Windows

Guide for running the Taraxa Node with Docker on Windows

These instructions are specific to Windows. Instructions are also available for Mac and Linux.

1. Install Docker

Before running the node we need to install Docker.

You can download Docker Desktop for Windows from here.

Download Docker

After the download finishes you will find the executable file in your downloads folder.

Downloaded Docker

Open Docker Desktop Installer.exe. and you should see a screen similar to this:

Open Docker

Press "Ok" and don't uncheck any of the default options.

Now Docker is installing:

Install Docker

After the installation is finished you can click the "Close" button and Docker is going to start automatically.

Docker Installed

2. Install WSL 2

Docker needs to install extra dependencies for running Linux containers on Windows.

You will get a notice similar to the one below.

NOTE: Don't close the notice window

If you click on the provided link a new browser window will open and we can download the dependency.

WSL Notice

Click on the link under "Download the latest package"

Download WSL 2

You can find the executable in your downloads folder.

WSL 2 Downloaded

Open the executable and click "Next" on the first screen.

Install WSL 2

After the setup is complete click the "Finish" button.

WSL 2 Installed

Now you can click the "Restart" button on the original notice window.

Restart WSL 2

3. Starting Docker Desktop

If everything went well you will see the following message.

Docker Desktop is starting notification

And if you open the Docker Desktop application you should see the following window.

Docker Desktop App is starting

When Docker Desktop starts successfuly you will see the yellow icon turn green.

Docker Desktop Started

4. Download Taraxa scripts

In order to run the node we need a set of scripts. You can download the scripts from this link.

Download Taraxa Scripts

GitHub is blocked in some countries. If you can't access the previous link please refer to the GitHub is blocked document.

Click on "Download ZIP" under the "Code" menu and the download should start.

After the download is complete you can find a new zip file in your downloads folder.

Right click on the file and select the "Extract All" option.

Extract Scripts

In the first screen click the "Browse" button.

Extract Browse

Now select "Desktop" from the left menu.

Select Desktop

And finally click the "Extract" button.

Extract

You should see a new folder on your Desktop.

Extracted

5. Start the Taraxa Node

For starting the actual node software we need to use the PowerShell console.

Click on the start menu and type PowerShell.

When the application appears open it.

Open PowerShell

You should see a window similar to this:

PowerShell Opened

Type the following commands one by one:

cd .\Desktop\taraxa-ops-master\taraxa_compose\
docker-compose up -d
docker-compose logs -f

Go to Scripts Folder

Now docker is pulling the Taraxa Node image. You should see something similar to this:

Start the Taraxa Node

After it finishes pulling the latest version the node will start and you should see something similar to the following:

Node running

_NOTE: You can press CTRL + C to stop displaying the logs

6. Update the Taraxa Node

From time to time we will announce software updates and breaking protocol changes to the testnet via the #node-operations channel in our Taraxa community Discord, Telegram channel and Twitter account.

⏺️Upgrade a Node