Dingo Node Setup

✅ This guide assumes a typical Linux setup. Please adjust commands and paths as needed.

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Step 1 - Create Working Directory

We will create a directory for all our files related to the pool setup.

First export directory path to .bashrc by running:

echo 'export DINGO_HOME=~/dingo-testnet-preview' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Next create directory:

mkdir -p "$DINGO_HOME"

✅ You can verify by running:

echo $DINGO_HOME

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Step 2 - Download Dingo Binary

Download the latest release from the Dingo releases page.

⚠️ Adjust the version and architecture to match your system.

cd $DINGO_HOME
wget https://github.com/blinklabs-io/dingo/releases/download/v0.70.10/dingo-v0.70.10-linux-amd64.tar.gz -O - | tar -xz

✅ You can verify the binary version by running:

./dingo version

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Move the Dingo binary to /usr/local/bin/ so it is accessible system-wide.

Copy the binary:

sudo cp $DINGO_HOME/dingo /usr/local/bin/

✅ You can verify the binary was copied by running:

which dingo

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Step 3 - Download the Cardano-CLI Binary

Download the Cardano-CLI binary and run the following command:

cd $DINGO_HOME
wget https://github.com/IntersectMBO/cardano-cli/releases/download/cardano-cli-11.2.3.1/cardano-cli-11.2.3.1-x86_64-linux.tar.gz -O - | tar -xz

The Cardano-CLI latest releases repo can be found here: https://github.com/IntersectMBO/cardano-cli/releases page.

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Move cardano-cli to /usr/local/bin by running:

sudo mv cardano-cli-x86_64-linux /usr/local/bin/cardano-cli

✅ You can verify the cardano-cli version by running:

cardano-cli version

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We need the Shelley Genesis JSON file to run some of our CLI commands.

For this example, we will use the following directory structure: $DINGO_HOME/config/. The following command will create the directory and move into that directory:

mkdir -p "$DINGO_HOME/config" && cd "$DINGO_HOME/config"

To download the Shelley Genesis file, run:

wget https://book.play.dev.cardano.org/environments/preview/shelley-genesis.json

💡 Tip: Cardano Configuration Files can be found at https://book.play.dev.cardano.org/env-preview.html

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Step 4 - Add Environment Variables

Open your bashrc:

nano ~/.bashrc

Add the environment variables:

export CARDANO_NODE_NETWORK_ID=2
export CARDANO_NODE_SOCKET_PATH="$DINGO_HOME/dingo.socket"

💡 Tip: 2 = Preview.

Save and exit.

Reload your bashrc:

source ~/.bashrc

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✅ You can verify your environment variables by running:

echo $CARDANO_NODE_NETWORK_ID

echo $CARDANO_NODE_SOCKET_PATH

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Step 5 - Create dingo.yaml Configuration File

Dingo ships with embedded Cardano network configurations (genesis files and config.json) for preview, preprod, and mainnet. So you do not need to download them separately.

• First create needed directories:

sudo mkdir -p /etc/dingo

Then create the .dingo directory:

mkdir -p $DINGO_HOME/.dingo

• Then create dingo.yaml file:

The $DINGO_HOME variable will automatically expand to your home directory path in the command provided below.

sudo bash -c "cat <<EOF > /etc/dingo/dingo.yaml
# Global data directory for both blob and metadata storage plugins.
# Can be overridden with CARDANO_DATABASE_PATH or --data-dir.
databasePath: \"$DINGO_HOME/.dingo\"

# Network
network: \"preview\"
relayPort: 3001
socketPath: \"$DINGO_HOME/dingo.socket\"

EOF"

You can view and check your dingo.yaml file by running:

sudo nano /etc/dingo/dingo.yaml

💡 Tip: Make sure port 3001 is open.

sudo ufw allow 3001/tcp

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Step 6 - Create dingo.service Unit File

Create the systemd service file. ⚠️ Replace YOUR_USER with your Linux username (run echo $USER to confirm):

cat <<ENDFILE | sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/dingo.service > /dev/null
[Unit]
Description=Dingo Node
After=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10
User=YOUR_USER
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/dingo serve --config /etc/dingo/dingo.yaml
SyslogIdentifier=dingo
TimeoutStopSec=5

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
ENDFILE

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✅ You can view and check your dingo.service file by running:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/dingo.service

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Step 7 - Enable and Start the Service

Enable the service to start on boot, then start it:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable dingo.service
sudo systemctl start dingo.service

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Step 8 - Check Status

✅ Verify the service is running:

sudo systemctl status dingo.service

To follow the logs in real time:

sudo journalctl -u dingo -f

To see recent logs if there is an error:

sudo journalctl -u dingo -n 50 --no-pager

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Congratulations! Your Dingo node should now be syncing.

Make sure the node is fully synced before proceeding.

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Run this command to see if the node is 100% synced.

cardano-cli query tip

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