Operation

A Zilliqa node requires the following information during launch:

  • Schnorr key pair
  • IP address and listening port
  • Sync type
  • Whether to retrieve persistence from S3

Most other operational parameters are defined in the file constants.xml.

During launch, a node will assume its identity as follows:

  • New, shard, or DS node based on sync type and bootstrap conditions (e.g., DSInstructionType::SETPRIMARY)
  • DS or shard guard node if GUARD_MODE=true and public key is in ds_guard or shard_guard list in constants.xml
  • Lookup node if LOOKUP_NODE_MODE=true
  • Seed node if LOOKUP_NODE_MODE=true and ARCHIVAL_LOOKUP=true

A node will generally do the following upon startup:

  • Start the incoming and outgoing message queue managing threads
  • Populate some information (e.g., key and IP, list of guard nodes, list of initial DS committee nodes)
  • Set up the persistence (e.g., retrieve data from AWS S3)
  • Sync up according to sync type specified, and continue operation from there

Refer to the other sections for an in-depth description of the operation of the various features.