Install & Run PDP

This guide walks you through setting up a PDP-enabled Filecoin Storage Provider using Lotus, YugabyteDB, and Curio

🚀 Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have a user with sudo privileges. This section prepares your system for the PDP stack.


🧰 System Package Installation

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y && sudo apt install -y \
  mesa-opencl-icd ocl-icd-opencl-dev gcc git jq pkg-config curl clang \
  build-essential hwloc libhwloc-dev libarchive-dev wget ntp python-is-python3 aria2

🔨 Install Go (v1.24.0)

sudo rm -rf /usr/local/go
wget https://go.dev/dl/go1.24.0.linux-amd64.tar.gz
sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.24.0.linux-amd64.tar.gz
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
go version

🔧 Install Rust

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

When prompted, choose the option 1) Proceed with standard installation (default — just press Enter).

source $HOME/.cargo/env
rustc --version

🔐 Add Go and Rust to Secure Sudo Path

sudo tee /etc/sudoers.d/dev-paths <<EOF
Defaults secure_path="/usr/local/go/bin:$HOME/.cargo/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin"
EOF

⛓️ Installing and Running Lotus

🧠 Lotus is your gateway to the Filecoin network. It syncs the chain, manages wallets, and is required for Curio to interact with your node.

🔧 Build Lotus Daemon

Clone and check out Lotus:

git clone https://github.com/filecoin-project/lotus.git
cd lotus
git checkout $(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/filecoin-project/lotus/releases/latest | jq -r .tag_name)

Build and Install for Mainnet

make clean && make lotus
sudo make install-daemon
lotus --version

Build and Install for Calibration

make clean && make GOFLAGS="-tags=calibnet" lotus
sudo make install-daemon
lotus --version

📦 Import a Snapshot and Start the Daemon

Download the Snapshot

Mainnet:

aria2c -x5 -o snapshot.car.zst https://forest-archive.chainsafe.dev/latest/mainnet/

Calibration:

aria2c -x5 -o snapshot.car.zst https://forest-archive.chainsafe.dev/latest/calibnet/

Import and Start the Daemon

lotus daemon --import-snapshot snapshot.car.zst --remove-existing-chain --halt-after-import
nohup lotus daemon > ~/lotus.log 2>&1 &

If you encounter errors related to EnableEthRPC or EnableIndexer, run the following command and restart Lotus

sed -i 's/EnableEthRPC = .*/EnableEthRPC = true/; s/EnableIndexer = .*/EnableIndexer = true/' ~/.lotus/config.toml

Monitor Sync Progress

lotus sync wait

To monitor continuously:

lotus sync wait --watch

Monitor Logs

tail -f ~/lotus.log

🔐 Create Wallets

You'll need to create two BLS wallets:

  • One for owner: used to fund sector pledges and submit proofs

  • One for worker: used to publish and manage storage deals

lotus wallet new bls  # Create owner wallet
lotus wallet new bls  # Create worker wallet
lotus wallet list     # List all created wallets

Make sure to send a small amount of FIL to each wallet - we recommend 1 FIL per wallet to ensure the creation of your Storage Provider in Curio. Calibration test FIL faucet information.


🐘 Running YugabyteDB

🧠 Curio uses YugabyteDB to store metadata about deals, sealing operations, and PDP submissions.

🛠 Set ulimit configuration

To do this:

🔁 Persist new limits across reboots

Add these lines to /etc/security/limits.conf:

echo "$(whoami) soft nofile 1048576" | sudo tee -a /etc/security/limits.conf
echo "$(whoami) hard nofile 1048576" | sudo tee -a /etc/security/limits.conf

This ensures the increased limits are automatically applied to future sessions.

Apply limit immediately (for current shell only)

ulimit -n 1048576

Verify:

ulimit -n

⚙️ Install Yugabyte

wget https://software.yugabyte.com/releases/2.25.1.0/yugabyte-2.25.1.0-b381-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
tar xvfz yugabyte-2.25.1.0-b381-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
cd yugabyte-2.25.1.0
./bin/post_install.sh

🚀 Start the DB

./bin/yugabyted start \
  --advertise_address 127.0.0.1 \
  --master_flags rpc_bind_addresses=127.0.0.1 \
  --tserver_flags rpc_bind_addresses=127.0.0.1
sudo locale-gen en_US.UTF-8

You can also check your Yugabyte cluster details directly in the CLI with:

./bin/yugabyted status

🧱 Installing and Configuring Curio

🧠 Curio is the core PDP client that coordinates sealing, interacts with Lotus and submits PDP proofs.

⚙️ System Configuration

Before you proceed with the installation, you should increase the UDP buffer size:

sudo sysctl -w net.core.rmem_max=2097152
sudo sysctl -w net.core.rmem_default=2097152

To make this change persistent across reboots:

echo 'net.core.rmem_max=2097152' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.core.rmem_default=2097152' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf

🔬 Build Curio

Clone the repository and switch to the PDP branch:

git clone https://github.com/filecoin-project/curio.git
cd curio
git checkout pdpv0

Curio is compiled for a specific Filecoin network at build time. Choose the appropriate build command below.

Mainnet

make clean build

Calibration

make clean calibnet

This step will take a few minutes to complete.

✅ Install and Verify Curio

Run the following to install the compiled binary:

sudo make install

This will place curio in /usr/local/bin

Verify the installation:

curio --version

Expected example output:

curio version 1.24.4+calibnet+git_f954c0a_2025-04-06T15:46:32-04:00

🔧 Guided Setup

Curio provides a utility to help you set up a new miner interactively. Run the following command:

curio guided-setup

1️⃣ Select "Create a new miner"

Use the arrow keys to navigate the guided setup menu and select "Create a new miner".

