Set Up Hiero Node Using NPM CLI Tool
In this tutorial, we will adopt, set up, and run a Hiero node locally using the @hashgraph/hedera-local NPM Command Line Interface (CLI) tool with docker compose.
This tutorial is based on the Hiero Local Node README documentation.
Prerequisites
To get started with this tutorial, ensure that you have the following software installed:
Node.js >= v14.x (Check version:
node -v)NPM >= v6.14.17 (Check version:
npm -v)Docker >= v20.10.x (Check version:
docker -v)Docker Compose >= v2.12.3 (Check version:
docker compose version)Hardware: Minimum 16GB RAM
Installation
Node.js and NPM: Refer to the official installation guide.
Docker: See Docker Setup Guide to get Docker up and running (note: specific instructions may vary based on the OS).
Getting Started
Clone the GitHub repo and navigate to the project folder using the commands below;
Install CLI Tool
The command below can be used to install the official release from the NPM repository.
Note
This version may not reflect the most recent changes to the main branch of this repository. It also uses a baked-in version of the Docker Compose definitions and will not reflect any local changes made to the repository.
Local development Installation
Install the dependencies locally.
Running the Node:
Start the local node (Note: Ensure Docker is running):
You can pass the following CLI flags, this would be used later in the following sections:
Other NPM commands:
npm run restartto restart the networknpm run stopto stop the networknpm run generate-accountsto generate new accounts - network must be running first
You should see the following response in the terminal:
To generate default accounts and start the local node in detached mode, use the command below:
You should see the following response in the terminal:
Verify Running Node
There are different ways to verify that a node is running;
Check Block Number using Hashscan Block Explorer
Send
cURLrequest togetBlockNumber
Check Block Number using Hashscan Block Explorer
Visit the local mirror node explorer endpoint (http://localhost:8080/devnet/dashboard) in your web browser. Ensure that LOCALNET is selected, as this will show you the Hedera network running within your local network.
Select any of the listed blocks to view the details (Consensus, Block, Transaction Hash, etc) for a particular block.
Send cURL request to getBlockNumber
Let's verify that we are able to interact with Hedera Testnet using JSON-RPC by issuing an eth_getBlockByNumber JSON-RPC request.
Enter the curl command below:
You should get the following response:
Troubleshooting
Find below some common errors and how to troubleshoot them:
Error: Node cannot start properly because necessary ports are in use!
Fix
Option 1: Instead of starting another instance of the network, use the
npm run generate-accountsto generate new accounts for an already started network.Option 2: If you get the above error, ensure that you terminate any existing Docker processes for the local node, as well as any other processes that are bound to these port numbers, before running the npm start command. You can run
docker compose down -v,git clean -xfd,git reset --hardto fix this.
Useful Terms
For an in-depth explanation of the different terms below, see the glossary documentation.
Accounts list (ED25519 keys)
Private keys
Public address
Next Steps
Want to learn how to deploy smart contracts on Hedera? Visit the guide on how to Deploy a Smart Contract Using Hardhat and Hedera JSON-RPC Relay.
Summary
In this tutorial, we successfully set up and ran the Hedera local node using the NPM CLI tool, generated default accounts, and solved common errors encountered when running the local node.
Useful Resources
Set and Run a Hiero Node using the Local Hedera Package.
Use local network variables to interact with Consensus and Mirror Nodes
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