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Warning
The HOPR client software (hoprd) is still under heavy development. Please do not add funds to the node that you cannot lose.
For further questions, please visit our Telegram channel
To use the HOPR network, you will need a HOPR node. Currently, the only way to do so is running hoprd, a node.js process that implements the HOPR protocol and effectively transforms the device you are running it in into a HOPR node. Please bear in mind that by simply installing hoprd, you are not making your computer a HOPR node. It is required you run the service as an application and have a working internet connection.
There are several ways to run hoprd: you can run it in your own device, install it on a virtual private server (VPS) or use a dedicated hardware device such as the AVADO HOPR Node PC, which has it as a package (Docker image).
For VPS users
If you’re running your nodes on a VPS, make sure you’ve logged in to your server with the port forwarding feature.
ssh -L 3000:127.0.0.1:3000 <root or username>@<Your_server_ip>
<root or username> - replace with your server username
<Your_server_ip> - replace with your server IP
Example: ssh -L 3000:127.0.0.1:3000 root@192.168.0.1
For Linux users
When you are starting your node, it will be running until you will close your terminal / command prompt window. It means it will not be running in background, to achieve that, you will need to use linux apps like: tmux or screen.
What is Tmux or Screen?
Within one terminal window you can open multiple windows. Each window will contain its own, independently running terminal instance. This allows you to have multiple terminal commands and applications running visually next to each other without the need to open multiple terminals. On top of that tmux and screen keeps these windows in a session, which means your node will be able to run in the background.
Using Tmux
First of all, check if tmux is installed on your linux OS. Run command:
tmux -V
It should output which version it is.
For example: tmux 3.0a
If it has no tmux on your OS, run this command to install it:
sudo apt install tmux
To run your node in background, open the session running command:
tmux
It will open a new window session inside the same terminal window. Now you can execute the command to run the node. From now on your node will be running in the background.
Main key combinations to use tmux:
CTRL + B and press key D
It will exit from a session window but it will not close the session itself.
tmux ls
It will list all your active sessions. The output should look similar to this:
0: 1 windows (created Wed Nov 24 08:26:20 2021)
You can see that it has one session which ID is 0.
tmux attach-session -t <number> or <session name>
It will enter the session, <number> or <session name> is the session ID or name.
Example: tmux attach-session -t 0
tmux kill-session -t <number> or <session name>
It will close your session and will back to terminal, <number> or <session name> is the session ID or name.
Example: tmux kill-session -t 0
info
More information about tmux you can read here.
Using Screen
Check if screen is installed on your linux OS. Run command:
screen --version
It should output which version it is.
For example: Screen version 4.08.00 (GNU) 05-Feb-20
If it has no screen on your OS, run this command to install it:
sudo apt install screen
To run your node in background, open the session running command:
screen
It will open a new window session inside the same terminal window. Press key space bar and now you can execute the command to run the node. From now on your node will be running in the background.
Main key combinations to use screen:
CTRL + A and press key D
It will exit from a session window but it will not close the session itself.
screen -ls
It will list all your active sessions.
Output
There is a screen on:
5235.pts-0.hopr (11/24/21 12:48:45) (Detached)
1 Socket in /run/screen/S-root.
You can see that it has one session which ID is 5235.
screen -r <number> or <session name>
It will enter the session, <number> or <session name> is the session ID or name.
Example: screen -r 5235
screen -S <number> or <session name> -X quit
It will close your session and will back to terminal, <number> or <session name> is the session ID or name.
Example: screen -S 5235 -X quit
info
More information about screen you can read here.
hoprd installation methods
We support multiple distribution mechanisms to install a hoprd:
An automated script able to install all the dependencies on your operating system alongside hoprd.
An AVADO plug-n-play device able to install a HOPR node as a DappNode package from their store.
The popular Node Package Manager (npm), which requires node.js.
Using Docker you can run a hoprd within a container with a shared volume to store your node info.
Regardless of which way you install hoprd, you will access it and interact with it through your browser. By default, hoprd exposes an admin interface available on localhost:3000, although flags can change these settings.