Subcommands
This reference describes the syntax of the Hyperledger Besu command line interface (CLI) subcommands.
This reference contains subcommands that apply to both public and private networks. For private-network-specific subcommands, see the private network subcommands reference.
To start a Besu node using subcommands, run:
besu [OPTIONS] [SUBCOMMAND] [SUBCOMMAND OPTIONS]
If using Bash or Z shell, you can view subcommand suggestions by pressing the Tab key twice.
besu Tab+Tab
blocks
Provides blocks related actions.
import
- Syntax
- Example
besu blocks import [--skip-pow-validation-enabled] [--start-block=<LONG>] [--end-block=<LONG>] --from=<block-file>
besu blocks import --skip-pow-validation-enabled --start-block=100 --end-block=300 --from=/home/me/me_project/mainnet-export1.blocks --from=/home/me/me_project/mainnet-export2.blocks
Imports a block or range of blocks from the specified file into the blockchain database.
You can specify the starting index of the block range to import with --start-block
. If omitted, the default start block is 0 (the beginning of the chain).
You can specify the ending index (exclusive) of the block range to import with --end-block
. If omitted, all blocks after the start block are imported.
You can specify multiple --from
arguments. This can be useful when blocks have been exported over time to multiple files. If multiple files are provided they are read in the order specified in the command.
Including --skip-pow-validation-enabled
skips validation of the mixHash
when importing blocks.
Use --skip-pow-validation-enabled
when performing Ethereum Foundation hive testing.
export
- Syntax
- Example
besu blocks export [--start-block=<LONG>] [--end-block=<LONG>] --to=<block-file>
besu --network=goerli --data-path=/home/data/ blocks export --start-block=100 --end-block=300 --to=/home/exportblock.bin
Exports a block or range of blocks from storage to a file in RLP format.
If you omit --start-block
, the default start block is 0 (the beginning of the chain), and if you omit --end-block
, the default end block is the current chain head.
If you are not running the command against the default network (Mainnet), specify the --network
or --genesis-file
parameter.
public-key
Provides node public key related actions.
To get the public key or address of a node, ensure you use the --data-path
or --node-private-key-file
option with the public-key
command. Otherwise, a new node key is silently generated when starting Besu.
export
- Syntax
- Example (to standard output)
- Example (to file)
besu public-key export [--node-private-key-file=<file>] [--to=<key-file>] [--ec-curve=<ec-curve-name>]
besu --data-path=<node data path> public-key export --node-private-key-file=/home/me/me_node/myPrivateKey --ec-curve=secp256k1
besu --data-path=<node data path> public-key export --node-private-key-file=/home/me/me_node/myPrivateKey --to=/home/me/me_project/not_precious_pub_key --ec-curve=secp256k1
Outputs the node public key to standard output or to the file specified by --to=<key-file>
. You can output the public key associated with a specific private key file using the --node-private-key-file
option. The default elliptic curve used for the key is secp256k1
. Use the --ec-curve
option to choose between secp256k1
or secp256r1
.
export-address
- Syntax
- Example (to standard output)
- Example (to file)
besu public-key export-address [--node-private-key-file=<file>] [--to=<address-file>] [--ec-curve=<ec-curve-name>]
besu --data-path=<node data path> public-key export-address --node-private-key-file=/home/me/me_node/myPrivateKey --ec-curve=secp256k1
besu --data-path=<node data path> public-key export-address --node-private-key-file=/home/me/me_node/myPrivateKey --to=/home/me/me_project/me_node_address --ec-curve=secp256k1
Outputs the node address to standard output or to the file specified by --to=<address-file>
. You can output the address associated with a specific private key file using the --node-private-key-file
option. The default elliptic curve used for the key is secp256k1
. Use the --ec-curve
option to choose between secp256k1
or secp256r1
.
password
Provides password related actions.
hash
- Syntax
- Example
besu password hash --password=<my-password>
besu password hash --password=myPassword123
Generates the hash of a given password. Include the hash in the credentials file for JSON-RPC API authentication.
operator
Provides operator actions.
generate-log-bloom-cache
- Syntax
- Example
besu operator generate-log-bloom-cache [--start-block=<BLOCK_NUMBER>] [--end-block=<BLOCK_NUMBER>]
besu --network=goerli --data-path=/project/goerli operator generate-log-bloom-cache --start-block=0 --end-block=100000
Manually executing generate-log-bloom-cache
is not required unless you set the --auto-log-bloom-caching-enabled
command line option to false.
Generates cached log bloom indexes for blocks. APIs use the cached indexes for improved log query performance.
Each index file contains 100000 blocks. The last fragment of blocks less that 100000 are not indexed.
To generate cached log bloom indexes while the node is running, use the admin_generateLogBloomCache
API.
retesteth
- Syntax
- Example
besu retesteth [--data-path=<PATH>] [--rpc-http-host=<HOST>] [--rpc-http-port=<PORT>] [-l=<LOG VERBOSITY LEVEL>] [--host-allowlist=<hostname>[,<hostname>…]… or * or all]
besu retesteth --data-path=/home/me/me_node --rpc-http-port=8590 --host-allowlist=*
Runs a Retesteth-compatible server. Retesteth is a developer tool that can generate and run consensus tests against any Ethereum client running such a server.
The command accepts the following command line options:
validate-config
- Syntax
- Example
besu validate-config --config-file <PATH-TO-CONFIG-FILE>
besu validate-config --config-file ../besu-local-nodes/config/besu/besu1.conf
Performs basic syntax validation of the specified TOML configuration file. Checks TOML syntax (for example, valid format and unmatched quotes) and flags unknown options. Doesn't check data types, and doesn't check dependencies between options (this is done at Besu startup).