Running Hedgehog

This page takes you from a download to a running Hedgehog 0.0.8 node: where to get the program, how to check it, how to start and stop it, and where it keeps its data. A 0.0.8 node joins the peer-to-peer network, holds the signed network settings (Grid sporks) and serves the signed legacy chain snapshot. Gridnodes and network storage are not part of this release, see Network storage.

Download

Every file is on the 0.0.8 release page.

Your computer	File	Needs
Linux, x86_64	`hedgehog-0.0.8-x86_64-linux-gnu.bin`	nothing else
macOS, Apple Silicon	`hedgehog-0.0.8-osx-arm64.bin`	nothing else
Windows, x86_64	`hedgehog-0.0.8-win64.exe`	nothing else
Anything else, such as an Intel Mac	`hedgehog-0.0.8-jar-with-dependencies.jar`	Java 25 or newer

The executables carry their own Java runtime, see Build, testing and native image. You do not download the legacy chain snapshot yourself: a node fetches and checks it the first time it starts. On Linux and macOS, make the executable runnable with chmod +x.

Check the download

Each release is signed by the Unigrid Foundation release key, whose public half is release-key.asc in the repository. Download SHA256SUMS and SHA256SUMS.asc from the release page next to your file, then run:

gpg --import release-key.asc
gpg --verify SHA256SUMS.asc SHA256SUMS
sha256sum --check --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS

gpg reports a good signature, and warns that the key is not certified because you have not marked it as trusted. That warning is expected. What matters is that the fingerprint it prints is

A1CB 0037 B3B9 2D59 5FA1 536C 95A9 8E88 8B0B A5D9

sha256sum then prints OK for your file. Every file also has its own .asc signature, so gpg --verify <file>.asc <file> works as well. Where there is no sha256sum, compare the hash of your file with its line in SHA256SUMS: shasum -a 256 <file> on macOS, and certutil -hashfile <file> SHA256 on Windows.

Start a node

./hedgehog-0.0.8-x86_64-linux-gnu.bin daemon

With the jar, run java -jar hedgehog-0.0.8-jar-with-dependencies.jar daemon instead. The rest of this page writes hedgehog for either form.

The first start of an executable unpacks its runtime into the data directory, which takes a moment. The node then:

binds the peer-to-peer port and the REST port, see Open ports;
dials the six seed nodes to find other peers, unless you pass --no-seeds;
downloads and verifies the legacy chain snapshot in the background when it has none, about 314 MB, and keeps serving everything else meanwhile. GET /status reports downloading with a percentage, then running, see REST interface.

A node prints nothing by default. Add -v to see errors, and more of them for more detail:

Flag	Shows
none	nothing
`-v`	errors
`-vv`	warnings as well
`-vvv`	progress messages as well, such as the snapshot download
`-vvvv`	debug output
`-vvvvv`	trace output

Logging goes to the console only, there is no log file. Java may print a few WARNING lines about native access when the node starts. They are harmless.

Stop a node

Stop a node with hedgehog cli stop. It asks the running node to shut down over REST, and works from the same computer without any setup.

Use it for the executables in particular. About a minute after the start, the launcher loses its hold on the program it started, which keeps running on its own, so interrupting the launcher afterwards does not stop the node.

Open ports

Port	Used for	What to do
52883, UDP	Other nodes, over QUIC	Allow inbound traffic if you want others to connect to you
52884, TCP	The REST interface	Leave it on `localhost`, the default

The REST interface controls the node and its certificate is not verified by clients, so do not expose it beyond the machine, see REST interface. Change the ports with --netport and --restport.

Options

These options go after the command, for example hedgehog daemon --no-seeds -vvv.

Option	Default	Meaning
`-v`, `--verbose`	off	Raise the logging level, repeat for more
`-H`, `--nethost`	`0.0.0.0`	Address the peer-to-peer port binds to
`-p`, `--netport`	`52883`	Peer-to-peer port
`--no-seeds`	seeds on	Do not dial the seed nodes, `--seeds` turns them back on
`--network-keys`	the four board keys	Replace the built-in board keys, comma-separated
`--retired-network-keys`	three retired keys	Keys trusted only for reading old entries in the signature log
`-R`, `--resthost`	`localhost`	Address the REST interface binds to
`-r`, `--restport`	`52884`	REST port
`--resttoken`	see below	Bearer token every REST request must carry
`--restmaxupload`	1 GiB	Largest upload accepted by the S3-compatible store, in bytes
`-s`, `--snapshot`	`bootstrap.dat` in the data directory	Snapshot file, for the `bootstrap` commands
`-h`, `--help`		Show the options of a command
`-V`, `--version`		Print the version

The REST token is taken from --resttoken, then from the environment variable HEDGEHOG_REST_TOKEN, and otherwise generated at each start into rest.token in the data directory. No configuration file is read. The command line is the whole configuration.

