In order to run a Chainlink node, it must be able to connect to an Ethereum client with an active websocket connection. This is accomplished by running either Geth, Parity, Nethermind, or using a 3rd party connection. The examples below show how to run Geth, Parity and Nethermind in their official Docker containers for each network that they support.

We would recommend to use one of the external services for your Ethereum client, since running one on your own managed machine will consume a lot of resources. If you do choose to run either Geth, Parity or Nethermind with their native clients, please be sure to enable the websockets API, since it is required for the Chainlink node to communicate with the Ethereum blockchain.

Geth

Geth's Documentation

The Geth client can be used for the Rinkeby test network, as well as the Ethereum main network.

Download the latest version:

docker pull ethereum/client-go:latest

Create a local directory to persist the data:

mkdir ~/.geth-rinkeby

mkdir ~/.geth

Run the container:

docker run --name eth -p 8546:8546 -v ~/.geth-rinkeby:/geth -it \
           ethereum/client-go --rinkeby --ws --ipcdisable \
           --ws.addr 0.0.0.0 --ws.origins="*" --datadir /geth

docker run --name eth -p 8546:8546 -v ~/.geth:/geth -it \
           ethereum/client-go --syncmode fast --ws --ipcdisable \
           --ws.addr 0.0.0.0 --ws.origins="*" --datadir /geth

Once the Ethereum client is running, you can use Ctrl + P, Ctrl + Q to detach from the container without stopping it. You will need to leave the container running for the Chainlink node to connect to it.

If the container was stopped and you need to run it again, you can simply use the following command:

docker start -i eth

Return to Running a Chainlink Node.

Parity

OpenEthereum's Documentation

The OpenEthereum client can be used for the Kovan test network, as well as the Ethereum main network.

Download the latest version:

docker pull openethereum/openethereum:stable

Create a local directory to persist the data:

mkdir ~/.openethereum-kovan

mkdir ~/.parity

Run the container:

docker run --name eth -p 8546:8546 \
           -v ~/.openethereum-kovan/:/home/openethereum/.local/share/io.parity.ethereum/ \
           -it openethereum/openethereum:latest --chain=kovan \
           --ws-interface=all --ws-origins="all" \
           --base-path /home/openethereum/.local/share/io.parity.ethereum/

docker run --name eth -p 8546:8546 \
           -v ~/.parity:/home/parity/.local/share/io.parity.ethereum/ \
           -it parity/parity:stable --ws-interface=all --ws-origins="all" \
           --base-path /home/parity/.local/share/io.parity.ethereum/

Once the Ethereum client is running, you can use Ctrl + P, Ctrl + Q to detach from the container without stopping it. You will need to leave the container running for the Chainlink node to connect to it.

If the container was stopped and you need to run it again, you can simply use the following command:

docker start -i eth

Return to Running a Chainlink Node.

Nethermind

Nethermind's Documentation

The Nethermind client can be used for Ethereum Mainnet and test networks such as Kovan, Rinkeby and Ropsten. To see a full list of supported networks, see the Nethermind supported network configurations page.

Download the latest version:

docker pull nethermind/nethermind:latest

Create a local directory to persist the data:

mkdir ~/.nethermind-kovan

mkdir ~/.nethermind

Run the container:

docker run --name eth -p 8545:8545 \
           -v ~/.nethermind-kovan/:/nethermind/data \
           -it nethermind/nethermind:latest --config kovan \
           --Init.WebSocketsEnabled true --JsonRpc.Enabled true --JsonRpc.Host 0.0.0.0 --NoCategory.CorsOrigins * \
           --datadir data

docker run --name eth -p 8545:8545 \
           -v ~/.nethermind-kovan/:/nethermind/data \
           -it nethermind/nethermind:latest --Sync.FastSync true \
           --Init.WebSocketsEnabled true --JsonRpc.Enabled true --JsonRpc.Host 0.0.0.0 --NoCategory.CorsOrigins * \
           --datadir data

After the Ethereum client is running, you can use Ctrl + P, Ctrl + Q to detach from the container without stopping it. You will need to leave the container running for the Chainlink node to connect to it.

If the container was stopped and you need to run it again, use the following command to start it:

docker start -i eth

Return to Running a Chainlink Node.

External Services

The following services offer Ethereum clients with websockets connectivity known to work with the Chainlink node.

Alchemy

Example connection setting:

ETH_URL=wss://eth-rinkeby.alchemyapi.io/v2/YOUR_PROJECT_ID

ETH_URL=wss://eth-kovan.alchemyapi.io/v2/YOUR_PROJECT_ID

ETH_URL=wss://eth-mainnet.alchemyapi.io/v2/YOUR_PROJECT_ID

Chainstack

Example connection setting:

ETH_URL=wss://user-name:pass-word-pass-word-pass-word@ws-nd-123-456-789.p2pify.com

Fiews

Example connection setting:

ETH_URL=wss://cl-rinkeby.fiews.io/v1/YOUR_API_KEY

ETH_URL=wss://cl-main.fiews.io/v1/YOUR_API_KEY

GetBlock

Example connection setting:

ETH_URL=wss://eth.getblock.io/rinkeby/?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY

ETH_URL=wss://eth.getblock.io/kovan/?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY

ETH_URL=wss://eth.getblock.io/ropsten/?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY

ETH_URL=wss://eth.getblock.io/goerli/?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY

ETH_URL=wss://eth.getblock.io/sepolia/?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY

ETH_URL=wss://eth.getblock.io/mainnet/?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY

Infura

Example connection setting. Replace YOUR_PROJECT_ID with the ID Infura provides you on your project settings page.

ETH_URL=wss://rinkeby.infura.io/ws/v3/YOUR_PROJECT_ID

ETH_URL=wss://kovan.infura.io/ws/v3/YOUR_PROJECT_ID

ETH_URL=wss://mainnet.infura.io/ws/v3/YOUR_PROJECT_ID

LinkPool

Example connection setting:

ETH_URL=wss://main-rpc.linkpool.io/ws

QuikNode

Example connection setting:

ETH_URL=wss://your-node-name.rinkeby.quiknode.pro/security-hash/

ETH_URL=wss://your-node-name.kovan.quiknode.pro/security-hash/

ETH_URL=wss://your-node-name.quiknode.pro/security-hash/

Configuring your ETH node

At a minimum, disable the default RPC gas and txfee caps on your ETH node. This can be done in the TOML file as seen below, or by running go-ethereum with the command line arguments: --rpc.gascap=0 --rpc.txfeecap=0.

To learn more about configuring ETH nodes, see the configuration page.

Additional Tools

• Chainlink ETH Failover Proxy