docs.waku.org/docs/guides/run-nwaku-node.md

title
Run a Nwaku Node

Nwaku is a lightweight and robust Nim client for running a Waku node, equipped with tools to monitor and maintain a running node. Nwaku is highly configurable, enabling operators to select the protocols they want to support based on their needs, motivations, and available resources.

This guide provides detailed steps to download, build, configure, and connect a nwaku node to the Waku Network. It also includes interacting with the node and finding its addresses.

Get the Node Binary

To run a node, you must have the nwaku binary. Nwaku provides multiple options for acquiring the node binary:

Download the Binary

	Description	Documentation
Precompiled Binary	Download a precompiled binary of the nwaku node	Download Nwaku Binary
Nightly Release	Try the latest nwaku updates without compiling the binaries	Download Nightly Release

Build the Binary

You can build the node binary directly from the nwaku source code. Have a look at the Build Nwaku from Source guide to learn more.

Run Nwaku in Docker

	Description	Documentation
Docker Container	Run a nwaku node in a Docker Container	Run Nwaku in a Docker Container
Docker Compose	Run a nwaku node with Docker Compose	Run Nwaku with Docker Compose

:::tip You can run the nwaku binaries and Docker images on cloud service providers like Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and DigitalOcean. :::

Run the Node

Once you have gotten the nwaku binary, run it using the default configuration:

# Run with default configuration
./build/wakunode2

# See available command line options
./build/wakunode2 --help

:::tip For more advanced configurations like enabling other protocols or maintaining a consistent PeerID, have a look at the Node Configuration Methods guide. :::

Bootstrap the Node

To join the Waku Network, nodes must bootstrap for an entry point before discovering more peers. Nwaku provides multiple peer discovery mechanisms:

	Description	Documentation
Static Peers	Configure the bootstrap nodes that nwaku should establish connections upon startup	Configure Static Peers
DNS Discovery	Enable nwaku to bootstrap nodes using the DNS Discovery mechanism	Configure DNS Discovery
Discv5	Enable nwaku to discover peers using the Discv5 mechanism	Configure Discv5
Peer Exchange	Enable Peer Exchange protocol for light nodes to request peers from your nwaku node	Configure Peer Exchange

:::info You can configure a nwaku node to use multiple peer discovery mechanisms simultaneously. :::

Interact with the Node

You can interact with a running nwaku node through the JSON RPC API, such as querying the node information using the get_waku_v2_debug_v1_info method:

import Tabs from '@theme/Tabs';
import TabItem from '@theme/TabItem';

curl --location --request GET 'http://localhost:8545' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
	"jsonrpc": "2.0",
	"id": "id",
	"method": "get_waku_v2_debug_v1_info",
	"params": []
}'

{
	"jsonrpc": "2.0",
	"id": "id",
	"result": {
		"listenAddresses": [
			"/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/60000/p2p/16Uiu2HAmUbPquFQqje3jiqoB5YoiUbBya59NB4qqEzeiTNGHeA6w"
		],
		"enrUri": "enr:-Iu4QCQZXZDb_JsYmLoYor0F5E_95HbIywgO_wgx2rIdDbmCJZkTzmlCr0wmMzV47lgik_tVwww5mIng90Ris83TisMBgmlkgnY0gmlwhAAAAACJc2VjcDI1NmsxoQPszztG-Ev52ZB7tk0jF8s6Md4KvyY_rhzNZokaaB_ABIN0Y3CC6mCFd2FrdTIB"
	}
}

:::info The listenAddresses field stores the node's listening addresses, while the enrUri field stores the discoverable ENR URI for peer discovery. :::

Find the Node Addresses

You can find the addresses of a running node through its logs or by calling the get_waku_v2_debug_v1_info method of the JSON RPC API.

:::info When starting the node, nwaku will display all the public listening and discovery addresses at the INFO log level. :::

Listening Addresses

Look for the log entry that begins with Listening on, for example:

INF 2023-06-15 16:09:54.448+01:00 Listening on                               topics="waku node" tid=1623445 file=waku_node.nim:922 full=[/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/60000/p2p/16Uiu2HAmQCsH9V81xoqTwGuT3qwkZWbwY1TtTQwpr3DjHU2TSwMn][/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/8000/ws/p2p/16Uiu2HAmQCsH9V81xoqTwGuT3qwkZWbwY1TtTQwpr3DjHU2TSwMn]

# Listening TCP transport address
/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/60000/p2p/16Uiu2HAmQCsH9V81xoqTwGuT3qwkZWbwY1TtTQwpr3DjHU2TSwMn

# Listening WebSocket address
/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/8000/ws/p2p/16Uiu2HAmQCsH9V81xoqTwGuT3qwkZWbwY1TtTQwpr3DjHU2TSwMn

Discoverable ENR Addresses

A nwaku node can encode its addressing information in an Ethereum Node Record (ENR) following the WAKU2-ENR specification, primarily for peer discovery.

ENR for DNS discovery

Look for the log entry that begins with DNS: discoverable ENR, for example:

INF 2023-06-15 16:09:54.448+01:00 DNS: discoverable ENR                      topics="waku node" tid=1623445 file=waku_node.nim:923 enr=enr:-Iu4QBKYj8Ovxwz4fIalxZ_1a8dOCU2WC-1LQrcBCCb4Np93f9-UuSZXn3vagJL1S3k3hwRYfOp3JSbW7_VqwtqMIeMBgmlkgnY0gmlwhAAAAACJc2VjcDI1NmsxoQOrmyV59dAzY4ZKrvrj32VOoZbLby8dCKFnXnqhIdQ0NYN0Y3CC6mCFd2FrdTIB

# ENR the node addresses are encoded in
enr:-Iu4QBKYj8Ovxwz4fIalxZ_1a8dOCU2WC-1LQrcBCCb4Np93f9-UuSZXn3vagJL1S3k3hwRYfOp3JSbW7_VqwtqMIeMBgmlkgnY0gmlwhAAAAACJc2VjcDI1NmsxoQOrmyV59dAzY4ZKrvrj32VOoZbLby8dCKFnXnqhIdQ0NYN0Y3CC6mCFd2FrdTIB

ENR for Discv5

Look for the log entry that begins with Discv5: discoverable ENR, for example:

INF 2023-06-15 16:09:54.448+01:00 Discv5: discoverable ENR                   topics="waku node" tid=1623445 file=waku_node.nim:924 enr=enr:-IO4QDxToTg86pPCK2KvMeVCXC2ADVZWrxXSvNZeaoa0JhShbM5qed69RQz1s1mWEEqJ3aoklo_7EU9iIBcPMVeKlCQBgmlkgnY0iXNlY3AyNTZrMaEDdBHK1Gx6y_zv5DVw5Qb3DtSOMmVHTZO1WSORrF2loL2DdWRwgiMohXdha3UyAw

# ENR the node addresses are encoded in
enr:-IO4QDxToTg86pPCK2KvMeVCXC2ADVZWrxXSvNZeaoa0JhShbM5qed69RQz1s1mWEEqJ3aoklo_7EU9iIBcPMVeKlCQBgmlkgnY0iXNlY3AyNTZrMaEDdBHK1Gx6y_zv5DVw5Qb3DtSOMmVHTZO1WSORrF2loL2DdWRwgiMohXdha3UyAw