2️⃣ Enter Your YugabyteDB Connection Details

If you used the default installation steps from this guide, the following values should work:

  • Host: 127.0.0.1

  • Port: 5433

  • Username: yugabyte

  • Password: yugabyte

  • Database: yugabyte

You can verify these settings by running the following command from the Yugabyte directory:

./bin/yugabyted status

After selecting "Continue to connect and update schema", Curio will automatically create the required tables and schema in the database.

3️⃣ Set Wallet Addresses

For this step, use the two BLS wallets you created earlier with Lotus:

  • Use wallet 1 for the Owner Address

  • Use wallet 2 for the Worker Address

  • Use wallet 1 again for the Sender Address

These addresses must match the Lotus wallets created earlier.

You can display your Lotus wallets at any time by running:

lotus wallet list

4️⃣ Choose Sector Size

Choose sector size:

  • 64 GiB

Selecting a sector size is required during the Curio guided setup, but PDP itself doesn't use sectors. Proof set sizes in PDP are arbitrary and fully flexible.

5️⃣ Create Miner Actor

Review the information to ensure all inputs are correct. Then select "Continue to verify the addresses and create a new miner actor" to proceed.

This step may take a few minutes to complete as Curio pushes the message and waits for it to land on-chain.

Once the actor is created, Curio will:

  • Register your miner ID

If the guided setup fails after creating the miner actor, run the following command to complete the installation:

curio config new-cluster <miner ID>

6️⃣ Telemetry (Optional)

You'll be asked whether to share anonymised or signed telemetry with the Curio team to help improve the software.

Select your preference and continue.

7️⃣ Save Database Configuration

At the final step of the guided setup, you'll be prompted to choose where to save your database configuration file.

Use the arrow keys to select a location. A common default is:

/home/your-username/curio.env

Once selected, setup will complete, and the miner configuration will be stored.

8️⃣ Launch the Curio Web GUI

To explore the Curio interface visually, start the GUI layer:

curio run --layers=gui

Then, open your browser and go to:

http://127.0.0.1:4701

This will launch the Curio web GUI locally.


🧪 Enabling FWSS PDP

🧠 This section enables FWSS Proof of Data Possession (PDP) on your SP node using Curio. These steps guide you through running a standalone PDP service using Curio and pdptool.

📦 Attach Storage Locations

With Curio running with the GUI layer:

curio run --layers=gui

Run the following commands in your Curio CLI to attach storage paths:

curio cli storage attach --init --seal /fast-storage/path
curio cli storage attach --init --store /long-term-storage/path

Your fast-storage path should point to high-performance storage media such as NVMe or SSD


🔧 Add a PDP Configuration Layer

Browse to the Configurations page of the Curio GUI.

Create a new layer named pdp and enable the following under Subsystems:

You may find it helpful to search for the setting names in your browser.

  • EnableParkPiece

  • EnablePDP

  • EnableCommP

  • EnableMoveStorage

In the HTTP section:

  • ✅ Enable: true

  • 🌐 DomainName: your domain (e.g., pdp.mydomain.com)

  • 📡 ListenAddress: 0.0.0.0:443

Tip: You must point your domain's A record to your server's public IP address for Let's Encrypt to issue a certificate.


💰 Import your Filecoin Wallet Private Key:

Create a new delegated wallet:

lotus wallet new delegated
# Example output:
t410fuo4dghaeiqzokiqnxruzdr6e3cjktnxprrc56bi

You can display your Lotus wallets at any time by running:

lotus wallet list

Export & convert your new delegated wallet address private key:

lotus wallet export <your-delegated-wallet-address> | xxd -r -p | jq -r '.PrivateKey' | base64 -d | xxd -p -c 32
# Example output:
d4c2e3f9a716bb0e47fa91b2cf4a29870be3c5982fd6eafed71e8ac3f9c0b127

Browse to the PDP page of the Curio GUI and in the Owner Address section:

  • Select Import Key

  • Copy the previously generated private wallet key into the Private Key (Hex) field.

  • Select Import Key

Make sure to send a small amount of FIL or tFIL (testnet FIL) to your 0x wallet - we recommend 8 FIL for Mainnet & 5 tFIL for Calibration to ensure uninterrupted PDP operation during initial setup and testing. Calibration test FIL faucet information.


🚀 Restart and Verify

Restart Curio with both layers:

curio run --layers=gui,pdp
sudo setcap 'cap_net_bind_service=+ep' /usr/local/bin/curio

Test the PDP service:

If pdptool is not installed, clone and build Curio:

git clone https://github.com/filecoin-project/curio.git
cd curio/cmd/pdptool
go build .

Generate a service secret:

./pdptool create-service-secret
./pdptool ping --service-url https://your-domain.com --service-name public

Always use public for the --service-name flag

Ping successful: Service is reachable and JWT token is valid.

🎉 You're Done!

You've successfully launched a PDP-enabled Filecoin Storage Provider stack. Your system is now:

  • ✅ Syncing with the Filecoin network via Lotus

  • ✅ Recording deal and sector metadata in YugabyteDB

  • ✅ Operating Curio to manage sealing and coordination

  • ✅ Enabled Proof of Data Possession (PDP)

  • ✅ Connected to your PDP-enabled storage provider


🔜 Next Steps

  • 🧭 Monitor logs and metrics

  • 💬 Join the community - Filecoin Slack - #fil-pdp

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