Basic node management

Start and stop your node, test whether your blockchain is downloaded. Backup your keys and chain data. Create an account, check your AXL balance, get AXL tokens from the faucet.

You may wish to redirect log output to a file (your command will be launched in background):

Terminal window
$AXELARD_HOME/bin/axelard start --home $AXELARD_HOME >> $AXELARD_HOME/logs/axelard.log 2>&1 &

View your logs in real time:

Terminal window
tail -f $AXELARD_HOME/logs/axelard.log

Eventually your Axelar node will download the entire Axelar blockchain and exit catching_up mode. At that time your logs will show a new block added to the blockchain every 5 seconds.

You can test whether your Axelar node has exited catching_up mode:

Terminal window
$AXELARD_HOME/bin/axelard status

Look for the field catching_up:

  • true: you are still downloading the blockchain.
  • false: you have finished downloading the blockchain.

Stop your currently running Axelar node:

Terminal window
pkill -f "axelard start"
Terminal window
ps aux | grep "axelard start"

No process should be running.

Each time you start your Axelar node axelard will look for the following files in $AXELARD_HOME/config:

  • node_key.json : The p2p identity of your node. Back this up if this is a seed node.
  • priv_validator_key.json : Validator’s Tendermint consensus key. Back this up if this is a validator node.

These files will be created if they do not already exist. You can restore them from a backup simply by placing them in $AXELARD_HOME/config before starting your node.

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Caution: Your node must be stopped in order to properly backup chain data.

Backup your entire node’s state simply by copying the $AXELARD_HOME directory:

Terminal window
cp -r $AXELARD_HOME ${AXELARD_HOME}_backup.$(date +"%Y%m%d_%H%M%S")
Terminal window
$AXELARD_HOME/bin/axelard keys add my_account --home $AXELARD_HOME

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Caution: The above command will print a mnemonic to stdout. This mnemonic allows you to recover the secret key for your new account. Be sure to store a backup of the mnemonic in a safe place.

The public address of your account my_account was printed to stdout when you created it. You can display the address at any time:

Terminal window
$AXELARD_HOME/bin/axelard keys show validator -a --home $AXELARD_HOME

Let {MY_ADDRESS} denote the address of your my_account account.

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Tip: Your balance will appear only after you have downloaded the blockchain and exited catching_up mode.

Terminal window
$AXELARD_HOME/bin/axelard q bank balances {MY_ADDRESS}

If this is a new account then you should see no token balances.

Testnets: Go to the Axelar testnet faucet and send some free AXL testnet tokens to {MY_ADDRESS}:

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