Use the Aptos CLI

The aptos tool is a command line interface (CLI) for developing on the Aptos blockchain, debugging, and for node operations. This document describes how to use the aptos CLI tool. To download or build the CLI, follow Install Aptos CLI.

Command line help

Command line help is available. Type aptos help or aptos --help to see the available command options. See below the usage output from aptos --help:

USAGE:
    aptos <SUBCOMMAND>

OPTIONS:
    -h, --help       Print help information
    -V, --version    Print version information

SUBCOMMANDS:
    account       Tool for interacting with accounts
    config        Tool for interacting with configuration of the Aptos CLI tool
    genesis       Tool for setting up an Aptos chain Genesis transaction
    governance    Tool for on-chain governance
    help          Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)
    info          Show build information about the CLI
    init          Tool to initialize current directory for the aptos tool
    key           Tool for generating, inspecting, and interacting with keys
    move          Tool for Move related operations
    multisig      Tool for interacting with multisig accounts
    node          Tool for operations related to nodes
    stake         Tool for manipulating stake and stake pools
    update        Update the CLI itself

Command-specific help

Command-specific help is also available. For example, see below the usage output from aptos move --help:

USAGE:
    aptos move <SUBCOMMAND>

OPTIONS:
    -h, --help       Print help information
    -V, --version    Print version information

SUBCOMMANDS:
    clean
            Cleans derived artifacts of a package
    compile
            Compiles a package and returns the [`ModuleId`]s
    download
            Downloads a package and stores it in a directory named after the package
    help
            Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)
    init
            Creates a new Move package at the given location
    list
            Lists information about packages and modules on-chain
    prove
            Proves the Move package
    publish
            Publishes the modules in a Move package to the Aptos blockchain
    run
            Run a Move function
    test
            Runs Move unit tests for a package
    transactional-test
            Run Move transactional tests

Sub-command help

Help for sub-commands is also available. For example, see below the usage output from aptos move compile --help:

USAGE:
    aptos move compile [OPTIONS]

OPTIONS:
    -h, --help
            Print help information

        --named-addresses <NAMED_ADDRESSES>
            Named addresses for the move binary

            Example: alice=0x1234,bob=0x5678

            Note: This will fail if there are duplicates in the Move.toml file remove those first. Also make sure there's no space in between named addresses if more than one is provided.

            [default: ]

        --output-dir <OUTPUT_DIR>
            Path to save the compiled move package

            Defaults to `<package_dir>/build`

        --package-dir <PACKAGE_DIR>
            Path to a move package (the folder with a Move.toml file)

    -V, --version
            Print version information

CLI information

Run the aptos info command to get the CLI information for debugging purposes. See an example output of the aptos info command:

{
  "Result": {
    "build_branch": "testnet",
    "build_cargo_version": "cargo 1.62.1 (a748cf5a3 2022-06-08)",
    "build_commit_hash": "f8bf8fdeec33c8c6ff3d1cbaf4990b9e54c2176a",
    "build_os": "macos-x86_64",
    "build_pkg_version": "0.3.2",
    "build_rust_channel": "1.62.1-x86_64-apple-darwin",
    "build_rust_version": "rustc 1.62.1 (e092d0b6b 2022-07-16)",
    "build_tag": "",
    "build_time": "2022-08-26 22:27:31 +00:00"
  }
}

Configuration examples

Configuration for the CLI works like this:

In the current working directory for local runs

1. Your configurations are in a local YAML configuration file .aptos/config.yaml, i.e., located in the current working directory where you run the CLI. In this case you must run your CLI commands from this current working directory for this configuration to be used.

2. You can verify that the CLI is set to use this local configuration YAML file by running the command:

   aptos config show-global-config

   You should see the below output:

   {
     "Result": {
       "config_type": "Workspace"
     }
   }

   The Workspace value for the config_type indicates that the .aptos/config.yaml file is used for the CLI configuration.

In the home directory for the global runs

1. Your configurations are in a global YAML configuration file ~/.aptos/global_config.yaml, i.e., located in your home directory.
2. Set the CLI to use this global configuration YAML file by running this command:

   aptos config set-global-config --config-type global
   You will see the below output:

   {
     "Result": {
       "config_type": "Global"
     }
   }
   You can also show the global configuration with the show-global-config command.

   $ aptos config show-global-config
   {
     "Result": {
       "config_type": "Global"
     }
   }

Default configuration

If you did not set any global configuration, then the ./.aptos/config.yaml in the current working directory is used for configuration.

Setting up shell completion

You can set up shell completions with the generate-shell-completions command. You can lookup configuration for your specific shell. The supported shells are [bash, zsh, fish, powershell, elvish]. An example is below for oh my zsh.

aptos config generate-shell-completions --shell zsh --output-file ~/.oh-my-zsh/completions/_aptos

Initialize local configuration and create an account

A local folder named .aptos/ will be created with a configuration config.yaml which can be used to store configuration between CLI runs. This is local to your run, so you will need to continue running CLI from this folder, or reinitialize in another folder.

Step 1: Run Aptos init

The aptos init command will initialize the configuration with the private key you provided.

