Nimiq DevNet Setup

A development network setup for running Nimiq validators locally for testing and development purposes.

Prerequisites

Before running the devnet, make sure you have the following installed:

• tmux: Terminal multiplexer for managing multiple validator sessions

  • macOS: brew install tmux
  • Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install tmux
  • CentOS/RHEL: sudo yum install tmux

• Nimiq Client: The setup script will automatically download the required Nimiq client binary (v1.2.1)

Network Configuration

This devnet runs validators with the following configuration:

Validator	Port	RPC Port	Database Path
Client 1	8443	8648	./tmp/.nimiq1
Client 2	8445	8649	./tmp/.nimiq2
Client 3	8446	8650	./tmp/.nimiq3
Client 4	8447	8651	./tmp/.nimiq4

Running the DevNet

You can run the devnet in two ways:

Method 1: Automated Setup with tmux (Recommended)

This method automatically starts all validators in a single tmux session:

# clear old data
./clean.sh

./setup.sh

This will:

• Create a tmux session named nimiq-validators
• Start each validator in separate tmux windows
• Automatically connect clients

To attach to the tmux session and see the validators running:

tmux attach-session -t nimiq-validators

Navigate between validators using (the tmux prefix Ctrl+b could be different if you have customized it):

• Ctrl+b + 0 - Validator 1
• Ctrl+b + 1 - Validator 2
• Ctrl+b + 2 - Validator 3
• Ctrl+b + 3 - Validator 4

To detach from the session (leave it running in background):

• Ctrl+b + d

To stop all validators and exit:

tmux kill-session -t nimiq-validators

Method 2: Manual Setup (Separate Terminals)

Run each validator manually in separate terminal windows/tabs:

./run-validator.sh 1

./run-validator.sh 2

./run-validator.sh 3

./run-validator.sh 4

Accessing the Network

Example RPC Calls

# Get current block height
curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8648 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"method":"getBlockNumber","params":[],"id":1,"jsonrpc":"2.0"}'

# Get peer count
curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8648 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"method":"getPeerCount","params":[],"id":1,"jsonrpc":"2.0"}'

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

• Port already in use: Make sure no other processes are using ports 8443-8447 and 8648-8651
• Permission errors: Ensure the scripts have execute permissions:

  chmod +x setup.sh run-validator.sh

• tmux not found: Install tmux using your system's package manager
• Validators not connecting: Make sure validator 1 is running before starting others

Logs and Debugging

• Logs are configured to debug level in all validator configurations
• Database files are stored in ./tmp/.nimiqN/ directories
• Each validator maintains its own database and key files

Stopping the Network

• tmux method: tmux kill-session -t nimiq-validators
• Manual method: Use Ctrl+C in each terminal window

Development

This devnet is configured for development and testing. All validators use:

• Development network mode (dev-albatross)
• Debug logging level
• Local loopback addresses
• Minimal peer connections for faster block times

The network starts from block 21600 with a predefined genesis state for consistent testing.