Step-by-Step Manual Deployment

Deploy each Solo network component individually for maximum control over configuration and debugging. Execute each step manually through the Solo CLI and integrate Solo into bespoke automation pipelines.

Overview

Manual deployment lets you deploy each Solo network component individually, giving you full control over configuration, sequencing, and troubleshooting. Use this approach when you need to customise specific steps, debug a component in isolation, or integrate Solo into a bespoke automation pipeline.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure you have completed the following:

System Readiness — your local environment meets all hardware and software requirements (Docker, kind, kubectl, helm, Solo).
Quickstart — you have a running Kind cluster and have run solo init at least once.

Set your environment variables if you have not already done so:

export SOLO_CLUSTER_NAME=solo
export SOLO_NAMESPACE=solo
export SOLO_CLUSTER_SETUP_NAMESPACE=solo-cluster
export SOLO_DEPLOYMENT=solo-deployment

Deployment Steps

1. Connect Cluster and Create Deployment

Connect Solo to the Kind cluster and create a new deployment configuration:

# Connect to the Kind cluster
solo cluster-ref config connect \
  --cluster-ref kind-${SOLO_CLUSTER_NAME} \
  --context kind-${SOLO_CLUSTER_NAME}

# Create a new deployment
solo deployment config create \
  -n "${SOLO_NAMESPACE}" \
  --deployment "${SOLO_DEPLOYMENT}"

Expected Output:

******************************* Solo *********************************************
Version   : 0.63.0
Kubernetes Context : kind-solo
Kubernetes Cluster : kind-solo
Current Command  : cluster-ref config connect --cluster-ref kind-solo --context kind-solo
**********************************************************************************
Initialize
✔ Initialize 
Validating cluster ref: 
✔ Validating cluster ref: kind-solo 
Test connection to cluster: 
✔ Test connection to cluster: kind-solo 
Associate a context with a cluster reference: 
✔ Associate a context with a cluster reference: kind-solo

2. Add Cluster to Deployment

Attach the cluster to your deployment and specify the number of consensus nodes:

1. Single node:

solo deployment cluster attach \
  --deployment "${SOLO_DEPLOYMENT}" \
  --cluster-ref kind-${SOLO_CLUSTER_NAME} \
  --num-consensus-nodes 1

2. Multiple nodes (e.g., –num-consensus-nodes 3):

solo deployment cluster attach \
  --deployment "${SOLO_DEPLOYMENT}" \
  --cluster-ref kind-${SOLO_CLUSTER_NAME} \
  --num-consensus-nodes 3

Expected Output:
```
solo-deployment_ADD_CLUSTER_OUTPUT
```

3. Generate Keys

Generate the gossip and TLS keys for your consensus nodes:

solo keys consensus generate \
  --gossip-keys \
  --tls-keys \
  --deployment "${SOLO_DEPLOYMENT}"

PEM key files are written to ~/.solo/cache/keys/.

Example output:

******************************* Solo *********************************************
Version   : 0.63.0
Kubernetes Context : kind-solo
Kubernetes Cluster : kind-solo
Current Command  : keys consensus generate --gossip-keys --tls-keys --deployment solo-deployment
**********************************************************************************
Initialize
✔ Initialize 
Generate gossip keys
Backup old files
✔ Backup old files 
Gossip key for node: node1
✔ Gossip key for node: node1 [0.2s]
✔ Generate gossip keys [0.2s]
Generate gRPC TLS Keys
Backup old files
TLS key for node: node1
✔ Backup old files 
✔ TLS key for node: node1 [0.3s]
✔ Generate gRPC TLS Keys [0.3s]
Finalize
✔ Finalize

4. Set Up Cluster with Shared Components

Install shared cluster-level components (MinIO Operator, Prometheus CRDs, etc.) into the cluster setup namespace:
```
solo cluster-ref config setup --cluster-setup-namespace "${SOLO_CLUSTER_SETUP_NAMESPACE}"
```

Example output:

******************************* Solo *********************************************
Version   : 0.63.0
Kubernetes Context : kind-solo
Kubernetes Cluster : kind-solo
Current Command  : cluster-ref config setup --cluster-setup-namespace solo-cluster
**********************************************************************************
Check dependencies
Check dependency: helm [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
Check dependency: kind [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
Check dependency: kubectl [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
✔ Check dependency: kind [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependency: helm [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependency: kubectl [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependencies 
Setup chart manager
✔ Setup chart manager [0.6s]
Initialize
✔ Initialize 
Install cluster charts
Install pod-monitor-role ClusterRole
-  ClusterRole pod-monitor-role already exists in context kind-solo, skipping
✔ Install pod-monitor-role ClusterRole 
Install MinIO Operator chart
✔ MinIO Operator chart installed successfully on context kind-solo
✔ Install MinIO Operator chart [0.8s]
✔ Install cluster charts [0.8s]

