diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 0d91444a..efcb7075 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -1,14 +1,59 @@ # Lightweight Beaconchain Explorer -This is a work in progress project!\ -It's not ready to be used in any way yet. - ## What is this? -This project is planned to become a lightweight beaconchain explorer. +This is a lightweight beaconchain explorer. A Beaconchain explorer is a tool that allows users to view and interact with the data on the Ethereum Beacon Chain. It is similar to a blockchain explorer, which allows users to view data on a blockchain such as the current state of transactions and blocks - but focussed on exploring the beaconchain. -This "lightweight" explorer is planned to proxy most of the queries to an underlying standard beacon node api, which makes it a lot easier and cheaper to run (no 3rd party proprietary database like bigtables required) +This "lightweight" explorer loads most of the information directly from an underlying standard beacon node api, which makes it a lot easier and cheaper to run (no 3rd party proprietary database like bigtables required). + +## Dependencies + +This explorer requires a postgres database. + +## Setup + +To run the explorer, you need to create a configuration file first. Download a copy of the [default config](https://github.com/pk910/light-beaconchain-explorer/blob/master/config/default.config.yml) and change it for your needs. + +Afterwards, download the latest binary for your distribution from the [releases page](https://github.com/pk910/light-beaconchain-explorer/releases) and start the explorer with the following command: +``` +./explorer_linux_amd64 -config=explorer-config.yaml +``` +You should now be able to access the explorer via http://localhost:8080 + +## Use docker image + +I'm maintaining a docker image for this explorer: [pk910/light-beaconchain-explorer](https://hub.docker.com/r/pk910/light-beaconchain-explorer) + +There are various images available: +* `latest`: The latest release +* `unstable`: That latest `master` branch version (automatically built) +* `v1.x.x`: Version specific images for all releases. + +Follow these steps to run the docker image: +1. Create a copy of the [default config](https://github.com/pk910/light-beaconchain-explorer/blob/master/config/default.config.yml) and change it for your needs.\ + You'll especially need to configure the `chain`, `beaconapi` & `database` sections. + ``` + wget -O explorer-config.yaml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pk910/light-beaconchain-explorer/master/config/default.config.yml + nano explorer-config.yaml + ``` +3. Start the container + ``` + docker run -d --restart unless-stopped --name=beaconlight -v $(pwd):/config -p 8080:8080 -it pk910/light-beaconchain-explorer:latest -config=/config/explorer-config.yaml + ``` + +You should now be able to access the explorer via http://localhost:8080 + +read logs: + +`docker logs beaconlight --follow` + +stop & remove container: + +`docker stop beaconlight` + +`docker rm -f beaconlight` + ## Background https://github.com/ethpandaops/tooling-wishlist/blob/master/tools/lightweight-beaconchain-explorer.md