Private network subcommands

This reference describes the syntax of the Besu private network command line interface (CLI) subcommands.

Important

This reference contains subcommands that apply to only private networks. For subcommands that apply to both private and public networks, see the public network subcommands reference.

To start a Besu node using subcommands, run:

besu [OPTIONS] [SUBCOMMAND] [SUBCOMMAND OPTIONS]

If using Bash or Z shell, you can view subcommand suggestions by pressing the Tab key twice.

besu Tab+Tab

`operator`

Provides operator actions.

`generate-blockchain-config`

Syntax
Example

besu operator generate-blockchain-config --config-file=<FILE> --to=<DIRECTORY> [--genesis-file-name=<FILE>] [--private-key-file-name=<FILE>] [--public-key-file-name=<FILE>]

besu operator generate-blockchain-config --config-file=config.json --to=myNetworkFiles

Generates an IBFT 2.0 or QBFT genesis file.

The configuration file has two nested JSON nodes. The first is the genesis property defining the IBFT 2.0 or QBFT genesis file, except for the extraData string. The second is the blockchain property defining the number of key pairs to generate.

`rlp`

Provides RLP related actions.

`decode`

Syntax
File example
Standard input/output example

besu rlp decode [--from=<FILE>] [--to=<FILE>] [--type=<TYPE>]

besu rlp decode --from=ibft_extra_data.txt --to=decoded_ibft_extra_data.txt --type=IBFT_EXTRA_DATA

cat ibft_extra_data.txt | besu rlp decode > decoded_ibft_extra_data.txt

Decodes the RLP hexadecimal string used as extraData in an IBFT 2.0 or QBFT genesis file into a validator list.

This subcommand takes the following options:

from - The file containing the RLP hexadecimal string to decode. The default is standard input.
to - The file to write the decoded validator list to. The default is standard output.
type - IBFT_EXTRA_DATA for an IBFT 2.0 extraData string, or QBFT_EXTRA_DATA for a QBFT extraData string. The default is IBFT_EXTRA_DATA.

`encode`

Syntax
File example
Standard input/output example

besu rlp encode [--from=<FILE>] [--to=<FILE>] [--type=<TYPE>]

besu rlp encode --from=ibft_extra_data.json --to=extra_data_for_ibft_genesis.txt --type=IBFT_EXTRA_DATA

cat extra_data.json | besu rlp encode > rlp.txt

Encodes a validator list into an RLP hexadecimal string to use as extraData in an IBFT 2.0 or QBFT genesis file.

This subcommand takes the following options:

from - The file containing the validator list to encode. The default is standard input.
to - The file to write the RLP-encoded hexadecimal string to. The default is standard output.
type - IBFT_EXTRA_DATA for an IBFT 2.0 extraData string, or QBFT_EXTRA_DATA for a QBFT extraData string. The default is IBFT_EXTRA_DATA.

IBFT 2.0 extra data

To generate the RLP encoded extraData string, specify a JSON input that is an array of validator addresses in ascending order.

JSON schema for IBFT_EXTRA_DATA

Use the following JSON schema to validate that your JSON data is well-formatted. To validate your JSON content, use an online validation tool, such as JSON Schema Validator.

{
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
  "$id": "http://org.hyperledger.besu/cli_rlp_ibft_extra_data.json",
  "type": "array",
  "definitions": {},
  "title": "IBFT extra data",
  "description": "JSON format used as input to generate an IBFT extra data RLP string",
  "items": {
    "$id": "#/address",
    "type": "string",
    "title": "Validator address",
    "description": "The validator node address",
    "default": "",
    "examples": [
      "be068f726a13c8d46c44be6ce9d275600e1735a4",
      "5ff6f4b66a46a2b2310a6f3a93aaddc0d9a1c193"
    ],
    "pattern": "^([0-9a-f]{40})$"
  }
}

Example IBFT_EXTRA_DATA encoding:

JSON input
RLP output

[
  "be068f726a13c8d46c44be6ce9d275600e1735a4",
  "5ff6f4b66a46a2b2310a6f3a93aaddc0d9a1c193"
]

0xf853a00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000ea94be068f726a13c8d46c44be6ce9d275600e1735a4945ff6f4b66a46a2b2310a6f3a93aaddc0d9a1c193808400000000c0

operator​

generate-blockchain-config​

rlp​

decode​

encode​

IBFT 2.0 extra data​