Running Zebra

zebrad generate generates a default config. These defaults will be used if no config is present, so it's not necessary to generate a config. However, having a config file with the default fields is a useful starting point for changing the config.

The configuration format is the TOML encoding of the internal config structure, and documentation for all of the config options can be found here.

  • zebrad start starts a full node.

Return Codes

  • 0: Application exited successfully
  • 1: Application exited unsuccessfully
  • 2: Application crashed
  • zebrad may also return platform-dependent codes.

Network Ports and Data Usage

zebrad's default ports and network usage are documented in the README.

If Zebra is configured with a specific listen_addr, it will advertise this address to other nodes for inbound connections.

Zebra makes outbound connections to peers on any port. But zcashd prefers peers on the default ports, so that it can't be used for DDoS attacks on other networks.

The major constraint we've found on zebrad performance is the network weather, especially the ability to make good connections to other Zcash network peers.

Zebra needs some peers which have a round-trip latency of 2 seconds or less. If this is a problem for you, please let us know!

Improving Performance

Zebra usually syncs in around a day, depending on your network connection, and the overall Zcash network load.

If you're having trouble syncing, try the following config changes:

Release Build

Make sure you're using a release build on your native architecture.

If you're using an ARM machine, install the Rust compiler for ARM. If you build using the x86_64 tools, Zebra might run really slowly.

Run a release build using the cargo install command from the README.

Syncer Lookahead Limit

If your connection is slow, try downloading fewer blocks at a time:

[sync]
lookahead_limit = 1000
max_concurrent_block_requests = 25

Peer Set Size

If your connection is slow, try connecting to fewer peers:

[network]
peerset_initial_target_size = 25

Turn off debug logging

Zebra logs at info level by default.

If Zebra is slow, make sure it is logging at info level:

[tracing]
filter = 'info'

Or restrict debug logging to a specific Zebra component:

[tracing]
filter = 'info,zebra_network=debug'

If you keep on seeing multiple info logs per second, please open a bug.