Bootstrap local service

This guide will walk you through how to set up the Vega Wallet from scratch to use when building a Vega dApp, or integrating with CI/CD.

You can find the current working CI/CD implementation in the front-end GitHub repo ↗.

Depending on your end-goal, you may be able to skip some steps. API token-related steps are only needed for end-to-end and CI/CD integration. Also, if you already have Vega Wallet prepared and configured, you may only need the last step to run the wallet.

1. Create credential files

Create two files for your passphrase and recovery phrase - passphrase will be used as a wallet and API token password (you may want to use two different ones), and recovery will contain recovery phrase of the wallet you want to use (you can skip it if you don’t have a wallet yet, and want to create a new one).

2. Download software

Download and install the Vega Wallet software. There are two ways you can do that:

a. Download the latest release of the Vega software ↗ and unzip it to a shared location. To test if it worked, run the vega version command.

b. Clone the Vega repo ↗. Make sure you have installed go. Read the guide for getting started with Go for Vega ↗ if you need help. Set up the GOBIN environment and add it to PATH (e.g. export GOBIN="$HOME/go/bin; export PATH=$GOBIN/:$PATH. Run go install ./… to install the binaries. Verify by running the command vega version.

3. Initialise the software

Initialise the wallet using the command below to create new, fresh wallet files.

vega wallet init -f --home <WALLET_PATH>

The --home <WALLET_PATH> flag sets your wallet location. Skip it in this step, and all following steps, if you want to use default location.

The -f flag overwrites any existing wallet configuration at the home location.

4. Create or import wallet

Create a new wallet or import an existing wallet or wallets. You can create/import as many wallets as you want.

a. To create a new wallet:

vega wallet create -w <WALLET_NAME> -p passphrase --home  <WALLET_PATH>

b. To import the wallet using the recovery phrase:

vega wallet import -w <WALLET_NAME> --recovery-phrase-file recovery -p passphrase --home <WALLET_PATH>

5. Add more public keys (optional)

Create additional public keys (optional) with the following command:

vega wallet key generate -w <WALLET_NAME> -p passphrase --home <WALLET_PATH>

6. Import network configuration

You can import network config in two ways. See more details in the manage networks guide:

a. Using the config URL:

vega wallet network import --from-url <CONFIG_URL> -f --home <WALLET_NAME>`.  

The -f flag overwrites the config if one already exists.

Example: To import fairground network use: vega wallet network import --from-url https://github.com/vegaprotocol/networks-internal/blob/main/fairground/vegawallet-fairground.toml.

b. Using a file: If you want to import network config for a local Vega Capsule network use the following command:

vega wallet network import --force --from-file <CONFIG_FILE> --home <WALLET_PATH>

7. Get a long-lived token (optional)

To connect to the local service with a headless software (bots, scripts, CI/CD systems) you need to obtain a long-living token.

Follow the "Use long-living tokens" guide to know how, if not already done.

8. Start the service

Now, to start the service you need:

a. For general purpose use, run the command:

vega wallet service run -n <NETWORK_NAME> --home <WALLET_PATH>

b. For headless software, run the command::

vega wallet service run -n <NETWORK_NAME> --load-tokens --tokens-passphrase-file passphrase --no-version-check --home <WALLET_PATH>

--load-tokens allows you to use the API token that you set up in the previous step. --no-version-check allows you to skip network compatibility verification.

Updating version

Once you set up a wallet for the first time, you will probably only need to run the service run command and update the binaries when a new version is released.

Get help with the CLI

If you need help using the Vega wallet CLI, see the "Get help with the CLI" guide.