Requirements for running a node

In order to run a Penumbra fullnode, you’ll need a machine with sufficient resources. See specifics below.

System requirements

We recommend using a machine with at least:

  • 8GB RAM
  • 2-4 vCPUS
  • ~200GB persistent storage (~20GB/week)

You can host your node on hardware, or on your cloud provider of choice.

Network requirements

A Penumbra fullnode should have a publicly routable IP address to accept P2P connections. It’s possible to run a fullnode behind NAT, but then it won’t be able to receive connections from peers. The relevant network endpoints for running Penumbra are:

  • 26656/TCP for CometBFT P2P, should be public
  • 26657/TCP for CometBFT RPC, should be private
  • 26660/TCP for CometBFT metrics, should be private
  • 26658/TCP for Penumbra ABCI, should be private
  • 9000/TCP for Penumbra metrics, should be private
  • 8080/TCP for Penumbra gRPC, should be private
  • 443/TCP for Penumbra HTTPS, optional, should be public if enabled

You can opt in to HTTPS support for Penumbra’s gRPC service by setting the --grpc-auto-https <DOMAIN> option. See pd start --help for more info.

Deployment strategies

We expect node operators to manage the lifecycle of their Penumbra deployments. Some example configs for systemd, docker compose, and kubernetes helm charts can be found in the Penumbra repo’s deployments/ directory. You should consult these configurations as a reference, and write your own scripts to maintain your node.

Consider joining the Penumbra Discord to receive announcements about new versions and required actions by node operators.