Where the data lives

System	Data directory
Linux	`$XDG_DATA_HOME/hedgehog`, by default `~/.local/share/hedgehog`
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/Hedgehog`
Windows	`%APPDATA%\Unigrid\Hedgehog`

File or folder	Holds
`bootstrap.dat`	The legacy chain snapshot, about 556 MB
`spork.db`	The signed network settings the node has accepted
`rest.token`	The REST token, readable only by its owner
`s3data/`	Buckets and objects of the local S3-compatible store
a folder named by a long hash	The unpacked runtime of an executable, safe to delete

Deleting bootstrap.dat makes the next start download it again. On Linux, set XDG_DATA_HOME to keep the data somewhere else.

Commands

A node is controlled with the same program. daemon runs it, and the commands below talk to a node that is already running, or work on files.

Command	What it does
`hedgehog cli stop`	Shut the node down
`hedgehog cli node-list`, `node-add <ip:port>`, `node-remove <ip:port>`	Show or change the peers the node knows, `node-list` prints JSON
`hedgehog cli gridspork-list`, `gridspork-log`, `gridspork-pending`	Read the sporks, their signature history, and the changes awaiting a second signature
`hedgehog cli gridspork-get mint-supply\\|mint-storage`	Read one spork
`hedgehog bootstrap info`	Show what the snapshot contains
`hedgehog bootstrap balance <address>`	Show the coins held by a legacy address
`hedgehog bootstrap history <address>`	List its transactions, with `--limit` (100 by default), `--offset` and `--json`
`hedgehog bootstrap fetch`	Download, verify and install the published snapshot, `--force` replaces an existing one
`hedgehog util key-generate`	Create a key pair

Changing a spork needs a board member’s private key: gridspork-set, gridspork-grow, gridspork-cosign and gridspork-renew, together with util key-sign and key-validate, are for the board and are explained in Grid sporks. bootstrap import and bootstrap sign make a snapshot and are used when a release is prepared, see Legacy chain snapshot. Every cli command takes the --resthost, --restport and --resttoken options, so it can reach a node on another machine given that node’s token.

Running with Janus

Janus, the Unigrid desktop wallet, downloads and starts its own Hedgehog 0.0.8 and talks to it on port 52884 with a fresh token each time it runs, so it cannot use a node it did not start itself. Stop a node of your own before you open Janus, or Janus finds the port taken. The Janus troubleshooting page lists what it shows then.

Upgrading from 0.0.7

Nodes of 0.0.7 and earlier cannot talk to nodes of 0.0.8, because the wire protocols went from hedgehog/0.0.2 and gridspork/0.0.2 to hedgehog/0.0.4 and gridspork/0.0.4. The network keys were also replaced, with one key per board member, so sporks signed with the old keys stop verifying until the board has re-signed them, see Grid sporks. To upgrade, replace the program and start it again. The osx64.bin executable for Intel Macs of earlier releases is gone: use the jar there.

Key facts


Version	0.0.8, “Howling Husky”
Java	25 or newer, only for the jar
Linux executable	about 94 MB
Peer-to-peer	UDP 52883
REST	HTTPS 52884, `localhost`, bearer token
Release signing key	`A1CB 0037 B3B9 2D59 5FA1 536C 95A9 8E88 8B0B A5D9`

In the source

application/src/main/java/org/unigrid/hedgehog/Hedgehog.java is the root command and the -v option.
application/src/main/java/org/unigrid/hedgehog/command/ holds daemon, cli, util and bootstrap and their options.
application/src/main/java/org/unigrid/hedgehog/command/option/ defines the network, REST and snapshot options with their defaults.
common/src/main/java/org/unigrid/hedgehog/common/model/ApplicationDirectory.java decides the data directory.
release.sh and release-key.asc are how a release is signed.