait until fully synced.

7. Enable JSON-RPC

Edit $HOME/.testnet/$NODE_ID/config/app.toml:

Find the RPC section and set:

json-rpc.enable = true
json-rpc.address = "0.0.0.0:8545"
json-rpc.ws-address = "0.0.0.0:8546"

Restart your node if using systemd.

8. Optional: Enable gRPC and REST Endpoints

In app.toml:

grpc.enable = true
grpc.address = "0.0.0.0:9090"
 
api.enable = true
api.address = "0.0.0.0:1317"

Enable these only if required by your infrastructure or testing flow.

9. Firewall Configuration

Expose only the ports you actually need:

sudo ufw allow 8545/tcp   # JSON-RPC
sudo ufw allow 8546/tcp   # WebSocket
sudo ufw allow 9090/tcp   # gRPC (optional)
sudo ufw allow 1317/tcp   # REST API (optional)
sudo ufw allow 27656/tcp  # P2P
sudo ufw enable

Do not expose port 26657 (Tendermint RPC) to the public. Restrict sensitive endpoints to localhost or trusted IPs.

10. systemd Service (Recommended)

Create service:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/shardeumd-rpc-testnet.service

Example:

[Unit]
Description=Shardeum Testnet RPC Node
After=network-online.target
 
[Service]
User=root
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/shardeumd start --home /root/.testnet/rpcnode
Restart=on-failure
LimitNOFILE=65535
 
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable:

sudo systemctl enable shardeumd-rpc-testnet
sudo systemctl start shardeumd-rpc-testnet

11. Pruning

RPC nodes often use archive or custom pruning depending on their purpose.

For full historical state:

pruning = "nothing"

For lighter infrastructure:

pruning = "custom"
pruning-keep-recent = "10000"
pruning-interval = "50"

Restart the node after changes.

12. Scaling RPC Nodes (Optional)

For higher traffic or team-based testing:

Use load balancers such as Nginx, HAProxy, or AWS ELB
Run multiple RPC nodes behind a reverse proxy
Rate-limit requests to avoid overload
Separate public RPC from internal infrastructure RPC
Run indexing services in parallel if needed

13. Useful Commands

Check sync

shardeumd status | jq '.SyncInfo'

Check network peers:

curl -s http://localhost:26657/net_info | jq '.result'

Check logs

journalctl -u shardeumd-rpc-testnet -f

Query JSON-RPC:

curl -s http://<your-ip>:8545 \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"eth_chainId","params":[],"id":1}'

14. Troubleshooting

RPC endpoint not responding

Confirm JSON-RPC is enabled in app.toml
Confirm IP binding is correct
Check firewall rules
Check that the node is fully synced

High latency

Reduce pruning burden if archive mode is unnecessary
Increase hardware resources
Add more RPC nodes behind a proxy

Node stuck catching up

Check peers
Restart node
Verify time sync (NTP)
Confirm you are using the correct testnet chain ID and genesis file

RPC Node Setup Complete

Your RPC node is operational and ready to serve JSON-RPC and WebSocket traffic for the Shardeum testnet.

Use this setup for:

Testing environments
dApp and wallet integrations
Indexers and infra services
Exchange and backend validation flows

Run an RPC Node

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