Join Testnet

Introduction

Anyone can set up a Lotus Node and connect to the Lotus Testnet. This is the best way to explore the current CLI and the Filecoin Decentralized Storage Market.

Note: Using the Lotus Node from China

If you are trying to use lotus from China. You should set this environment variable on your machine:

export IPFS_GATEWAY="https://proof-parameters.s3.cn-south-1.jdcloud-oss.com/ipfs/"

Get started

Start the daemon using the default configuration in ./build:

lotus daemon

In another terminal window, check your connection with peers:

lotus net peers | wc -l

In order to connect to the network, you need to be connected to at least 1 peer. If you’re seeing 0 peers, read our troubleshooting notes.

Make sure that you have a reasonable "open files limit" set on your machine, such as 10000. If you're seeing a lower value, such as 256 (default on macOS), read our troubleshooting notes on how to update it prior to starting the Lotus daemon.

Chain sync

While the daemon is running, the next requirement is to sync the chain. Run the command below to view the chain sync progress. To see current chain height, visit the network stats page.

lotus sync wait

This step will take anywhere between a few hours to a couple of days.
You will be able to perform Lotus Testnet operations after it is finished.

Create your first address

Initialize a new wallet:

lotus wallet new

Sometimes your operating system may limit file name length to under 150 characters. You need to use a file system that supports long filenames.

Here is an example of the response:

t1aswwvjsae63tcrniz6x5ykvsuotlgkvlulnqpsi

Visit the faucet to add funds.
Paste the address you created under REQUEST.
Press the Request button.

Check wallet address balance

Wallet balances in the Lotus Testnet are in FIL, the smallest denomination of FIL is an attoFil, where 1 attoFil = 10^-18 FIL.

lotus wallet balance <YOUR_NEW_ADDRESS>

You will not see any attoFIL in your wallet if your chain is not fully synced.

Send FIL to another wallet

To send FIL to another wallet from your default account, use this command:

lotus send <target> <amount>

Configure your node's connectivity

To effectively accept incoming storage & retrieval deals, your Lotus node needs to be accessible to other nodes on the network. To improve your connectivity, be sure to:

Monitor the dashboard

To see the latest network activity, including chain block height, block height, blocktime, total network power, largest block producer miner, check out the monitoring dashboard.

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