Setting Up the Winter Cardano Backend

To set up and run the Winter Cardano backend, follow the steps below:

Prerequisites

• Node.js
• PostgreSQL database
• Redis

Installation

1. Clone the Winter Cardano backend repository:

   git clone https://github.com/zenGate-Global/winter-backend-cardano

2. Navigate to the project directory:

   cd winter-cardano-backend

3. Install the dependencies:

   npm install

Configuration

1. Create a copy of the .env.example file and rename it to .env:

   cp .env.example .env

2. Open the .env file and provide the necessary configuration values:

   # Network
   NETWORK=mainnet
   
   # Wallet
   ZENGATE_WALLET_MNEMONIC=your_cardano_wallet_mnemonic
   
   # PostgreSQL Database
   POSTGRES_HOST=db
   POSTGRES_PORT=5432
   POSTGRES_DB=your_database_name
   POSTGRES_USER=your_database_user
   POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your_database_password
   POSTGRES_SYNC=false
   POSTGRES_LOGGING=false
   
   # Redis
   REDIS_HOST=redis
   REDIS_PORT=6379
   
   # Cardano API Providers
   MAESTRO_KEY=your_maestro_api_key
   OGMIOS_HOST=your_ogmios_host
   OGMIOS_PORT=your_ogmios_port
   TX_SUBMIT_API=your_tx_submit_api_url
   KOIOS_BASE_URL=your_koios_base_url
   
   #IPFS
   NFT_STORAGE_API_KEY=your_key

   Replace the placeholder values with your actual configuration details.

Please note:

• Its highly recommended to use your cardano wallet mnemonic exclusively for the backend
• Its highly recommended to use 24 words for your cardano wallet mnemonic
• For POSTGRES_SYNC
  • It syncs database upon entity changes. Leave it as true during active development. Change to false for production
• POSTGRES
  • leave POSTGRES_HOST as db to use with docker
  • leave POSTGRES_PORT as 5432 to use with docker
• REDIS
  • leave REDIS_HOST as redis for use with docker
  • leave REDIS_PORT as 6379for use with docker
• TX_SUBMIT_API
  • Direct url to the post endpoint to submit transactions
  • Service found here: https://github.com/blinklabs-io/tx-submit-api

Database Setup

1. Ensure that you have a running PostgreSQL database instance. (docker does this for you)

2. Update the POSTGRES_* variables in the .env file to match your database configuration.

3. The backend will automatically synchronize the database schema on startup if POSTGRES_SYNC is set to true.

Redis Setup

1. Ensure that you have a running Redis instance. (docker does this for you)

2. Update the REDIS_* variables in the .env file to match your Redis configuration.

Starting the Backend

1. Run the following command to start the backend server:

   npm run start

   The backend server will start running on the specified port (default: 3000).

Docker Compose (Optional)

Alternatively, you can use Docker Compose to run the backend along with the required services.

1. Make sure you have Docker and Docker Compose installed on your system.

2. Clone the repo, see docker-compose.yml

3. Run the following command to start the backend and its dependencies:

   docker-compose up

   The backend server and the required services will start running in containers.

That's it! You have now set up the Winter Cardano backend and it is ready to handle requests.