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Overview

Welcome to the first installment of the Help secure Starknet guide! 🛡️ By operating your own full node, you become part of the distributed network that validates transactions, preserves blockchain history, and ensures Starknet remains decentralized and censorship-resistant. This guide will walk you through running your own full node using either Juno or Pathfinder.

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Prerequisites

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Installing docker

The easiest option to run a Starknet full node is using Docker. To install Docker, simply visit docs.docker.com/get-started/get-docker and choose whatever OS you’re using.

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Exporting an Ethereum URL

Running a Starknet full node requires an Ethereum websocket RPC URL. You can get your free Ethereum websocket RPC URL by creating an account with Alchemy, Infura, or Quicknode. Afterwhich, you can export it by running: 
export ETHEREUM_URL=<YOUR_URL>

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Running Juno

You can run a Juno node using several methods:
You can use a snapshot to quickly synchronise your node with the network. Check out the Database Snapshots guide to get started.

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Docker container

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1. Get the Docker image

Juno Docker images can be found at the nethermind/juno repository on Docker Hub. Download the latest image: 
docker pull nethermind/juno
You can also build the image locally: 
# Clone the Juno repository
git clone https://github.com/NethermindEth/juno
cd juno

# Build the Docker image
docker build -t nethermind/juno:latest .

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2. Run the Docker container

# Prepare the snapshots directory
mkdir -p $HOME/snapshots

# Run the container
docker run -d \
  --name juno \
  -p 6060:6060 \
  -v $HOME/snapshots/juno_mainnet:/snapshots/juno_mainnet \
  nethermind/juno \
  --http \
  --http-port 6060 \
  --http-host 0.0.0.0 \
  --eth-node <YOUR-ETH-NODE> \
  --db-path /snapshots/juno_mainnet
You can view logs from the Docker container using the following command: 
docker logs -f juno

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Standalone binary

Download standalone binaries from Juno’s GitHub Releases as ZIP archives for Linux (amd64 and arm64) and macOS (amd64). For macOS (arm64) or Windows users, consider running Juno using Docker. 
# Prepare the snapshots directory
mkdir -p $HOME/snapshots

# Run the binary
./juno \
  --http \
  --http-port 6060 \
  --http-host 0.0.0.0 \
  --eth-node <YOUR-ETH-NODE> \
  --db-path $HOME/snapshots/juno_mainnet
You should replace <YOUR-ETH-NODE> with your actual Ethereum node address. If you’re using Infura, your Ethereum node address might look something like: wss://mainnet.infura.io/ws/v3/your-infura-project-id. Make sure you are using the WebSockets URL ws/wss and not the http URL http/https. To view logs from the Docker container, use the following command: 
docker logs -f juno

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Building from source

You can build the Juno binary or Docker image from the source code to access the latest updates or specific versions.

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Prerequisites

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    1. Clone the repository

    Clone Juno’s source code from our GitHub repository: 
    git clone https://github.com/NethermindEth/juno
cd juno
    You can use git tag -l to view specific version tags.

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    2. Build the binary or Docker image

    # Install juno dependencies
make install-deps

# Build the binary
make juno

# Build the Docker image
docker build -t nethermind/juno:latest .

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    3. Run the binary

    Locate the standalone binary in the ./build/ directory: 
    # Prepare the snapshots directory
mkdir -p $HOME/snapshots

# Run the binary
./build/juno \
  --http \
  --http-port 6060 \
  --http-host 0.0.0.0 \
  --db-path $HOME/snapshots/juno_mainnet \
  --eth-node <YOUR-ETH-NODE>

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    Running Pathfinder

    Running a full node involves using your local machine’s storage to maintain a full database of the blockchain, all the way from the genesis block. Database snapshots let you quickly start your node without having to download all blocks from the very beginning, and instead use a pre-made version of the database that’s already in sync up to a certain block.

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    Downloading a snapshot

    To download Pathfinder’s snapshot, you first need to download the rclone file manager by running: 
    sudo -v ; curl https://rclone.org/install.sh | sudo bash
    This installation script can be used to install rclone on Linux/macOS/BSD systems. For other installation methods, see rclone.org/install.
    Once rclone is downloaded, create a new rclone configuration file: 
    touch $HOME/.config/rclone/rclone.conf
    and add the following content: 
    [pathfinder-snapshots]
type = s3
provider = Cloudflare
env_auth = false
access_key_id = 7635ce5752c94f802d97a28186e0c96d
secret_access_key = 529f8db483aae4df4e2a781b9db0c8a3a7c75c82ff70787ba2620310791c7821
endpoint = https://cbf011119e7864a873158d83f3304e27.r2.cloudflarestorage.com
acl = private
    Next, create a new $HOME/pathfinder directory, navigate into it, and use rclone to copy Pathfinder’s latest database snapshot to your local directory by running: 
    mkdir $HOME/pathfinder
cd $HOME/pathfinder
rclone copy -P pathfinder-snapshots:pathfinder-snapshots/<FILENAME> snapshot.sqlite.zst
    Once the database snapshot is downloaded, compare the file’s checksum value with the one shown at rpc.pathfinder.equilibrium.co/snapshots/latest by running: 
    sha256sum snapshot.sqlite.zst
    If the checksum values match, extract the downloaded database snapshot by running: 
    zstd -T0 -d snapshot.sqlite.zst -o snapshot.sqlite

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    Using the snapshot

    Now that the database snapshot is extracted, you can start your node by running: 
    docker run \
  --name pathfinder \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  --detach \
  -p 9545:9545 \
  --user "$(id -u):$(id -g)" \
  -e RUST_LOG=info \
  -e PATHFINDER_ETHEREUM_API_URL=$ETHEREUM_URL \
  -v $HOME/pathfinder:/usr/share/pathfinder/data \
  eqlabs/pathfinder
    Once the docker container is up and running, you can check the docker image’s logs by running: 
    docker logs -f pathfinder
    If successful, the result should resemble the following: 
    2025-05-12T18:29:45  INFO Downloading block 766533
2025-05-12T18:30:36  INFO Updated Starknet state with block 766534
2025-05-12T18:31:07  INFO Updated Starknet state with block 766535
2025-05-12T18:31:35  INFO Updated Starknet state with block 766536
2025-05-12T18:32:12  INFO Downloading block 766537
    To stop the node’s execution, run:
    docker stop pathfinder