5. Deploy the Network

Deploy the Solo network Helm chart, which provisions the consensus node pods, HAProxy, Envoy, and MinIO:
```
solo consensus network deploy --deployment "${SOLO_DEPLOYMENT}"
```

Example output:

******************************* Solo *********************************************
Version   : 0.63.0
Kubernetes Context : kind-solo
Kubernetes Cluster : kind-solo
Current Command  : consensus network deploy --deployment solo-deployment --release-tag v0.66.0
**********************************************************************************
Check dependencies
Check dependency: helm [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
Check dependency: kind [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
Check dependency: kubectl [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
✔ Check dependency: kind [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependency: helm [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependency: kubectl [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependencies 
Setup chart manager
✔ Setup chart manager [0.7s]
Initialize
Acquire lock
✔ Acquire lock - lock acquired successfully, attempt: 1/10 
✔ Initialize [0.2s]
Copy gRPC TLS Certificates
Copy gRPC TLS Certificates [SKIPPED: Copy gRPC TLS Certificates]
Prepare staging directory
Copy Gossip keys to staging
✔ Copy Gossip keys to staging 
Copy gRPC TLS keys to staging
✔ Copy gRPC TLS keys to staging 
✔ Prepare staging directory 
Copy node keys to secrets
Copy TLS keys
Node: node1, cluster: kind-solo
Copy Gossip keys
✔ Copy TLS keys 
✔ Copy Gossip keys 
✔ Node: node1, cluster: kind-solo 
✔ Copy node keys to secrets 
Install monitoring CRDs
Pod Logs CRDs
✔ Pod Logs CRDs 
Prometheus Operator CRDs
- Installed prometheus-operator-crds chart, version: 24.0.2
✔ Prometheus Operator CRDs [4s]
✔ Install monitoring CRDs [4s]
Install chart 'solo-deployment'
- Installed solo-deployment chart, version: 0.62.0
✔ Install chart 'solo-deployment' [2s]
Check for load balancer
Check for load balancer [SKIPPED: Check for load balancer]
Redeploy chart with external IP address config
Redeploy chart with external IP address config [SKIPPED: Redeploy chart with external IP address config]
Check node pods are running
Check Node: node1, Cluster: kind-solo
✔ Check Node: node1, Cluster: kind-solo [24s]
✔ Check node pods are running [24s]
Check proxy pods are running
Check HAProxy for: node1, cluster: kind-solo
Check Envoy Proxy for: node1, cluster: kind-solo
✔ Check HAProxy for: node1, cluster: kind-solo 
✔ Check Envoy Proxy for: node1, cluster: kind-solo 
✔ Check proxy pods are running 
Check auxiliary pods are ready
Check MinIO
✔ Check MinIO 
✔ Check auxiliary pods are ready 
Add node and proxies to remote config
✔ Add node and proxies to remote config 
Copy wraps lib into consensus node
Copy wraps lib into consensus node [SKIPPED: Copy wraps lib into consensus node]
Copy block-nodes.json
✔ Copy block-nodes.json [1s]
Copy JFR config file to nodes
Copy JFR config file to nodes [SKIPPED: Copy JFR config file to nodes]

6. Set Up Consensus Nodes

Download the consensus node platform software and configure each node:

export CONSENSUS_NODE_VERSION=v0.66.0

solo consensus node setup \
  --deployment "${SOLO_DEPLOYMENT}" \
  --release-tag "${CONSENSUS_NODE_VERSION}"

Example output:

******************************* Solo *********************************************
Version   : 0.63.0
Kubernetes Context : kind-solo
Kubernetes Cluster : kind-solo
Current Command  : consensus node setup --deployment solo-deployment --release-tag v0.66.0
**********************************************************************************
Load configuration
✔ Load configuration [0.2s]
Initialize
✔ Initialize [0.2s]
Validate nodes states
Validating state for node node1
✔ Validating state for node node1 - valid state: requested 
✔ Validate nodes states 
Identify network pods
Check network pod: node1
✔ Check network pod: node1 
✔ Identify network pods 
Fetch platform software into network nodes
Update node: node1 [ platformVersion = v0.66.0, context = kind-solo ]
✔ Update node: node1 [ platformVersion = v0.66.0, context = kind-solo ] [3s]
✔ Fetch platform software into network nodes [3s]
Setup network nodes
Node: node1
Copy configuration files
✔ Copy configuration files [0.3s]
Set file permissions
✔ Set file permissions [0.4s]
✔ Node: node1 [0.8s]
✔ Setup network nodes [0.9s]
setup network node folders
✔ setup network node folders [0.1s]
Change node state to configured in remote config
✔ Change node state to configured in remote config

