nodepilot makes it easy to setup and maintain a standalone blockchain node on Google Cloud Platform. This guide will help you with the steps that you need to perform for NodePilot.

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Prerequisites

  • A Google Cloud Platform Account
  • A Google Cloud Project with billing enabled
  • VPC Network with subnet in desired region where you want to deploy the node

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Create a Service Account Key

For nodepilot to be able to create and manage resources on your behalf, you must create a service account and download its key. Follow the instructions to create a service account key for your project.
  1. Select your desired GCP project and from the left hand menu go to IAM & Admin → Service Accounts Or just click on this link. GCP Open Service Accounts Page
  2. Click CREATE SERVICE ACCOUNT and fill up the details as following:
    • Service account name: scale3-nodepilot
    • Service account ID: This field should auto populate based on the name you provide.
    • Service account description: Scale3 nodepilot access to create and manage blockchain nodes.
    Click create and continue to the next step.
  3. On the next page, you have to grant permissions to the newly created service account. Assign the role Compute Instance Admin (v1) & Compute Security Admin to the service account and select it. Click continue and you don’t need to grant access so complete the process by clicking Done.
  4. Now you need to create keys. On the service account UI, search for the newly created service account my searching for scale3-nodepilot and click on the service account email.
    1. Go to keys tab and select Add key → create new key GCP Service Account Keys Tab
    2. The key type should be JSON and click create, within few seconds it should start downloading the key.

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Inputs to Scale3 nodepilot

nodepilot requires some inputs to run the setup. The following are the inputs that you need to provide:
PropertyDescriptionExampleComments
HostnameName of the serversui-mainnet-fullnodeThis will be used as the hostname of the server and visible on GCP UI
GCP Project IDThe project id of the GCP projectmynewproject-1111The same value that was used in SCALE3_GCP_PROJECT_ID
Node ZoneGCP zoneus-east1-bSpecify the GCP compute zone where you want to deploy the node. You can find the list of available zones here
VPC IDGCP vpc iddefaultSpecify the VPC ID where you want to deploy the node. You can find the list of available VPCs here
Blockchain networkBlockchain network to deploy the node formainnetSupported mainnet, testnet, devnet
GCP KeysThe service account key that you downloaded in the previous step-Upload the keys to nodepilot UI.

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Delete the Service Account

If you want to remove nodepilot access from your GCP account, you have to delete the service account that was created for nodepilot.
  1. Select your desired GCP project and from the left hand menu go to IAM & Admin → Service Accounts Or just click on this link.
  2. Search for the service account that you created for nodepilot by searching for scale3-nodepilot and click on the service account email.
  3. Click on the delete button and confirm the deletion.

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Resources Provisioned

  • Compute Engine Instance with 50 GB of balanced type boot disk
  • Compute Disk (size depends on choosen chain)
  • Two firewall rules
    • Allow SSH from nodepilot IP
    • Allow traffic to required ports from anywhere