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This guide installs a Public Fullnode (PFN). Choose mainnet or testnet by downloading the matching genesis & waypoint files.

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1) Prerequisites

  • Linux x86_64
  • Docker (for the Docker path) or Rust toolchain (for source build)
  • 1TB+ SSD recommended for longevity; see official requirements page if needed.

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2) Create a PFN working directory

mkdir -p ~/aptos-pfn && cd ~/aptos-pfn

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3) Download network files (genesis & waypoint)

Mainnet: 
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aptos-labs/aptos-networks/main/mainnet/genesis.blob
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aptos-labs/aptos-networks/main/mainnet/waypoint.txt
Testnet (use the matching paths under aptos-networks/testnet/): 
# Example (confirm the exact filenames in the repo):
# https://github.com/aptos-labs/aptos-networks/tree/main/testnet

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4) Create a PFN config

Copy the template and edit paths: 
# If building from source, after cloning aptos-core:
# cp config/src/config/test_data/public_full_node.yaml fullnode.yaml

# Alternatively, create a minimal fullnode.yaml and set:
# base:
#   waypoint:
#     from_file: "./waypoint.txt"
#   data_dir: "/var/lib/aptos/data"  # choose your data dir
# execution:
#   genesis_file_location: "./genesis.blob"

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Path A — Run with Docker

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A1) Prepare a local config file

Place fullnode.yaml in ~/aptos-pfn (as shown above).

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A2) Start the container

docker pull aptoslabs/validator:mainnet

docker run -d --name aptos-pfn   -v $(pwd):/opt/aptos/etc   -p 8080:8080 -p 9101:9101   aptoslabs/validator:mainnet   aptos-node -f /opt/aptos/etc/fullnode.yaml
  • -p 8080:8080 exposes the REST API.
  • -p 9101:9101 exposes metrics.
You can swap the image tag to the testnet variant if running on testnet.

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Path B — Build and run from source

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B1) Clone and build

git clone https://github.com/aptos-labs/aptos-core.git
cd aptos-core
git checkout --track origin/mainnet   # or 'testnet'
cargo build -p aptos-node --release

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B2) Copy config and run

cp config/src/config/test_data/public_full_node.yaml ~/aptos-pfn/fullnode.yaml
cd ~/aptos-pfn

# Edit fullnode.yaml so:
# - base.data_dir points to your data dir
# - base.waypoint.from_file points to ./waypoint.txt
# - execution.genesis_file_location points to ./genesis.blob

# Start the node
cargo run -p aptos-node --release -- -f ./fullnode.yaml

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5) Verify the node

Once running, check health: 
curl -s http://localhost:8080/v1 | jq
Or follow the Verify PFN guide from Aptos docs.