Zebra with Docker

The easiest way to run Zebra is using Docker.

We've embraced Docker in Zebra for most of the solution lifecycle, from development environments to CI (in our pipelines), and deployment to end users.

You're able to specify various parameters when building or launching the Docker image, which are meant to be used by developers and CI pipelines. For example, specifying the Network where Zebra will run (Mainnet, Testnet, etc), or enabling features like metrics with Prometheus.

For example, if we'd like to enable metrics on the image, we'd build it using the following build-arg:

[!WARNING] To fully use and display the metrics, you'll need to run a Prometheus and Grafana server, and configure it to scrape and visualize the metrics endpoint. This is explained in more detailed in the Metrics section of the User Guide.

docker build -f ./docker/Dockerfile --target runtime --build-arg FEATURES='default-release-binaries prometheus' --tag local/zebra.mining:latest .

To increase the log output we can optionally add these build-args:

--build-arg RUST_BACKTRACE=full --build-arg RUST_LOG=debug --build-arg COLORBT_SHOW_HIDDEN=1

And after our image has been built, we can run it on Mainnet with the following command, which will expose the metrics endpoint on port 9999 and force the logs to be colored:

docker run --env LOG_COLOR="true" -p 9999:9999 local/zebra.mining

Based on our actual runtime-entrypoint.sh script, the following configuration file will be generated (on the fly, at startup) and used by Zebra:

[network]
network = "Mainnet"
listen_addr = "0.0.0.0"
[state]
cache_dir = "/var/cache/zebrad-cache"
[metrics]
endpoint_addr = "127.0.0.1:9999"

Build time arguments

Configuration

FEATURES: Specifies the features to build zebrad with. Example: "default-release-binaries getblocktemplate-rpcs"

Logging

RUST_LOG: Sets the trace log level. Example: "debug"
RUST_BACKTRACE: Enables or disables backtraces. Example: "full"
RUST_LIB_BACKTRACE: Enables or disables library backtraces. Example: 1
COLORBT_SHOW_HIDDEN: Enables or disables showing hidden backtraces. Example: 1

Tests

TEST_FEATURES: Specifies the features for tests. Example: "lightwalletd-grpc-tests zebra-checkpoints"
ZEBRA_SKIP_IPV6_TESTS: Skips IPv6 tests. Example: 1
ENTRYPOINT_FEATURES: Overrides the specific features used to run tests in runtime-entrypoint.sh. Example: "default-release-binaries lightwalletd-grpc-tests"

CI/CD

SHORT_SHA: Represents the short SHA of the commit. Example: "a1b2c3d"

Run time variables

Network

NETWORK: Specifies the network type. Example: "Mainnet"

Zebra Configuration

ZEBRA_CHECKPOINT_SYNC: Enables or disables checkpoint sync. Example: true
ZEBRA_LISTEN_ADDR: Address for Zebra to listen on. Example: "0.0.0.0"
ZEBRA_CACHED_STATE_DIR: Directory for cached state. Example: "/var/cache/zebrad-cache"

Mining Configuration

RPC_LISTEN_ADDR: Address for RPC to listen on. Example: "0.0.0.0"
RPC_PORT: Port for RPC. Example: 8232
MINER_ADDRESS: Address for the miner. Example: "t1XhG6pT9xRqRQn3BHP7heUou1RuYrbcrCc"

Other Configuration

METRICS_ENDPOINT_ADDR: Address for metrics endpoint. Example: "0.0.0.0"
METRICS_ENDPOINT_PORT: Port for metrics endpoint. Example: 9999
LOG_FILE: Path to the log file. Example: "/path/to/log/file.log"
LOG_COLOR: Enables or disables log color. Example: false
TRACING_ENDPOINT_ADDR: Address for tracing endpoint. Example: "0.0.0.0"
TRACING_ENDPOINT_PORT: Port for tracing endpoint. Example: 3000

Registries

The images built by the Zebra team are all publicly hosted. Old image versions meant to be used by our CI pipeline (zebrad-test, lighwalletd) might be deleted on a scheduled basis.

We use Docker Hub for end-user images and Google Artifact Registry to build external tools and test images.

The Zebra Book