Replica nodes simply validate and replicate blocks that the network has already produced. They are the most common type of full node, and running one does not require staking any sort of cryptocurrency.
On the mainnet
Starting melnode
Simply running the melnode command without any arguments starts an instance running on the mainnet. You will see output looking something like this:
$ melnode
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z INFO melnode] melnode v0.13.2 initializing...
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::args] database opened at "/home/user/.melnode/"
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z INFO melnode::storage::storage] HIGHEST AT 0
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::args] node storage opened
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z INFO melnode] bootstrapping with [185.177.126.98:41814]
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::protocols::node] starting to listen at 0.0.0.0:41814
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 1 of length 215 in 1.08ms (insert 9.54ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 2 of length 215 in 0.51ms (insert 0.26ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 3 of length 215 in 0.43ms (insert 0.21ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 4 of length 215 in 0.45ms (insert 0.22ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 5 of length 215 in 0.43ms (insert 0.24ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 6 of length 215 in 0.44ms (insert 0.23ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 7 of length 215 in 0.44ms (insert 0.24ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 8 of length 215 in 0.46ms (insert 0.18ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 9 of length 215 in 0.46ms (insert 0.15ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 10 of length 215 in 0.46ms (insert 0.16ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 11 of length 215 in 0.46ms (insert 0.16ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 12 of length 215 in 0.44ms (insert 0.25ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 13 of length 215 in 0.46ms (insert 0.20ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 14 of length 215 in 0.64ms (insert 0.25ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 15 of length 215 in 0.46ms (insert 0.22ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 16 of length 215 in 0.47ms (insert 0.13ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 17 of length 215 in 0.48ms (insert 0.13ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 18 of length 215 in 0.47ms (insert 0.23ms)
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::storage::storage] applied block 19 of length 215 in 0.48ms (insert 0.13ms)
There is an optional flag --index-coins that is recommended. Certain coin-related RPCs will be disabled if this flag is not set. Do note that the indexer will take up extra memory.
It will take quite a long time to synchronize all the blocks from the network (usually, around half a day or so).
Participating in peering
To participate in peering, you must have a publicly reachable IP address. Most home internet setups do not give you a public IPv4 address!
By default, melnode doesn't do much other than downloading blocks. The default listening port is just localhost:41814, meaning that no other computers can connect to the node.
To actually contribute to block propagation on the network, you need to expose melnode to other networks:
$ melnode --listen [::1]:41814 --advertise auto
We add two flags:
--listen [::1]:41814 listens on port 41814 on all network interfaces
--advertise auto automatically guesses our public IP address for incoming connections on the P2P network
If this works, you should soon see output like:
[2022-12-12T16:40:48Z DEBUG melnode::network] incoming connection from 100.64.3.2!
indicating that you are helping other nodes connect to the network.
On the testnet
Basic functionality
Replicating testnet blocks is as easy as adding --network testnet to any command:
$ melnode --network testnet
Faucets and staking
A distinct feature of the testnet is that faucets can be used to generate "free money", which can then be used to test staking and consensus.
A detailed guide to testnet staking can be found here.