Overview This guide will help you quickly set up and run an Avail node using Docker or from pre-built binaries. Choose the method that best fits your environment.
Prerequisites Before you begin, ensure you have one of the following:
Docker or Podman installed
OR sufficient disk space (minimum 20GB recommended) for building from source
Option 1: Run with Docker (recommended) The fastest way to get started is using Docker:
Build the Docker image
Clone the repository and build the Avail Node Docker image: git clone https://github.com/availproject/avail.git cd avail docker build -t availnode -f ./dockerfiles/avail-node.Dockerfile .
This process will take several minutes as it compiles the node from source.
Create a data directory
Create a directory to persist blockchain data:
Run the node
Start the Avail Node connected to the Turing testnet: Standard
SELinux
Development mode
docker run --rm -p 30333:30333 -p 9944:9944 -v ./output:/output availnode
The SELinux variant is required on Fedora, RHEL, and other SELinux-enabled systems.
Option 2: Run from pre-built binary Avail provides GPG-signed release binaries for Linux systems.
Download the binary
Download the latest release from GitHub Releases : # Replace X.Y.Z with the desired version VERSION = "vX.Y.Z" wget https://github.com/availproject/avail/releases/download/ $VERSION /avail-node-linux-amd64.tar.gz wget https://github.com/availproject/avail/releases/download/ $VERSION /avail-node-linux-amd64.tar.gz.sig wget https://github.com/availproject/avail/releases/download/ $VERSION /gpg-public-key.asc
Verify the signature
Import the GPG key and verify the binary signature: # Import the public key gpg --import gpg-public-key.asc # Verify the signature gpg --verify avail-node-linux-amd64.tar.gz.sig avail-node-linux-amd64.tar.gz
You should see a message indicating a “Good signature” from the Avail Project release key.
Extract and run
Extract the binary and start the node: tar -xzf avail-node-linux-amd64.tar.gz chmod +x avail-node mkdir -p output ./avail-node --chain mainnet -d ./output
Option 3: Build from source For the latest features or custom builds:
Install dependencies
Install Rust and Substrate dependencies: # Install Rust curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh source $HOME /.cargo/env # Install system dependencies (Ubuntu/Debian) sudo apt update sudo apt install -y build-essential git clang curl libssl-dev llvm libudev-dev make cmake protobuf-compiler
See the installation guide for other operating systems.
Clone and build
Clone the repository and build the release binary: git clone https://github.com/availproject/avail.git cd avail mkdir -p output cargo run --locked --release -- --chain mainnet -d ./output
The first build will take 20-30 minutes depending on your hardware.
Verify your node is running Once started, you should see output similar to:
2025-03-05 11:39:57 Avail Node 2025-03-05 11:39:57 ✌️ version 2.3.0-6c6b8912fd3 2025-03-05 11:39:57 ❤️ by Avail Project <[email protected] >, 2017-2025 2025-03-05 11:39:57 📋 Chain specification: Avail Development Network 2025-03-05 11:39:57 🏷 Node name: spotty-ducks-6306 2025-03-05 11:39:57 👤 Role: AUTHORITY 2025-03-05 11:39:59 🏷 Local node identity is: 12D3KooWDCNjiaVbFL4BGYkbkxHwqJjhDNAxvBuxNdCAB4HDuYjA 2025-03-05 11:39:59 〽️ Prometheus exporter started at 127.0.0.1:9615 2025-03-05 11:39:59 Running JSON-RPC server: addr=127.0.0.1:9944, allowed origins=["*"]
Check node health You can verify your node is healthy using these methods:
RPC endpoint
Prometheus metrics
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"id":1, "jsonrpc":"2.0", "method": "system_health"}' \ http://localhost:9944
Network selection Connect to different Avail networks by changing the --chain flag:
Mainnet
Testnet (Turing)
Development
./avail-node --chain mainnet -d ./output
Enable Kate RPC To enable Kate RPC for data availability queries, add the --enable-kate-rpc flag:
./avail-node --chain mainnet --enable-kate-rpc -d ./output
The --dev flag automatically enables Kate RPC.
Common configuration options Customize your node with these frequently used flags:
Flag Description Example --nameHuman-readable node name --name "MyAvailNode"--rpc-portJSON-RPC server port --rpc-port 9944--portP2P networking port --port 30333--prometheus-portPrometheus metrics port --prometheus-port 9615--validatorEnable validator mode --validator--rpc-corsSet CORS for RPC --rpc-cors=all
Never use --unsafe-rpc-external or --rpc-methods=unsafe on a public node. These options expose dangerous RPC methods that can compromise your node.
Resource requirements Ensure your system meets these minimum requirements:
CPU : 4+ cores recommendedRAM : 8GB minimum, 16GB recommendedDisk : 200GB+ SSD (grows over time)Network : Stable broadband connection
The node displays hardware benchmarks on startup:
2025-03-05 11:39:59 🏁 CPU score: 1.36 GiBs 2025-03-05 11:39:59 🏁 Memory score: 22.37 GiBs 2025-03-05 11:39:59 🏁 Disk score (seq. writes): 6.14 GiBs 2025-03-05 11:39:59 🏁 Disk score (rand. writes): 2.85 GiBs
Next steps
Installation guide Learn about detailed installation for different platforms
Configuration Explore advanced node configuration options
Validator setup Run your node as a validator
Monitoring Set up Prometheus and Grafana monitoring
Troubleshooting Node won’t start Check that ports 9944 and 30333 are not already in use:
sudo lsof -i :9944 sudo lsof -i :30333
Slow synchronization Increase peer connections or add bootnodes:
./avail-node --chain mainnet --out-peers 25 --in-peers 50
Database corruption If you encounter database errors, try purging the chain data:
./avail-node purge-chain --chain mainnet -d ./output
Purging the chain will delete all local blockchain data and require a full resync.