Docker

Author: [ jLeopoldA ]

System Requirements

CPU	OS	RAM	DISK
4+ Cores	Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS	16GB+ Ram	3.5TB SSD

The Ethereum Sepolia Archive Node has a size of 3.2TB as of 2/11/2025

Pre-Requisites

This method of setting up an Ethereum Sepolia Archive Node uses Docker, Docker-Compose, Geth (Execution Layer) and Prysm (Consensus Layer / Beacon Node).

Update System

sudo apt update -y && sudo apt upgrade -y && sudo apt autoremove -y

Set Up Firewall

Set Explicit Default Firewall Rules

sudo ufw default deny incoming && sudo ufw default allow outgoing

Allow SSH

sudo ufw allow 22/tcp

Allow RPC Connections with Geth / Sepolia

sudo ufw allow 8545 && sudo ufw allow 8546

Allow P2P Connections for Geth and Prysm

# Required Ports for Geth (Execution Layer)
# Ethereum P2P networking
sudo ufw allow 30303/tcp && sudo ufw allow 30303/udp
sudo ufw allow 8551/tcp # Authentication RPC

# Required Prysm (Consensus Layer)
sudo ufw allow 13000/tcp # P2P networking
sudo ufw allow 12000/udp # Discovery protocol
sudo ufw allow 4000

Enable Firewall

sudo ufw enable

Check Status / Current Rules of UFW

sudo ufw status verbose

Install Docker & Docker-Compose

Install Docker

# Add Docker's official GPG key:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ca-certificates curl
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

# Add the repository to Apt sources:
echo \
  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
  $(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME") stable" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
sudo apt-get update

# Install Docker Packages including Docker Compose
 sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin
 
# Verify Docker Engine Installation
sudo docker run hello-world

Build Ethereum Sepolia Archive Node with Geth

Create Directory

mkdir -p /root/sepolia
cd /root/sepolia

Create jwt.hex

openssl rand -hex 32 | tr -d "\n" > jwt.hex

Create docker-compose.yml

nano docker-compose.yml

# Copy and paste the below
services:
  beacon-node:
    image: gcr.io/prysmaticlabs/prysm/beacon-chain:stable
    container_name: beacon-node
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - $HOME/.eth2:/data
      - /root/sepolia/jwt.hex:/root/sepolia/jwt.hex:ro
    ports:
      - "4000:4000"
      - "13000:13000"
      - "12000:12000/udp"
    command:
      - --datadir=/data
      - --jwt-secret=/root/sepolia/jwt.hex
      - --rpc-host=0.0.0.0
      - --http-host=0.0.0.0
      - --monitoring-host=0.0.0.0
      - --execution-endpoint=http://geth:8551
      - --sepolia
      - --checkpoint-sync-url=https://sepolia.beaconstate.info
      - --genesis-beacon-api-url=https://beaconstate.info
    networks:
      -  blockchain-network

  geth:
    image: ethereum/client-go:stable
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - ./data:/root/.ethereum
      - /root/sepolia/jwt.hex:/root/sepolia/jwt.hex:ro
    ports:
      - "8545:8545"
      - "8546:8546"
      - "8551:8551"
      - "30303:30303"
    command: [
      "--sepolia",
      "--syncmode=full",
      "--gcmode=archive",
      "--authrpc.addr=0.0.0.0",
      "--authrpc.port=8551",
      "--authrpc.vhosts=*",
      "--authrpc.jwtsecret=/root/sepolia/jwt.hex",
      "--http",
      "--http.addr=0.0.0.0",
      "--http.port=8545",
      "--http.api=eth,net,engine,admin",
      "--ws",
      "--ws.addr=0.0.0.0",
      "--ws.port=8546",
      "--ws.api=eth,net,web3"
    ]
    networks:
      -  blockchain-network

networks:
  blockchain-network:
    driver: bridge

Press "Ctrl + X". Press "y" when prompted and then "Enter".

Run Archive Node

To run your node - enter the below:

# Run the following command from within /root/sepolia
docker compose up -d

Interact with Sepolia Archive Node

Check Logs

Check Logs of Geth / Sepolia

docker compose logs sepolia-geth-1

Logs will slightly resemble the image below.

Check Logs of Prysm

docker logs beacon-node

Logs will look similar to the image below.

Stop Node

# To stop Geth / Sepolia Archive Node
docker stop sepolia-geth-1

# To stop Prysm (Beacon Node)
docker stop beacon-node

Query Sepolia Archive Node

The Ethereum Sepolia Archive Node has a sync time of 4 days when using Geth and Prsym.

Check Sync Status

curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-X POST --data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0", "method":"eth_syncing", "params":[], "id":1}' http://localhost:8545

When node is finished syncing the response from the above command should resemble the below.

{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":false}

Check Block Number

curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-X POST --data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0", "method":"eth_blockNumber", "params":[], "id":1}' http://localhost:8545

# Response should have a different "result" value.
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":"0x754ee0"}