blog/source/docs/blockchain_configuration.md

title: Blockchain client configuration layout: docs

When in developing, to interact with a blockchain, it is necessary to use a local Ethereum node, either using a simulator or a client like Geth or Parity. In this guide we'll explore how to configure a blockchain client we want Embark to connect to. Embark uses the blockchain.js file inside the ./config folder by default for blockchain related configurations. This can be configured to different locations if we want to.

Embark offers a lot of configuration options and most of them already come with a decent default so we can start right away.

Common Parameters

Here are the common parameters. You will often need only a few of them to make your Embark node work.

If you want more configuration options, you can find them here

module.exports = {
  default: {
    enabled: true,
    client: "geth"
  },
  development: {  
    clientConfig: {
      miningMode: 'dev'
    }
  },
  testnet: {
    endpoint: "https://external-node.com",
    accounts: [
      {
        mnemonic: "12 word mnemonic"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Similar to configuring Smart Contracts, this config contains environments that help configuring certain parameters differently depending of the environment. You can read more about environments here.

Parameter descriptions

Most of the options are self-explanatory, still, here are some brief descriptions:

Option	Type: default	Value
enabled	boolean: true	Whether or not to spawn an Ethereum node
client	string: geth	Client to use for the Ethereum node. Currently supported: geth and parity
miningMode	string: dev	The mining mode to use for the node. dev: This is a special mode where the node uses a development account as defaultAccount. This account is already funded and transactions are faster. auto: Uses a mining script to mine only when needed. always: Miner is always on. off: Turns off the miner
endpoint	string	Endpoint to connect to. Works for external endpoints (like Infura) and local ones too (only for nodes started by embark run)
accounts	array	Accounts array for the node and to deploy. When no account is given, defaults to one node account. For more details, go here

Advanced parameters

Here are all the parameters you can use to customize your node. Note that they all come with defaults that make it that you don't need to specify those.

We recommend putting those inside the clientConfig object a better structure.

Option	Type: default	Value
rpcHost	string: localhost	Host the RPC server listens to
rpcPort	number: 8545	Port the RPC server listens to
rpcCorsDomain	object	The CORS domains the node accepts
rpcCorsDomain.auto		When set to true, Embark checks your other configurations to set the CORS domains. This only adds the required domains.
rpcCorsDomain.additionalCors		Manual list of CORS domains to accept. If auto is set to true, any URLs specified here will be applied in addition to those automatically added with auto.
wsRPC	boolean: true	Whether or not to enable the Websocket server
wsOrigins	object	Same as rpcCorsDomain, but for the Websocket server
wsHost	string: localhost	Same as rpcHost, but for the Websocket server
wsPort	number: 8546	Same as rpcPort, but for the Websocket server
ethereumClientBin	string: geth	Path to the client binary. By default, Embark uses the client name as an executable (if it is in the PATH)
datadir	string	Directory where to put the Node's data (eg: keystores)
networkType	string: custom	Can be: testnet, rinkeby, kovan or custom, in which case, it will use the specified networkId
networkId	number: 1337	Used when networkType is set as custom. List of known network ids
nodiscover	boolean: true	Disables the peer discovery mechanism when set to true
maxpeers	number: 0	Maximum number of network peers
proxy	boolean: true	Whether or not Embark should use a proxy to add functionalities. This proxy is used by Embark to see the different transactions that go through, for example, and shows them to you.
targetGasLimit	number	Artificial target gas floor for the blocks to mine
genesisBlock	string	The genesis file to use to create the network. This file is used when creating the network. It tells the client the parameters to initiate the node with. You can read more on genesis blocks here

{% notification info 'Using Parity and Metamask' %}

Parity has very strict CORS policies. In order to use it with Metamask (or any other browser extension), you need to add the extension's URL in the CORS.

You can do so by opening Metamask in its own tab. Then, copy the URL. It will look something like chrome-extension://nkbihfbeogaeaoehlefnkodbefgpgknn.

Afterwards, in your blockchain config, add it to additionalCors of rpcCorsDomain and wsOrigins. {% endnotification %}

Privatenet configuration

A private network is really similar to using the development mode of a client. The biggest differences is that it does not come with a default pre-funded account and it will not use POA (proof of authority), meaning that blocks will need to be mined.

Luckily, Embark has settings to limit the mining to a minimum so that everything can run smoothly while testing in a more realistic environment before going to a test network.

Privatenet parameters

Here are common parameters for private net configurations:

privatenet: {
  clientConfig: {
    miningMode: 'auto',
    genesisBlock: "config/privatenet/genesis.json"
  }
  accounts: [
    {
      nodeAccounts: true,
      password: "config/privatenet/password"
    }
  ]
}

Note that we can always use the parameters we saw in the Common parameters section to override the default parameters.

Parameter descriptions

Option	Type: value	Description
miningMode	string: auto	You need to set miningMode to auto or always so you don't use the development mode
genesisBlock	string	File to start the chain in a clean state for your private network
accounts	array	Array of accounts to connect to. Go to the Accounts configuration page to learn more on accounts

Testnet configuration

Test networks are networks that are public. Knowing that, if we want to connect to a node that we control, we will first need to synchronize it. This can take hours, as we need to download the blocks that we are missing from the other peers.

The big advantage of using a local synced node is that we have control over it and it preserves our privacy, as we aren't using a third party node. However, as mentioned, it takes a lot of time to synchronize a node and also requires a lot of computer resources, so keep it in mind if you want to go down that route.

Testnet parameters

testnet: {
  networkType: "testnet",
  syncMode: "light",
  accounts: [
    {
      nodeAccounts: true,
      password: "config/testnet/password"
    }
  ]
}

Here are the necessary parameters. Again, we can add more to override as you see fit.

Parameter descriptions

Option	Type: default	Value
networkType	string: testnet	Again, used to specify the network. testnet here represents Ropsten. You can change the network by using a networkId by changing networkType to custom
syncMode	string	Blockchain sync mode
syncMode = 'light'		Light clients synchronize a bare minimum of data and fetch necessary data on-demand from the network. Much lower in storage, potentially higher in bandwidth
syncMode = 'fast'		Faster, but higher store
syncMode = 'full'		Normal sync
accounts	array	Array of accounts to connect to. Go to the Accounts configuration page to learn more on accounts

Mainnet configuration

Finally, the main network, a.k.a. mainnet. It may come as no surprise, but to sync to the mainnet, the step and configurations are actually the same as for a test network. The only major difference is that the networkType needs to be custom with the networkId set to 1.

mainnet: {
  networkType: "custom",
  networkId: 1,
  syncMode: "light",
  accounts: [
    {
      nodeAccounts: true,
      password: "config/mainnet/password"
    }
  ]
}