Docker

To run the latest Ergo version in mainnet as a console application with logs printed to console:

sudo docker run --rm -p 9030:9030 -p 127.0.0.1:9053:9053 -v /path/on/host/to/ergo/data:/home/ergo/.ergo ergoplatform/ergo --mainnet

This will connect to Ergo mainnet with default config and open port 9030 globally and 9053 locally on the host system.

All data will be stored in your host directory /path/on/host/to/ergo/data.

Docker Compose

version: "3.8"

services:
  # Ergo blockchain node
  node:
    image: ergoplatform/ergo
    container_name: mn-ergo-node
    command: --mainnet -c /etc/ergo.conf
    volumes:
      - ./.ergo:/home/ergo/.ergo
      - ./ergo.conf:/etc/ergo.conf:ro
    ports:
      - 9053:9053
      - 9030:9030
    restart: unless-stopped
    # Increase or decrease the max heap value as required
    environment:
        - MAX_HEAP=4G
    logging:
      options:
        max-size: "10m"
        max-file: "3"

Run the node with

docker-compose up -d

Follow the logs with

docker logs -f ergo-mainnet -n 200

Note that the node's data will be saved in .ergo directory you must create beforehand and change its group :

chown -R 9052:9052 .ergo

Your config file must be in the same directory with name ergo.conf

This will also limit the memory usage of node to 1400MB and cpu to 40%.

Running other versions

To run specific Ergo version <VERSION> as a service with custom config /path/on/host/system/to/myergo.conf:

    sudo docker run -d \
        -p 9030:9030 \
        -p 127.0.0.1:9053:9053 \
        -v /path/on/host/to/ergo/data:/home/ergo/.ergo \
        -v /path/on/host/system/to/myergo.conf:/etc/myergo.conf \
        -e MAX_HEAP=4G \
        ergoplatform/ergo:<VERSION> --<networkId> -c /etc/myergo.conf

Available versions can be found on Ergo Docker image page, for example, v4.0.23.

This will connect to the Ergo mainnet or testnet following your configuration passed in myergo.conf and network flag --<networkId>. Every default config value would be overwritten with corresponding value in myergo.conf. MAX_HEAP variable can be used to control how much memory can the node consume.

This command also would store your data in /path/on/host/to/ergo/data on host system, and open ports 9030 (node communication) globally and 9053 (REST API) locally on host system. The /path/on/host/to/ergo/data directory must has 777 permissions or has owner/group numeric id equal to 9052 to be writable by container, as ergo user inside Docker image (please refer to Dockerfile).

Ergo node works normally behind NAT, so you can keep closed your 9030 port, hence other nodes could not discover and connect to yours one, only your node could initiate connections.

It is also a good practice to keep closed REST API port 9053, and connect to your node from inside another container in the same Docker network (this case not covered by this short quick start manual).