Create a Solana blockchain node

Preview

This product or feature is subject to the "Pre-GA Offerings Terms" in the General Service Terms section of the Service Specific Terms. Pre-GA products and features are available "as is" and might have limited support. For more information, see the launch stage descriptions.

This feature is available to a limited customer set. Contact Cloud Customer Care for access.

This page describes how to create a Solana blockchain node in Blockchain Node Engine using the console or an API call.

Note: It takes about 30 minutes to create a blockchain node. You can check the status of the blockchain node as described in View node details. This does NOT include sync time.

Using the console

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Blockchain Node Engine page.

Go to Blockchain Node Engine

The Nodes list page is displayed by default. If no blockchain nodes have been created, you are prompted to create one.

To create a blockchain node:

1. Click Create. The Create a blockchain node wizard opens.

   

2. Configure node info::

   1. Name of blockchain node: Type a name for the node. Use lowercase letters (a-z), numbers, and hyphens. For example, my-node.
   2. Blockchain type: Select the name of the blockchain. For example, SOLANA.
   3. Click Continue.

3. Configure blockchain info: Configure blockchain-specific information. For example, to configure a Solana blockchain node, select the following options. This information cannot be changed later:

   1. Network: The name of the network. For example MAINNET.
   2. Node type: The type of the blockchain node. For example, NON-VOTING RPC.
   3. Block Producer/Validation client: The name of the block producer/validation pair. For example, SOLANA LABS. See Supported configurations for supported combinations.
   4. Click Continue.

4. Configure network info:

   1. Select the geographical location in which to host your resources. For example, us-central1. This information cannot be changed later. See Supported locations.
   2. Configure Endpoints: Creates publicly accessible endpoints by default. Review Private Service Connect for more information about using private endpoints.
   3. Click Continue.

5. Add labels:

   1. Type a key-value pair. Click Add item to add more key-value pairs.
   2. Click Continue.

6. Click Create. The node is created and the Nodes list is displayed. The Status indicates Creating until the blockchain node is ready to use, and then the status changes to Running.

Using an API

To create a blockchain node using an API, send a POST request to the API with the blockchain node specification. An example using the curl command to send a request to the API follows:

curl -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "blockchainType": "BLOCKCHAIN_TYPE",
    "privateServiceConnectEnabled" : false,
    "solanaDetails": {
      "client": "CLIENT",
      "network": "NETWORK",
      "nodeType": "NODE_TYPE"
    },
    "labels": {
      "LABEL_KEY": "LABEL_VALUE"
    }
  }' \
https://blockchainnodeengine.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/\
locations/LOCATION/blockchainNodes?blockchain_node_id=NODE_NAME

You must replace the variables in the earlier example with actual values as follows:

• BLOCKCHAIN_TYPE: The name of the blockchain. For example, SOLANA.
• privateServiceConnectEnabled: Optional and disabled by default. Set to true to enable Private Service Connect.
• CLIENT: The name of the validation client. For example, SOLANALABS. See Supported configurations for supported combinations.
• NETWORK: The name of the network. For example, MAINNET.
• NODE_TYPE: The type of the blockchain node. For example, NON_VOTING_RPC.
• PROJECT_ID: Your Google Cloud project ID. For example, my-project-id.
• LOCATION: The location in which to host your resources. This information cannot be changed later. For example, us-central1. See Supported locations.
• NODE_NAME: A name you specify for your node. Use lowercase letters (a-z), numbers, and hyphens. For example, my-node.

• labels: A key-value pair. In the previous example, the key is LABEL_KEY, for example my-label-key and the value is LABEL_VALUE, for example my-label-value.

  Note: Uppercase letters are not allowed for label names.

Here is a sample response to the previous command:

{
  "name": "projects/my-project-id/locations/europe-west1/operations/operation-1698297433733-60897af42b8f9-bb4b6529-9268a235",
  "metadata": {
    "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.cloud.blockchainnodeengine.v1.OperationMetadata",
    "createTime": "2023-10-26T05:17:13.843818295Z",
    "target": "projects/my-project-id/locations/europe-west1/blockchainNodes/my-solana-node",
    "verb": "create",
    "requestedCancellation": false,
    "apiVersion": "v1"
  },
  "done": false
}

Note that the OPERATION_ID is returned in the previous example:

operation-1698297433733-60897af42b8f9-bb4b6529-9268a235

You can use this value to get the status of the blockchain node creation.

Supported configurations

Blockchain Node Engine supports a variety of configurations. You can create nodes with any of the following combinations:

nodeType	network	client
NON_VOTING_RPC	MAINNET	SOLANALABS
NON_VOTING_RPC	TESTNET	SOLANALABS
NON_VOTING_RPC	DEVNET	SOLANALABS