🚀Create A Node

Creating a Node

To use the Fastblocks service, you need to register an account by clicking here. Remember to save your username and password as they will be needed when you'll first access your IoTeX node. Once you have registered and logged-in, click on "Create Node" to configure your node. You can select Network, Region, Client and Sync Mode.

Node Configuration

Next, in order to finalize the node configuration process, you'll need to complete the following 3-step operation:Select Node Type - Define Node Details - Confirm.

Step 1. Select Node Type

There are two parts that need to be configured in this step: the "Node Type" and the "Machine Type".

Node Type:

When selecting a Node Type, you can choose between a Delegate Node and a Full Node:

Delegate Node(consensus): A Delegate is part of the network of nodes that are used to achieve consensus. The top 36 voted Delegates are responsible for transaction verification and block production, and will be rewarded with iotx tokens. Should you decide to select Delegate Node, remember to first visit https://stake.iotex.io/portal to register.

Full Node(non-consensus): A full node is a node that has a complete ledger of transaction data on IoTeX network and has the ability to independently verify the validity of transactions.

Machine Type: Machine Type is a set of virtualized hardware resources available to a virtual machine (VM) instance, including the system memory size, vCPU count (total count of virtual CPU core on machine), and persistent disk limits.

Current Generation:

CPU: 2C | Memory: 4G | Storage: 500G

Step 2. Define Node Details

Configure your node properties, such as network type, availability zone, etc.

Network Type:

IoTeX Mainnet and Testnet are two separate networks that operate independently from one another.The mainnet is responsible for executing actual transactions within the network and storing them in the blockchain for public use.The testnet is a blockchain network used to run and test blockchains as well as various blockchain projects before release.

	Mainnet	Testnet
Purpose	IoTeX Functional blockchain	IoTeX Testing environment
Transactions	IoTeX real transactions stored on actual blockchain	Fake transactions
IoTeX Tokens	Posses real value	No monetary value
Transactions frequency	High	Low
Mining	Possible to earn rewards	Not possible

Delegate Name: A public-facing "user-friendly" name for your delegate. Please use the same delegate name that you used to register on https://stake.IoTeX.io/profile.

Operator Private Key: This should be the private key of the Operator Address which is used for the actual node software running on your node servers. It is generated as 64 random hex characters,

e.g: 90bf89cd944df5c6d8281b132783277c1760537809c534fc54dda34c4edfb4f4.

• Owner Address: This is an address held by the node owner.

• Operator Address: This is the address representing the node's right of operation. Operators holding this address can be allowed to execute related operations while the node is running. Note: The ownership of this node still belongs to the Owner Address holder.

We advise using an Operator Address that is different from the Node Owner Address to avoid security risks.

Enable API Serving: Enable API Serving refers to a node with gateway plugin enabled, and it will perform extra indexing to the server as well as API requests for more detailed chain information, such as number of actions in a block or query actions by hash.

Zone: IoTeX nodes servers can be deployed in various regions around the world. You can select the zone that best fits your deployment needs.

Step 3. Confirm

This is a final step to ensure that the IoTeX Node information provided is correct before confirming your purchase. Click on the "Continue to pay" button to finalize your purchase using STRIPE.

Auto Update: It is recommended to turn on automatic updates to allow Fastblocks to automatically update your node to the latest available version.

Payment

After configuring the Fastblocks node and clicking on the "Continue to pay" button, you'll be redirected to the payment page where you can complete your purchase (the URL is checkout.stripe.com). Select your payment option and fill out the relevant information. When you're ready, click on the "Subscribe" button to complete the payment operation.

After a successful subscription, the page will show the Fastblocks payment callback modal, which will prompt a "Purchased Successfully!" message, as well as your "Instance ID". You can always click on "My Instances" to have an overview of the instances you've created. If your Instance ID is followed by the green Success tag, it means that the node you've configured is being created.

FAQ

How to confirm the instance is running successfully?

Select "Instances" on the left nav menu to enter the instance information page, which will give you an overview of all the instances you've created. By default, the latest node you've purchased will be shown first. In case of a newly configured node, it will show as "Initializing", meaning that all the data on the IoTeX chain is being synchronized. This process can take up to 1 hour, due to the large amount of data that needs to be processed. Once the data synchronization has been completed, the status of your node will switch to "Running".You can use the "Refresh" button in the upper right corner of the page to see the status update. When the status updates to "Running", it indicates that the node is running smoothly. At this point you'll be able to see more information about your node such as Height (the block number), RPC URL (RPC protocol interface call), Node Version, etc.

How to see all the information of an instance?

Click the left "Instances" button in the nav menu to enter the instance information page, and then click the icon in the upper right corner of the page to switch to "Row Display" mode.

At this time, you will see a new icon in the upper right corner again, click it and checkmark the details you'd like to be displayed about each instance.