DiscordGithub

Setting up your Local Development Environment for XION

A properly configured local development environment is essential for building and testing smart contracts on XION. This guide covers the necessary tools, dependencies, and configurations needed to get started.

The following tools will be installed:

  • Rust & Cargo – The programming language and package manager used for writing and compiling smart contracts.

  • cargo-generate – A tool for quickly setting up new Rust projects from templates.

  • Go – Required for interacting with blockchain tooling and dependencies.

  • Docker – Used for optimizing Rust smart contracts via the Rust Optimizer.

  • xiond – The XION blockchain daemon for running a local node, deploying smart contracts, and interacting with the blockchain.

Each section provides step-by-step installation instructions for macOS, Debian-based Linux, Red Hat-based Linux and Arch Linux.

Once these dependencies are installed, you will have everything needed to start developing on XION.

Prerequisites

  • A Unix-like operating system (Linux, macOS, or Windows Subsystem for Linux). If you're using Windows, refer to this guide for installing Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Rust

Rust is the programming language for developing smart contracts on XION. Known for its performance, security, and memory safety, Rust is well-suited for blockchain development. To build, test, and deploy smart contracts, developers need a properly configured Rust toolchain.

The recommended way to install Rust is through rustup, the official Rust toolchain installer.

Install Rust using Homebrew:

brew install rustup

rustup-init

Follow the on-screen instructions, then restart your terminal or run:

source $HOME/.cargo/env

Verifying Installation

After installation, verify Rust is correctly installed:

rustc --version

You should see output similar to the following::

rustc 1.82.0-nightly (c1a6199e9 2024-07-24)

Cargo

Cargo is Rust's package manager and build system, essential for compiling and managing dependencies in XION smart contract development. When installing Rust using rustup which we did earlier, Cargo is automatically included. However, if Cargo is missing or needs to be installed separately, follow the steps below.

Check if Cargo is Installed

Run the following command to check if Cargo is already installed:

cargo --version

If Cargo is installed, you should see an output similar to:

cargo 1.82.0-nightly (5f6b9a922 2024-07-19)

If Cargo is missing, follow the installation steps below.

If Rust is installed via rustup, install Cargo with:

rustup component add cargo

Cargo Generate

cargo-generate is a Rust tool that simplifies the creation of new Rust projects from pre-existing templates. It is particularly useful for setting up smart contract projects on XION by automating the scaffolding process.

Execute the following command to install cargo-generate:

cargo install cargo-generate

Verifying Installation

After installation, confirm that cargo-generate is working correctly:

cargo generate --version

If cargo-generate is installed, you should see an output similar to:

cargo generate-generate 0.17.3

Go

Go is required for certain blockchain development tasks, including working with XION’s tooling and dependencies for example xiond. Follow the installation steps below for your operating system:

brew install go

Alternatively, download and install Go manually from the official website.

Verifying Installation

After installation, verify that Go is correctly installed:

go version

If go is installed, you should see an output similar to:

go version go1.22.3 darwin/arm64

To ensure Go modules work correctly, set up the Go environment:

echo 'export GOPATH=$HOME/go' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:$GOPATH/bin' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

If you are using a different shell, replace ~/.bashrc with the corresponding configuration file for your shell. For example, if you're using Zsh, replace ~/.bashrc with ~/.zshrc.

After setting up your environment, restart your terminal to apply the changes.

Docker

Docker is required for optimizing Rust smart contracts using the Rust Optimizer, which ensures that contracts are compiled efficiently for deployment on XION. It can also be used to run xiond. You can install Docker for your operating system here.

For Linux users, it's recommended to run the Docker daemon in Rootless Mode.

xiond

xiond is the core command-line tool for running and interacting with the XION blockchain. It serves as the blockchain daemon, enabling developers and node operators to manage network operations, deploy smart contracts, and interact with the XION ecosystem.

To install xiond, you can either download a pre-built binary, build it from source or utilize a docker build. Ensure that you use the release corresponding to the version of xiond being used on the network where you will be interacting with.

Use Pre-built Binary

You will need to download the appropriate binary for your system architecture:

Download the binary using

wget https://github.com/burnt-labs/xion/releases/download/v1.0.0/xiond_linux_amd64

Verify the Integrity of the Binary

Generate the SHA256 hash of the downloaded file:

sha256sum xiond_linux_amd64

The sha256sum command should generate a hash string (e.g., d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e).

Download the official checksum file:

wget https://github.com/burnt-labs/xion/releases/download/v1.0.0/xiond_v1.0.0_checksums.txt

Compare the two hash strings to ensure they match. This confirms that the downloaded file is authentic and unaltered.

Add Executable Permissions

Make the binary executable:

chmod +x xiond_linux_amd64

Move the Binary to a System Directory

Move the binary to a directory in your PATH (e.g., /usr/local/bin) and rename it to xiond:

sudo mv xiond_linux_amd64 /usr/local/bin/xiond

After this, xiond should be available for use.

Run xiond with Docker

Instead of installing xiond manually, you can run it using Docker.

Download the Image from Docker Hub

We publish Docker images to Docker Hub on every commit to the main branch. The images are tagged with their respective Git SHA.

docker pull burntnetwork/xion:latest

For the latest available tags, check out the Docker Hub page for this image.

Obtain a Shell in the Docker Container

Once the image is pulled, you can invoke the xiond binary inside a Docker container:

docker run -ti burntnetwork/xion:latest /bin/bash

From within the container, you can interact with xiond:

xiond version
xiond version --long
xiond --help

Using Docker ensures a clean and isolated environment for running xiond, eliminating the need for manual installation and dependency management.

Build from Source

If downloading the pre-built binary is not an option, you can install xiond from source. Ensure that Go, Git, and Make are installed.

Clone the Repository and Build xiond

git clone https://github.com/burnt-labs/xion.git
cd xion
git checkout main
make install

This will install the xiond binary to your GOPATH.

Verify Installation

Check that xiond is properly installed:

xiond version

If successful, xiond is now ready for use.

Last updated

Was this helpful?