Primary Network Node Setup with Docker

Configure Node Settings

Choose your network, node type, and settings. The config preview updates as you go.

Set up Instance

Provision a server with these specs.

Use local NVMe, not cloud block storage (EBS, Persistent Disk). With the validator settings, storage starts at about 300 GB and grows about 80 GB a month. System requirements

# Install Docker using convenience scriptcurl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.shsudo sh get-docker.shsudo usermod -aG docker $USERnewgrp docker# Test installationdocker run -it --rm hello-world

Not using Docker? Follow the manual installation instructions.

Create Configuration Files

Run these to write the config files. AvalancheGo reads them from these default paths on startup.

1. Create config directories

   mkdir -p ~/.avalanchego/configs/chains/C

2. Node config ~/.avalanchego/configs/node.json

   cat > ~/.avalanchego/configs/node.json << 'EOF'{  "network-id": "mainnet",  "public-ip-resolution-service": "opendns",  "http-host": "0.0.0.0",  "http-port": 9650,  "staking-port": 9651}EOF

3. C-Chain config ~/.avalanchego/configs/chains/C...

   # Error generating chain config

DocsNode configC-Chain config

Configure Firewall

Open the ports your node needs to talk to the network.

# Open SSH and P2P ports (validators don't expose RPC)sudo ufw allow OpenSSHsudo ufw allow 9651/tcp comment 'AvalancheGo P2P'sudo ufw --force enablesudo ufw status

Validators only need the P2P port. The RPC port stays bound to localhost.

Run Docker

Start the node. The command gives the node the path of its config file. The node reads all other settings from the mounted volume.

docker run -it -d \    --name avago \    -p 127.0.0.1:9650:9650 -p 9651:9651 \    -v ~/.avalanchego:/root/.avalanchego \    -e AVAGO_CONFIG_FILE=/root/.avalanchego/configs/node.json \    avaplatform/avalanchego:v1.15.1

To apply a config change, run docker restart avago. The node reads its config files when it starts.

Wait for the Node to Bootstrap

Your node now bootstraps and syncs the Primary Network (P-Chain, X-Chain, and C-Chain). This can take several hours to days depending on your hardware and connection.

Follow progress in the logs:

docker logs -f avago

Backup Validator Credentials

Your validator identity is defined by these files in ~/.avalanchego/staking/

# Back up your validator credentials# The node runs as root in Docker, so the key files belong to rootmkdir -p ~/avalanche-backupsudo cp -r ~/.avalanchego/staking ~/avalanche-backup/sudo chown -R "$(id -u):$(id -g)" ~/avalanche-backup# Verify backupls -la ~/avalanche-backup/staking/

• Lost keys mean missed staking rewards (the validator can't sign). NVMe drives can fail without warning.
• Never share private keys: anyone with them can impersonate your validator.