git / moonbite-network / deploy/railway-node/DEPLOY.md · raw

> **Retired (2026-09-03).** The Railway seed was dropped; the DigitalOcean droplet> (`deploy/seeds.txt`) is the network's seed. Kept for reference only.# Deploy MoonBite live on Railway (node + explorer)This directory ships the **MoonBite seed node** as a Docker service for Railway,and pairs it with the Flask **explorer** in `explorer/`. Follow the two steps inorder — the explorer needs the node to exist first.> **Honest launch notes — read once before deploying**> - **A fresh chain produces NO blocks on its own.** With zero miners the height>   stays at 0 forever. Set `MINE=1` on the node service (below) so it mines, or>   run the miner yourself. Railway containers are small, so expect slow block>   production.> - **RPC port 9445 must stay private.** Only attach a public domain / TCP proxy>   to the **P2P port 9444**. The explorer reaches RPC over Railway's *private*>   network (`*.railway.internal`). Never expose 9445 publicly.> - **Persistence:** attach a Railway **Volume** mounted at `/data`, or the chain>   is wiped on every redeploy.> - **Binary identity:** the shipped `release/bin/moonbited` must be the ADR-010>   build (2-minute blocks, subsidy 10 MBITE, halving 1,650,000, 60-block retarget;>   genesis hashes re-mined at re-genesis). A node still running the older>   10-minute / 50 MBITE build is on a different chain and will not sync.> - **Railway is not the ideal home for a P2P node** (built for HTTP). A small>   $4–6/mo VPS is more robust for a long-lived seed. This Docker path works as a>   bootstrap seed; see `deploy/RUNBOOK.md` for the VPS route.---## Step 1 — Node service (Docker)**Prompt to paste into your Railway browser session:**> Deploy a service on Railway from the GitHub repo **moonbitecoin/moonbite-network**.> - New Project → "Deploy from GitHub repo" → select `moonbitecoin/moonbite-network`.> - Name the service **moonbite-node**.> - In **Settings → Build**: set **Root Directory** to `/` (repo root) and>   **Dockerfile Path** to `deploy/railway-node/Dockerfile.node`>   (the build context must be the repo root so it can COPY `release/bin/moonbited`).>   **Not** `Dockerfile` — that path builds the Flask web app, not the daemon.> - Add a **Volume** and set its mount path to `/data`.> - Under **Variables**, add:>   - `MOONBITE_RPC_USER` = a random username (e.g. `moonrpc`)>   - `MOONBITE_RPC_PASSWORD` = a long random password (save it — the explorer needs it)>   - `MINE` = `1`   (so the fresh chain actually produces blocks)> - Under **Settings → Networking**: enable a **TCP Proxy** on port **9444**>   (this is the public P2P endpoint / seed address). Do **NOT** add a public>   domain or proxy for port 9445.> - Deploy. In the **Deploy Logs** confirm moonbited starts and logs>   `MoonBite Core version`. A seed node with `MINE=0` stays at height 0 until>   a miner elsewhere produces blocks — that is expected, not a failure.>> If the Volume already holds chain data from the 10 MBITE era, the entrypoint> detects the genesis mismatch and resets it. To force a reset, set> `RESET_CHAIN=1`, redeploy, then remove the variable.After it's up, note two things:- the **TCP Proxy host:port** for 9444 → this is your public **seed address**  (use it in `addnode`/`vSeeds`).- the private hostname **`moonbite-node.railway.internal`** → the explorer uses  this to reach RPC 9445.---## Step 2 — Explorer service (Nixpacks), wired to the node**Prompt to paste into your Railway browser session:**> The explorer reads its RPC settings under the legacy `BIGCOIN_` prefix> (see `explorer/config.py`); that is deliberate, not a leftover to rename.>> In the same Railway project, add another service from the GitHub repo> **moonbitecoin/moonbite-network**.> - "Deploy from GitHub repo" → select `moonbitecoin/moonbite-network`.> - Name it **moonbite-explorer**.> - In **Settings → Root Directory**, set it to `explorer` (the repo's>   `explorer/railway.json` defines the Nixpacks build; start command is>   `gunicorn app:app --bind 0.0.0.0:$PORT --workers 2 --timeout 30`).> - Under **Variables**, add:>   - `BIGCOIN_RPC_HOST` = `moonbite-node.railway.internal`>   - `BIGCOIN_RPC_PORT` = `9445`>   - `BIGCOIN_RPC_USER` = same value set on the node>   - `BIGCOIN_RPC_PASSWORD` = same value set on the node>   - `BIGCOIN_NAME` = `MoonBite`>   - `BIGCOIN_TICKER` = `MBITE`> - Under **Settings → Networking**, generate a **public domain** for this service.> - Deploy, then open the generated URL and confirm the home page, a block page,>   and search all load with **real** chain data (no demo banner).> If the node isn't producing blocks yet, the explorer will show height 0 (or a> demo banner). Set `MINE=1` on the node and give it time; the explorer needs no> change and will show data as blocks arrive.---## Files here- `Dockerfile` — ubuntu:22.04 + moonbited runtime libs; ships `release/bin/moonbited`.- `entrypoint.sh` — starts moonbited (P2P 9444 public, RPC 9445 private), optional `MINE=1` loop.- `railway.json` — tells Railway to use the Dockerfile builder.