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

title
Run a Nwaku Node

Nwaku (formerly nim-waku) 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 wish to support based on their needs, motivations, and available resources.

This guide provides detailed steps to build, configure, and connect a nwaku node to the Waku Network. It also covers using existing tools to monitor and maintain the node.

Build the Node

Before running a Nwaku node, it is necessary to build it. Nwaku provides multiple options for building a node:

	Description	Documentation
Source Code	Build a nwaku node directly from the source code	Build Nwaku from Source
Precompiled Binary	Download a precompiled binary of the nwaku node	Download Nwaku Binary
Nightly Release	Try out the latest nwaku updates without compiling the binaries	Download Nightly Release
Docker Container	Build and run a nwaku node in a Docker Container	Build Nwaku in Docker Container
DigitalOcean Droplet	Build and run a nwaku node on a DigitalOcean Droplet	Build Nwaku on DigitalOcean Droplet

:::info Nwaku can be built and run on Linux and macOS, while Windows support is currently experimental. :::

Run the Node

Once you have built the nwaku node, run it using the default configuration:

# Run with default configuration
./build/wakunode2

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

By default, a nwaku node is configured to do the following:

• Generate a new private key and libp2p identity.
• Listen for incoming libp2p connections on the default TCP port (60000).
• Subscribe to the default Pub/Sub topic (/waku/2/default-waku/proto).
• Start the JSON-RPC HTTP server on the default port (8545).
• Enable the Relay protocol for relaying messages.
• Enable the Store protocol as a client, allowing it to query peers for historical messages but not persist any message itself.

:::info For more advanced configurations like enabling other protocols or maintaining a consistent libp2p identity, please refer to the Node Configuration Methods guide. :::

Connect the Node

To join the Waku Network, nodes must connect with peers. Nwaku provides multiple peer discovery mechanisms for locating other peers:

	Description	Documentation
Predefined Nodes	Configure the bootstrap nodes that nwaku should establish connections upon startup	Configure Predefined Nodes
DNS Discovery	Enable nwaku to locate peers to connect to using the DNS Discovery mechanism	Discover Peers Using DNS Discovery
Discv5	Enable nwaku to locate peers to connect to using the Discv5 mechanism	Discover Peers Using Discv5

:::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:

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

You will get a response similar to:

{
	"jsonrpc":"2.0",
	"id":"id",
	"result":{
		"listenAddresses":[
			"/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/60000/p2p/16Uiu2HAmLU5Nwng9dWFZwM2DgJ5QGcUuDnefJyHJiXUCVaprhgL4"
		],
		"enrUri":"enr:-IO4QDxToTg86pPCK2KvMeVCXC2ADVZWrxXSvNZeaoa0JhShbM5qed69RQz1s1mWEEqJ3aoklo_7EU9iIBcPMVeKlCQBgmlkgnY0iXNlY3AyNTZrMaEDdBHK1Gx6y_zv5DVw5Qb3DtSOMmVHTZO1WSORrF2loL2DdWRwgiMohXdha3UyAw"
	}
}

:::info The listenAddresses field stores the transport addresses for accepting connections, while the enrUri field stores the ENR URI for peer discovery. :::