Run the Node with Systemd

This section will work for both block producing nodes and relays. However, when we are ready to run our bp node with hot keys, we will change the startup script a bit.

Running the node with a manual shell command is fine for ensuring things work. However, for stable operations we're going to want to configure the node to run automatically. To accomplish this we are going to create a startup script and a systemd service that uses that script to start and run the node when the system boots. First let's create a startup script.

cd ~/preprodnet/scripts
nano node.sh

---

Use the following snippet as a template for your startup script. Please read carefully.

#!/bin/bash
#
# We will set a few variables to shorten our launch command
# Database Path
DB=/home/preprod/preprodnet/db
# Socket Path
SOCKET=/home/preprod/preprodnet/socket/node.socket
# Configuration File
CONFIG=/home/preprod/preprodnet/config/config.json
# Topology File
TOPOLOGY=/home/preprod/preprodnet/config/topology.json
# Host Address. We will set this to 'listen' for incoming connections
HOST=0.0.0.0
# Please change <your port> to the port for either your block producing node or relay
PORT=<your port>
#
# Command to run the node
#
/home/preprod/preprodnet/bin/cardano-node run --topology $TOPOLOGY --database-path $DB --socket-path $SOCKET --port $PORT --config $CONFIG --host-addr $HOST

ctrl+o to save and ctrl+x to exit. Make the script executable.

chmod +x node.sh

Test and execute your script.

./node.sh

Once again you should see output similar to this if everything was done correctly.

ctrl+c to stop the node.

Next we will create the service file for systemd.

cd ~/preprodnet/scripts
nano node.service

Add the following text to the file you are creating with nano.

[Unit]
Description       = Cardano Node
Wants             = network-online.target
After             = network-online.target  
  
[Service]
User              = preprod
Type              = simple
WorkingDirectory  = /home/preprod/preprodnet
ExecStart         = /bin/bash -c '/home/preprod/preprodnet/scripts/node.sh'
KillSignal        = SIGINT
RestartKillSignal = SIGINT
LimitNOFILE       = 24000
Restart           = always
RestartSec        = 7
SyslogIdentifier  = cardano-node
  
 [Install]
WantedBy          = multi-user.target

ctrl+o to save, ctrl+x to exit. Let's copy the file where it needs to go and give it the right permissions.

cd ~/preprodnet/scripts
sudo cp node.service /etc/systemd/system/
sudo chmod 0644 /etc/systemd/system/node.service

Start the service.

sudo systemctl start node.service

Check to ensure the service is active.

sudo systemctl status node.service

Now we will enable the service so it runs everytime the system boots.

sudo systemctl enable node.service

Now let's run our first cardano-cli command and query the tip.

Note: If the node is still starting up or syncing, the cardano-cli command may fail if the node socket cannot be found.

cardano-cli query tip --testnet-magic 1

The query command displays our block-height, epoch, era, sync progress, hash, etc.