Local Development

To test out integration or workflows, it’s generally easier to create your own network rather than using the testnet or mainnet and waiting for funds. Iron Fish has a devnet with low difficulty which enables easy block mining and transfers.

Start a Local Node 

Run the following command to start a node on the development network:

ironfish start --networkId=2 --port=9001 --bootstrap='' --forceMining --datadir=~/.dev0

• networkId: Network ID 2 is the development network
• port: Optionally set the running port for the node
• bootstrap: Set this to an empty string to avoid connecting to the default network
• forceMining: Enables mining of blocks without being fully synced or connecting to other nodes
• datadir: Defines the file directory on where to store the node’s data

Start a Second Node 

Run the following command to connect to the first local node:

ironfish start --networkId=2 --port 9002 --bootstrap=localhost:9001 --datadir=~/.dev1

• port: This value must be different from the port of the first local node
• datadir: This value must be different from the datadir of the first local node

Run a Miner 

Run the following command to connect a miner to your node:

ironfish miners:start --threads=1 --datadir=~/.dev0

• threads: Sets the number of CPU threads for the miner to use
• datadir: Configures which data directory of the node to connect to via IPC