How to run a local Geth node

A no-nonsense guide to running a local Geth node for smart contract development and testing.

Step-By-Step

• Install Geth
• Create an empty folder where the node data will be
• Execute shellgeth account new
  • Backup the password - locally I used ‘12345’
  • Note the address: 0xa024670E7E3ef957b781bF5e09C2b8b8157bfD87 in my case
  • Note the location of the keystore: C:\Users\tj\AppData\Local\Ethereum\keystore\ in my case
• Create a'genesis.json' file:

{
  "config": {
    "chainId": 9,
    "homesteadBlock": 0,
    "eip150Block": 0,
    "eip155Block": 0,
    "eip158Block": 0,
    "byzantiumBlock": 0,
    "constantinopleBlock": 0,
    "petersburgBlock": 0,
    "clique": {
      "period": 1,
      "epoch": 1
    }
  },
  "difficulty": "1",
  "gasLimit": "8000000",
  "extradata": "0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000a024670E7E3ef957b781bF5e09C2b8b8157bfD870000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
  "alloc": {
    "7df9a875a174b3bc565e6424a0050ebc1b2d1d82": { "balance": "300000" },
    "f41c74c9ae680c1aa78f42e5647a62f353b7bdde": { "balance": "400000" },
    "a024670E7E3ef957b781bF5e09C2b8b8157bfD87": { "balance": "100000000000000000000000000000" }
  }
}

• Note the PoA consensus (clique), 'difficulty' and initial balance for the address ending in D87
• Note the chain id - I put '9'.
• Initialise the genesis block via geth.exe --datadir=C:\Users\tj\TOOLS\local-geth init genesis.json
• I have copied the keystore file from the default location into the local keystore folder
• Run the command "C:\Users\tj\TOOLS\Geth1.10.15\geth.exe" --http --http.api personal,eth,net,web3 --ipcpath tj.ipc --rpc.txfeecap 0 --rpc.gascap 0 --syncmode "full" --verbosity 3 --nodiscover --datadir=C:\Users\tj\TOOLS\local-geth --unlock 0xa024670e7e3ef957b781bf5e09c2b8b8157bfd87 --mine --allow-insecure-unlock --password C:\Users\tj\TOOLS\local-geth\pwd
  • Note this is unsecure - this is a local node for dev - no discovery allowed
  • The password '12345' is stored in a file called 'pwd' (with a line return at the end)
  • The unlock parameters are used for mining and signing
• Funding happens via the console using the pip data which can be found in the nodes logs
  • Funding using ipc (url=\.\pipe\tj.ipc): geth.exe attach \\.\pipe\tj.ipc
  • eth.sendTransaction({from: "0xa024670e7e3ef957b781bf5e09c2b8b8157bfd87",to: "0xD1eCf18C4703F524B787B9A44d7EcF58365EA74F", value: "740000000"})
  • And check balance using eth.getBalance("0xD1eCf18C4703F524B787B9A44d7EcF58365EA74F")