4.8 KiB
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some FAQs concerning the Lotus implementation and participation in Testnet. For questions concerning the broader Filecoin project, please go here.
Introduction to Lotus
What is Lotus?
Lotus is an implementation of the Filecoin Distributed Storage Network, written in Go. It is designed to be modular and interoperable with any other implementation of the Filecoin Protocol. More information about Lotus can be found here.
What are the components of Lotus?
Lotus is composed of two separate pieces that can talk to each other:
The Lotus Node can sync the blockchain, validating all blocks, transfers, and deals along the way. It can also facilitate the creation of new storage deals. If you are not interested in providing your own storage to the network, and do not want to produce blocks yourself, then the Lotus Node is all you need!
The Lotus Miner does everything you need for the registration of storage, and the production of new blocks. The Lotus Miner communicates with the network by talking to a Lotus Node over the JSON-RPC API.
Setting up a Lotus Node
How do I set up a Lotus Node?
Follow the instructions found here.
Where can I get the latest version of Lotus?
Download the binary tagged as the Latest Release from the
Lotus Github repo.
What operating systems can Lotus run on?
Lotus can build and run on most Linux and MacOS systems with at least 8GB of RAM. Windows is not yet supported.
How can I update to the latest version of Lotus?
To update Lotus, follow the instructions here.
How do I prepare a fresh installation of Lotus?
Stop the Lotus daemon, and delete all related files, including sealed and chain data by
running rm ~/.lotus ~/.lotusminer.
Then, install Lotus afresh by following the instructions found here.
Interacting with a Lotus Node
How can I communicate with a Lotus Node?
Lotus Nodes have a command-line interface, as well as a JSON-RPC API.
What are the commands I can send using the command-line interface?
The command-line interface is self-documenting, try running lotus --help from the lotus home
directory for more.
How can I send a request over the JSON-RPC API?
Information on how to send a cURL request to the JSON-RPC API can be found
here. A JavaScript client is under development.
What are the requests I can send over the JSON-RPC API?
Please have a look at the source code for a list of methods supported by the JSON-RPC API.
The Test Network
What is Testnet?
Testnet is a live network of Lotus Nodes run by the community for testing purposes. It has 2 PiB of storage (and growing!) dedicated to it.
Is FIL on the Testnet worth anything?
Nothing at all! Real-world incentives may be provided in a future phase of Testnet, but this is yet to be confirmed.
How can I see the status of Testnet?
The dashboard displays the status of the network as well as a ton of other metrics you might find interesting.
Mining with a Lotus Node on Testnet
How do I get started mining with Lotus?
Follow the instructions found here.
What are the minimum hardware requirements?
An example test configuration, and minimum hardware requirements can be found here.
Note that these might NOT be the minimum requirements for mining on Mainnet.
What are some GPUs that have been tested?
A list of benchmarked GPUs can be found here.
Why is my GPU not being used when sealing a sector?
Sealing a sector does not involve constant GPU operations. It's possible that your GPU simply isn't necessary at the moment you checked.
Advanced questions
Is there a Docker image for lotus?
Community-contributed Docker and Docker Compose examples are available here.
How can I run two miners on the same machine?
You can do so by changing the storage path variable for the second miner, e.g.,
LOTUS_MINER_PATH=~/.lotusminer2. You will also need to make sure that no ports collide.
How do I setup my own local devnet?
Follow the instructions found here.
Are there any other implementations of Filecoin?
Yes! Check out the go-filecoin implementation, which is fully interoperable with Lotus!