Canton Console Reference

Reference for Canton console commands used by validators and SV operators on the Global Synchronizer

For more involved debugging and disaster recovery, direct access to the console of a Canton node (participant, sequencer, mediator) might be required. Steps to obtain such access:

Requirements:

• Direct access to the Canton node process
• Canton binary

Once you see the following banner for the console you have successfully gained access

_____            _
/ ____|          | |
| |     __ _ _ __ | |_ ___  _ __
| |    / _` | '_ \| __/ _ \| '_ \
| |___| (_| | | | | || (_) | | | |
\_____\__,_|_| |_|\__\___/|_| |_|

Welcome to Canton!

Participant console

1. Obtain an authentication token as specified in the Canton authentication docs

2. Ensure you can access the participant’s ports 5001 and 5002

3. Add the configuration to a local file console.conf

   canton {
     remote-participants {
       participant {
         admin-api {
           port = 5002
           address = localhost
         }
         ledger-api {
           port = 5001
           address = localhost
         }
         token = "<auth token>"
       }
     }
     features.enable-preview-commands = yes
     features.enable-testing-commands = yes
     features.enable-repair-commands = yes
   }
   

4. Run the docker command

DevNet (0.6.12)

docker run -it --rm --network host -v $(pwd)/console.conf:/app/app.conf ghcr.io/digital-asset/decentralized-canton-sync/docker/canton:0.6.12 --console

TestNet (0.6.11)

docker run -it --rm --network host -v $(pwd)/console.conf:/app/app.conf ghcr.io/digital-asset/decentralized-canton-sync/docker/canton:0.6.11 --console

MainNet (0.6.10)

docker run -it --rm --network host -v $(pwd)/console.conf:/app/app.conf ghcr.io/digital-asset/decentralized-canton-sync/docker/canton:0.6.10 --console

If you run the participant using the docker compose setup the docker command must be run with the docker network used by the participant. Adjust the configuration to connect to the participant container:

canton {
  remote-participants {
    participant {
      admin-api {
        port = 5002
        address = participant
      }
      ledger-api {
        port = 5001
        address = participant
      }
      token = "<auth token>"
    }
  }
  features.enable-preview-commands = yes
  features.enable-testing-commands = yes
  features.enable-repair-commands = yes
}

Running docker with the default network (splice-validator):

DevNet (0.6.12)

docker run -it --rm --network splice-validator -v $(pwd)/console.conf:/app/app.conf ghcr.io/digital-asset/decentralized-canton-sync/docker/canton:0.6.12 --console

TestNet (0.6.11)

docker run -it --rm --network splice-validator -v $(pwd)/console.conf:/app/app.conf ghcr.io/digital-asset/decentralized-canton-sync/docker/canton:0.6.11 --console

MainNet (0.6.10)

docker run -it --rm --network splice-validator -v $(pwd)/console.conf:/app/app.conf ghcr.io/digital-asset/decentralized-canton-sync/docker/canton:0.6.10 --console

Sequencer console

DevNet (0.6.12)

1. Ensure you can access the sequencer’s ports 5008 and 5009

2. Add the configuration to a local file console.conf

canton {
  remote-sequencers {
    sequencer {
      public-api {
        port = 5008
        address = localhost
      }
      admin-api {
        port = 5009
        address = localhost
      }
    }
  }
  features.enable-preview-commands = yes
  features.enable-testing-commands = yes
  features.enable-repair-commands = yes
}

3. Run the docker command

docker run -it --rm --network host -v $(pwd)/console.conf:/app/app.conf ghcr.io/digital-asset/decentralized-canton-sync/docker/canton:0.6.12 --console

TestNet (0.6.11)

1. Ensure you can access the sequencer’s ports 5008 and 5009

2. Add the configuration to a local file console.conf

canton {
  remote-sequencers {
    sequencer {
      public-api {
        port = 5008
        address = localhost
      }
      admin-api {
        port = 5009
        address = localhost
      }
    }
  }
  features.enable-preview-commands = yes
  features.enable-testing-commands = yes
  features.enable-repair-commands = yes
}

3. Run the docker command

docker run -it --rm --network host -v $(pwd)/console.conf:/app/app.conf ghcr.io/digital-asset/decentralized-canton-sync/docker/canton:0.6.11 --console

MainNet (0.6.10)

1. Ensure you can access the sequencer’s ports 5008 and 5009

2. Add the configuration to a local file console.conf

canton {
  remote-sequencers {
    sequencer {
      public-api {
        port = 5008
        address = localhost
      }
      admin-api {
        port = 5009
        address = localhost
      }
    }
  }
  features.enable-preview-commands = yes
  features.enable-testing-commands = yes
  features.enable-repair-commands = yes
}

3. Run the docker command

docker run -it --rm --network host -v $(pwd)/console.conf:/app/app.conf ghcr.io/digital-asset/decentralized-canton-sync/docker/canton:0.6.10 --console

Mediator console

DevNet (0.6.12)

1. Ensure you can access the mediator’s port 5007

2. Add the configuration to a local file console.conf

canton {
  remote-mediators {
    mediator {
      admin-api {
        port = 5007
        address = localhost
      }
    }
  }
  features.enable-preview-commands = yes
  features.enable-testing-commands = yes
  features.enable-repair-commands = yes
}

3. Run the docker command

docker run -it --rm --network host -v $(pwd)/console.conf:/app/app.conf ghcr.io/digital-asset/decentralized-canton-sync/docker/canton:0.6.12 --console

TestNet (0.6.11)

1. Ensure you can access the mediator’s port 5007

2. Add the configuration to a local file console.conf

canton {
  remote-mediators {
    mediator {
      admin-api {
        port = 5007
        address = localhost
      }
    }
  }
  features.enable-preview-commands = yes
  features.enable-testing-commands = yes
  features.enable-repair-commands = yes
}

3. Run the docker command

docker run -it --rm --network host -v $(pwd)/console.conf:/app/app.conf ghcr.io/digital-asset/decentralized-canton-sync/docker/canton:0.6.11 --console

MainNet (0.6.10)

1. Ensure you can access the mediator’s port 5007

2. Add the configuration to a local file console.conf

canton {
  remote-mediators {
    mediator {
      admin-api {
        port = 5007
        address = localhost
      }
    }
  }
  features.enable-preview-commands = yes
  features.enable-testing-commands = yes
  features.enable-repair-commands = yes
}

3. Run the docker command

docker run -it --rm --network host -v $(pwd)/console.conf:/app/app.conf ghcr.io/digital-asset/decentralized-canton-sync/docker/canton:0.6.10 --console

Access in a K8s cluster

In a K8s cluster you can use a debug pod to access the console directly from the cluster.

First you can create a pod running the right canton version using:

kubectl debug "${POD_NAME}" --image "$(kubectl get pod "${POD_NAME}" -o json | jq -re '.spec.containers[0].image')" -i -t -- bash

where POD_NAME is the name of the participant/sequencer/mediator pod.

Once you are inside the running pod you can install a text editor and create the config file console.conf that is described above.

$ apt-get update
$ apt-get install -y vim
$ vim console.conf # paste in the config from above
$ /app/bin/canton -v -c console.conf