7. Start Consensus Nodes

Start all configured nodes and wait for them to reach ACTIVE status:
```
solo consensus node start --deployment "${SOLO_DEPLOYMENT}"
```

Example output:

******************************* Solo *********************************************
Version   : 0.63.0
Kubernetes Context : kind-solo
Kubernetes Cluster : kind-solo
Current Command  : consensus node start --deployment solo-deployment
**********************************************************************************
Check dependencies
Check dependency: helm [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
Check dependency: kind [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
Check dependency: kubectl [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
✔ Check dependency: kind [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependency: helm [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependency: kubectl [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependencies 
Setup chart manager
✔ Setup chart manager [0.7s]
Load configuration
✔ Load configuration [0.2s]
Initialize
✔ Initialize [0.2s]
Validate nodes states
Validating state for node node1
✔ Validating state for node node1 - valid state: configured 
✔ Validate nodes states 
Identify existing network nodes
Check network pod: node1
✔ Check network pod: node1 
✔ Identify existing network nodes 
Upload state files network nodes
Upload state files network nodes [SKIPPED: Upload state files network nodes]
Starting nodes
Start node: node1
✔ Start node: node1 [0.1s]
✔ Starting nodes [0.1s]
Enable port forwarding for debug port and/or GRPC port
Using requested port 50211
✔ Enable port forwarding for debug port and/or GRPC port 
Check all nodes are ACTIVE
Check network pod: node1 
✔ Check network pod: node1  - status ACTIVE, attempt: 16/300 [20s]
✔ Check all nodes are ACTIVE [20s]
Check node proxies are ACTIVE
Check proxy for node: node1
✔ Check proxy for node: node1 [6s]
✔ Check node proxies are ACTIVE [6s]
Wait for TSS
Wait for TSS [SKIPPED: Wait for TSS]
set gRPC Web endpoint
Using requested port 30212
✔ set gRPC Web endpoint [3s]
Change node state to started in remote config
✔ Change node state to started in remote config 
Add node stakes
Adding stake for node: node1
✔ Adding stake for node: node1 [4s]
✔ Add node stakes [4s]
Stopping port-forward for port [30212]

8. Deploy Mirror Node

Deploy the Hedera Mirror Node, which indexes all transaction data and exposes a REST API and gRPC endpoint:
```
solo mirror node add \
  --deployment "${SOLO_DEPLOYMENT}" \
  --cluster-ref kind-${SOLO_CLUSTER_NAME} \
  --enable-ingress \
  --pinger
```
The --pinger flag keeps the mirror node’s importer active by regularly submitting record files. The --enable-ingress flag installs the HAProxy ingress controller for the mirror node REST API.

Example output:

******************************* Solo *********************************************
Version   : 0.63.0
Kubernetes Context : kind-solo
Kubernetes Cluster : kind-solo
Current Command  : mirror node add --deployment solo-deployment --cluster-ref kind-solo --enable-ingress --quiet-mode
**********************************************************************************
Check dependencies
Check dependency: helm [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
Check dependency: kind [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
Check dependency: kubectl [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
✔ Check dependency: kind [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependency: helm [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependency: kubectl [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependencies 
Setup chart manager
✔ Setup chart manager [0.6s]
Initialize
Using requested port 30212
Acquire lock
✔ Acquire lock - lock acquired successfully, attempt: 1/10 [0.1s]
✔ Initialize [1s]
Enable mirror-node
Prepare address book
✔ Prepare address book 
Install mirror ingress controller
- Installed haproxy-ingress-1 chart, version: 0.14.5
✔ Install mirror ingress controller [0.7s]
Deploy mirror-node
- Installed mirror chart, version: v0.149.0
✔ Deploy mirror-node [3s]
✔ Enable mirror-node [4s]
Check pods are ready
Check Postgres DB
Check REST API
Check GRPC
Check Monitor
Check Web3
Check Importer
✔ Check Postgres DB [32s]
✔ Check Web3 [46s]
✔ Check REST API [52s]
✔ Check GRPC [58s]
✔ Check Monitor [1m16s]
✔ Check Importer [1m32s]
✔ Check pods are ready [1m32s]
Seed DB data
Insert data in public.file_data
✔ Insert data in public.file_data [0.6s]
✔ Seed DB data [0.6s]
Add mirror node to remote config
✔ Add mirror node to remote config 
Enable port forwarding for mirror ingress controller
Using requested port 8081
✔ Enable port forwarding for mirror ingress controller 
Stopping port-forward for port [30212]

9. Deploy Explorer

Deploy the Hiero Explorer, a web UI for browsing transactions and accounts:

solo explorer node add \
  --deployment "${SOLO_DEPLOYMENT}" \
  --cluster-ref kind-${SOLO_CLUSTER_NAME}

