docs.waku.org/docs/guides/nwaku/configure-discovery.md

title
Configure Peer Discovery

This guide provides detailed steps to configure a nwaku node to discover and connect with peers in the Waku Network.

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

Configure Static Peers

You can provide static peers to a nwaku node during startup using the staticnode configuration option. To connect to multiple peers on startup, repeat the staticnode option:

./build/wakunode2 \
  --staticnode=[PEER MULTIADDR 1] \
  --staticnode=[PEER MULTIADDR 2]

For example, consider a nwaku node that connects to two static peers on the same local host (IP: 0.0.0.0) using TCP ports 60002 and 60003:

./build/wakunode2 \
  --staticnode=/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/60002/p2p/16Uiu2HAkzjwwgEAXfeGNMKFPSpc6vGBRqCdTLG5q3Gmk2v4pQw7H \
  --staticnode=/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/60003/p2p/16Uiu2HAmFBA7LGtwY5WVVikdmXVo3cKLqkmvVtuDu63fe8safeQJ

Configure DNS Discovery

To enable DNS Discovery in a nwaku node, use the following configuration options:

• dns-discovery: Enables DNS Discovery on the node (disabled by default).
• dns-discovery-url: URL for DNS node list in the format enrtree://<key>@<fqdn> where <fqdn> is the fully qualified domain name and <key> is the base32 encoding of the compressed 32-byte public key that signed the list at that location.
• dns-discovery-name-server (optional): DNS name server IPs to query. You can repeat this option to provide multiple DNS name servers.

./build/wakunode2 \
  --dns-discovery=true \
  --dns-discovery-url=enrtree://[PUBLIC KEY]@[DOMAIN NAME] \
  --dns-discovery-name-server=[DNS NAME SERVER IP]

:::info If you omit the dns-discovery-name-server option, nwaku will attempt to use the CloudFlare servers 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1. :::

For example, consider a nwaku node that enables DNS Discovery, connects to a DNS node list, and queries the IPs 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4:

./build/wakunode2 \
  --dns-discovery=true \
  --dns-discovery-url=enrtree://AO47IDOLBKH72HIZZOXQP6NMRESAN7CHYWIBNXDXWRJRZWLODKII6@test.wakuv2.nodes.status.im \
  --dns-discovery-name-server=8.8.8.8 \
  --dns-discovery-name-server=8.8.4.4

Configure Discv5

To enable Discv5 in a nwaku node, use the following configuration options:

• discv5-discovery: Enables Discv5 on the node (disabled by default).
• discv5-bootstrap-node: ENR for Discv5 routing table bootstrap node. You can repeat this option to provide multiple bootstrap entries.

./build/wakunode2 \
  --discv5-discovery=true \
  --discv5-bootstrap-node=[DISCV5 ENR BOOTSTRAP ENTRY 1] \
  --discv5-bootstrap-node=[DISCV5 ENR BOOTSTRAP ENTRY 2]

For example, consider a nwaku node that enables Discv5 and bootstraps its routing table using a static ENR:

./build/wakunode2 \
  --discv5-discovery=true \
  --discv5-bootstrap-node=enr:-IO4QDxToTg86pPCK2KvMeVCXC2ADVZWrxXSvNZeaoa0JhShbM5qed69RQz1s1mWEEqJ3aoklo_7EU9iIBcPMVeKlCQBgmlkgnY0iXNlY3AyNTZrMaEDdBHK1Gx6y_zv5DVw5Qb3DtSOMmVHTZO1WSORrF2loL2DdWRwgiMohXdha3UyAw

:::info When Discv5 is enabled and used with DNS Discovery, the nwaku node will attempt to bootstrap the Discv5 routing table by extracting ENRs from peers discovered through DNS. :::

Configure Peer Exchange

To enable Peer Exchange in a nwaku node, use the following configuration options:

• peer-exchange: Enables Peer Exchange on the node as a responder (disabled by default).
• peer-exchange-node (optional): Multiaddr for bootstrap node with the peer exchange protocol enabled.

./build/wakunode2 \
  --peer-exchange=true \
  --peer-exchange-node=[PEER MULTIADDR WITH EXCHANGE ENABLED]

For example, consider two nwaku nodes configured as a server (peer exchange responder node) and client (node using peer exchange) on the same local host (IP: 0.0.0.0):

./build/wakunode2 --peer-exchange=true

./build/wakunode2 \
  --tcp-port=30305 \
  --ports-shift=1 \
  --peer-exchange-node=/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/60000/p2p/16Uiu2HAmLCe6zVqCS6KMqqRbbhyoJjfYZGr1Q3thTSbyKzibQkFR

:::info nwaku provides a relay-peer-exchange option via libp2p for peer exchange, allowing network growth through neighbouring nodes. However, this feature can compromise security and network robustness, so we recommend only using it in high-trust environments. :::