Parity Node using Kovan and Ropsten Test Networks

Setup Parity Client (macOS)

• Download Parity Installer for Mac from https://github.com/paritytech/parity/releases

• Validate Checksum of download prior to running it: shasum -a 256 parity-1.8.4-macos-installer.pkg

• Add Parity command to PATH:

echo 'export PATH=/Applications/Parity\ Ethereum.app/Contents/MacOS:$PATH' >> ~/.bash_profile && source ~/.bash_profile

Setup Ropsten Test Network (PoW)

• Create ropsten-config.toml

• Add Ropsten peers to ropstenpeers.txt (to allow connection to peers for syncing) - https://github.com/ethereum/ropsten

echo -e "enode://20c9ad97c081d63397d7b685a412227a40e23c8bdc6688c6f37e97cfbc22d2b4d1db1510d8f61e6a8866ad7f0e17c02b14182d37ea7c3c8b9c2683aeb6b733a1@52.169.14.227:30303\nenode://6ce05930c72abc632c58e2e4324f7c7ea478cec0ed4fa2528982cf34483094e9cbc9216e7aa349691242576d552a2a56aaeae426c5303ded677ce455ba1acd9d@13.84.180.240:30303" >> ropstenpeers.txt

• Create a signer account for use by the Miner in the Ropsten Network. Entered and confirmed a fake password when prompted. It returns the account address (i.e. 0x56183a35c057f32dc71307dec8b8c60da055eae2) and creates a key in testnet/keys/ropsten

parity account new --chain ropsten --keys-path "/Users/Ls/Library/Application Support/io.parity.ethereum/testnet/keys" --db-path "Users/Ls/Library/Application Support/io.parity.ethereum/testnet/chains"

• Replace relevant addresses for Operation Options and Miner Options in kovan-config.toml with the account address that was generated

• Remove engine_signer = "0x56183a35c057f32dc71307dec8b8c60da055eae2" since cannot set engine signer on a PoW chain

• Run the Parity Node with the custom configuration that uses the Ropsten Network

  • UI version
    • Add to WebSocket config origins = ["http://127.0.0.1:8180"]

parity ui --config ./kovan-config.toml -lrpc=trace

• CLI version

parity --config ./ropsten-config.toml -lrpc=trace

• Note: It will start synchronising with the Ropsten Network having ~2.3k blocks, where each 100k blocks use up about 0.8Gb of hard drive space in:

  • /Users/Ls/Library/Application Support/io.parity.ethereum/testnet/chains/test/db

  • Check if client is on revived chain by comparing to the block numbers at:

    • http://pool.ropsten.ethereum.org
    • http://ropsten.etherscan.io

• - TODO - Setup EthMiner

  • https://medium.com/@joshua_e_k/setting-up-ethereum-smart-contract-development-using-parity-on-ubuntu-abca4da3dce2

• Note: --ui-no-validation is a development option that should never be used. Instead modify the list of permitted origins for WebSockets. Reference: openethereum/parity-ethereum#7393 (comment)

Setup Kovan Test Network (PoA)

• Create kovan-config.toml

• Create a signer account for use by the Miner in the Kovan Network. Entered and confirmed a fake password when prompted. It returns the account address (i.e. 0x983696f4594180ab677e76835834f871b21fe5b2) and creates a key in testnet/keys/kovan

parity account new --chain kovan --keys-path "/Users/Ls/Library/Application Support/io.parity.ethereum/testnet/keys" --db-path "Users/Ls/Library/Application Support/io.parity.ethereum/testnet/chains"

• Note: Running the above avoids error:

Consensus signer account not found for the current chain. You can create an account via RPC, UI or `parity account new --chain kovan --keys-path /Users/Ls/Library/Application Support/io.parity.ethereum/testnet/keys`.

• Replace relevant addresses for Operation Options and Miner Options in kovan-config.toml with the account address that was generated and ensure that use /Users/Ls instead of $HOME for the path value. See openethereum/parity-ethereum#7392

• Create Log file and Passwords file for Kovan Testnet

mkdir -p "$HOME/Library/Application Support/io.parity.ethereum/testnet/log/";
touch "$HOME/Library/Application Support/io.parity.ethereum/testnet/log/parity.log";

mkdir -p "$HOME/Library/Application Support/io.parity.ethereum/testnet/passwords";
touch "$HOME/Library/Application Support/io.parity.ethereum/testnet/passwords/node.pwds";
echo 'test123456' >> "$HOME/Library/Application Support/io.parity.ethereum/testnet/passwords/node.pwds";

• Run the Parity Node with the custom configuration that uses the Kovan Network

  • UI version.
    • Change UI Options to force = true
    • Add to WebSocket config origins = ["http://127.0.0.1:8180"]

parity ui --config ./kovan-config.toml

• UI version without no validation flag (NOT WORKING). See openethereum/parity-ethereum#7393

parity ui --config ./kovan-config.toml -lrpc=trace

• It prompts you with the following:

  Unable to make a connection to the Parity Secure API. To update your secure token or to generate a new one, run parity signer new-token and paste the generated token into the space below. Ensure that both the Parity node and this machine connecting have computer clocks in-sync with each other and with a timestamp server, ensuring both successful token validation and block operations.

• Generate a Token from your computer and paste the output into the browser

parity signer new-token --config /Users/Ls/code/blockchain/parity-docker/kovan-config.toml --db-path "Users/Ls/Library/Application Support/io.parity.ethereum/testnet/chains"

• NOTE: This does not work, it just shows warnings that indicate the an invalid token was provided.

• CLI version

parity --config ./kovan-config.toml -lrpc=trace

• - TODO - Setp Proof of Authority Chains with Validator engines

  • https://github.com/paritytech/parity/wiki/Proof-of-Authority-Chains
  • https://github.com/paritytech/parity/wiki/Pluggable-Consensus#validator-engines

• Acquire Kovan Ether https://github.com/kovan-testnet/config

• Kill Kovan Network Blockchain Database parity --chain kovan db kill

References:

• Parity Basic Usage - https://github.com/paritytech/parity/wiki/Basic-Usage

• Parity Configuration - https://github.com/paritytech/parity/wiki/Configuring-Parity

• Parity Testnet CLI Example - openethereum/parity-ethereum#4618

• Parity Setting up two nodes witn PoA - https://github.com/paritytech/parity/wiki/Demo-PoA-tutorial

• Parity Node TOML Config File Generator - https://paritytech.github.io/parity-config-generator/

• Common

  • Etherscan TestNets - https://testnet.etherscan.io/

• Kovan -

  • https://github.com/kovan-testnet/proposal
  • Kovan TestNet Config - https://github.com/kovan-testnet/config
  • https://kovan.etherscan.io/

• Ropsten - https://ropsten.etherscan.io/

• Rinkeby

  • Rinkeby Testnet - http://rinkeby.io
    • Crypto Faucey - Obtain Test Ether
  • https://rinkeby.etherscan.io/