Example output:

******************************* Solo *********************************************
Version   : 0.63.0
Kubernetes Context : kind-solo
Kubernetes Cluster : kind-solo
Current Command  : explorer node add --deployment solo-deployment --cluster-ref kind-solo --quiet-mode
**********************************************************************************
Check dependencies
Check dependency: helm [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
Check dependency: kind [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
Check dependency: kubectl [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
✔ Check dependency: kind [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependency: helm [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependency: kubectl [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependencies 
Setup chart manager
✔ Setup chart manager [0.7s]
Initialize
Acquire lock
✔ Acquire lock - lock acquired successfully, attempt: 1/10 
✔ Initialize [0.5s]
Load remote config
✔ Load remote config [0.2s]
Install cert manager
Install cert manager [SKIPPED: Install cert manager]
Install explorer
- Installed hiero-explorer-1 chart, version: 26.0.0
✔ Install explorer [0.8s]
Install explorer ingress controller
Install explorer ingress controller [SKIPPED: Install explorer ingress controller]
Check explorer pod is ready
✔ Check explorer pod is ready [18s]
Check haproxy ingress controller pod is ready
Check haproxy ingress controller pod is ready [SKIPPED: Check haproxy ingress controller pod is ready]
Add explorer to remote config
✔ Add explorer to remote config 
Enable port forwarding for explorer
No port forward config found for Explorer
Using requested port 8080
✔ Enable port forwarding for explorer [0.1s]

10. Deploy JSON-RPC Relay

Deploy the Hiero JSON-RPC Relay to expose an Ethereum-compatible JSON-RPC endpoint for EVM tooling (MetaMask, Hardhat, Foundry, etc.):
```
solo relay node add \
  -i node1 \
  --deployment "${SOLO_DEPLOYMENT}"
```

Example output:

******************************* Solo *********************************************
Version   : 0.63.0
Kubernetes Context : kind-solo
Kubernetes Cluster : kind-solo
Current Command  : relay node add --node-aliases node1 --deployment solo-deployment --cluster-ref kind-solo
**********************************************************************************
Check dependencies
Check dependency: helm [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
Check dependency: kind [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
Check dependency: kubectl [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64]
✔ Check dependency: kind [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependency: helm [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependency: kubectl [OS: linux, Release: 6.8.0-106-generic, Arch: x64] 
✔ Check dependencies 
Setup chart manager
✔ Setup chart manager [0.7s]
Initialize
Acquire lock
✔ Acquire lock - lock acquired successfully, attempt: 1/10 
✔ Initialize [0.4s]
Check chart is installed
✔ Check chart is installed [0.1s]
Prepare chart values
Using requested port 30212
✔ Prepare chart values [1s]
Deploy JSON RPC Relay
- Installed relay-1 chart, version: 0.73.0
✔ Deploy JSON RPC Relay [0.7s]
Check relay is running
✔ Check relay is running [16s]
Check relay is ready
✔ Check relay is ready [21s]
Add relay component in remote config
✔ Add relay component in remote config 
Enable port forwarding for relay node
Using requested port 7546
✔ Enable port forwarding for relay node [0.1s]
Stopping port-forward for port [30212]

Cleanup

When you are done, destroy components in the reverse order of deployment.

Important: Always destroy components before destroying the network. Skipping this order can leave orphaned Helm releases and PVCs in your cluster.

1. Destroy JSON-RPC Relay

solo relay node destroy \
  -i node1 \
  --deployment "${SOLO_DEPLOYMENT}" \
  --cluster-ref kind-${SOLO_CLUSTER_NAME}

2. Destroy Mirror Node

solo mirror node destroy \
  --deployment "${SOLO_DEPLOYMENT}" \
  --force

3. Destroy Explorer

solo explorer node destroy \
  --deployment "${SOLO_DEPLOYMENT}" \
  --force

4. Destroy the Network

solo consensus network destroy \
  --deployment "${SOLO_DEPLOYMENT}" \
  --force

Last modified April 7, 2026: docs(site): add prev/next page navigation and fix markdown lint errors (#70) (5588ce6)

Step-by-Step Manual Deployment

Categories:

Tags:

Overview

Prerequisites

Deployment Steps

1. Connect Cluster and Create Deployment

2. Add Cluster to Deployment

1. Single node:

2. Multiple nodes (e.g., –num-consensus-nodes 3):

3. Generate Keys

4. Set Up Cluster with Shared Components

5. Deploy the Network

6. Set Up Consensus Nodes

7. Start Consensus Nodes

8. Deploy Mirror Node

9. Deploy Explorer

10. Deploy JSON-RPC Relay

Cleanup

1. Destroy JSON-RPC Relay

2. Destroy Mirror Node

3. Destroy Explorer

4. Destroy the Network