$ aptos init
Configuring for profile default
Enter your rest endpoint [Current: None | No input: https://fullnode.devnet.aptoslabs.com]

No rest url given, using https://fullnode.devnet.aptoslabs.com...
Enter your faucet endpoint [Current: None | No input: https://faucet.devnet.aptoslabs.com]

No faucet url given, using https://faucet.devnet.aptoslabs.com...
Enter your private key as a hex literal (0x...) [Current: None | No input: Generate new key (or keep one if present)]

No key given, generating key...
Account 00f1f20ddd0b0dd2291b6e42c97274668c479bca70f07c6b6a80b99720779696 doesn't exist, creating it and funding it with 10000 coins
Aptos is now set up for account 00f1f20ddd0b0dd2291b6e42c97274668c479bca70f07c6b6a80b99720779696!  Run `aptos help` for more information about commands

{
  "Result": "Success"
}

Step 2: Changing the configuration

To change the configuration, you can either run the command aptos init or you can manually edit the .aptos/config.yaml that is in your current working directory.

Creating other profiles

You can also create other profiles for different endpoints and different keys. These can be made by adding the --profile argument, and can be used in most other commands to replace command line arguments.

$ aptos init --profile superuser
Configuring for profile superuser
Enter your rest endpoint [Current: None | No input: https://fullnode.devnet.aptoslabs.com]

No rest url given, using https://fullnode.devnet.aptoslabs.com...
Enter your faucet endpoint [Current: None | No input: https://faucet.devnet.aptoslabs.com]

No faucet url given, using https://faucet.devnet.aptoslabs.com...
Enter your private key as a hex literal (0x...) [Current: None | No input: Generate new key (or keep one if present)]

No key given, generating key...
Account 18B61497FD290B02BB0751F44381CADA1657C2B3AA6194A00D9BC9A85FAD3B04 doesn't exist, creating it and funding it with 10000 coins
Aptos is now set up for account 18B61497FD290B02BB0751F44381CADA1657C2B3AA6194A00D9BC9A85FAD3B04!  Run `aptos help` for more information about commands
{
  "Result": "Success"
}

Account examples

Fund an account with the faucet

You can fund an account with the faucet via the CLI by using either an account address or with default (which defaults to the account address created with aptos init).

For example, to fund the account 00f1f20ddd0b0dd2291b6e42c97274668c479bca70f07c6b6a80b99720779696 that was created above with the aptos init command:

$ aptos account fund-with-faucet --account 00f1f20ddd0b0dd2291b6e42c97274668c479bca70f07c6b6a80b99720779696
{
  "Result": "Added 10000 coins to account 00f1f20ddd0b0dd2291b6e42c97274668c479bca70f07c6b6a80b99720779696"
}

$ aptos account fund-with-faucet --account default
{
  "Result": "Added 10000 coins to account 00f1f20ddd0b0dd2291b6e42c97274668c479bca70f07c6b6a80b99720779696"
}

View an account's balance and transfer events

You can view the balance and transfer events (deposits and withdrawals) either by explicitly specifying the account address, as below:

$ aptos account list --query balance --account 00f1f20ddd0b0dd2291b6e42c97274668c479bca70f07c6b6a80b99720779696

or by specifying the default as below:

$ aptos account list --query balance --account default

Both the above commands will generate the following information on your terminal:

{
  "Result": [
    {
      "coin": {
        "value": "110000"
      },
      "deposit_events": {
        "counter": "3",
        "guid": {
          "id": {
            "addr": "0xf1f20ddd0b0dd2291b6e42c97274668c479bca70f07c6b6a80b99720779696",
            "creation_num": "2"
          }
        }
      },
      "frozen": false,
      "withdraw_events": {
        "counter": "0",
        "guid": {
          "id": {
            "addr": "0xf1f20ddd0b0dd2291b6e42c97274668c479bca70f07c6b6a80b99720779696",
            "creation_num": "3"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Listing resources in an account

You can list the resources in an account from the command line. For example, see below for how to list the resources in the account you just created above:

$ aptos account list --query resources --account default

or

$ aptos account list --query resources --account 0xf1f20ddd0b0dd2291b6e42c97274668c479bca70f07c6b6a80b99720779696

Both the above commands will generate the following resource list information on your terminal:

{
  "Result": [
    {
      "0x1::coin::CoinStore<0x1::aptos_coin::AptosCoin>": {
        "coin": {
          "value": "110000"
        },
        "deposit_events": {
          "counter": "3",
          "guid": {
            "id": {
              "addr": "0xf1f20ddd0b0dd2291b6e42c97274668c479bca70f07c6b6a80b99720779696",
              "creation_num": "2"
            }
          }
        },
        "frozen": false,
        "withdraw_events": {
          "counter": "0",
          "guid": {
            "id": {
              "addr": "0xf1f20ddd0b0dd2291b6e42c97274668c479bca70f07c6b6a80b99720779696",
              "creation_num": "3"
            }
          }
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "0x1::account::Account": {
        "authentication_key": "0x00f1f20ddd0b0dd2291b6e42c97274668c479bca70f07c6b6a80b99720779696",
        "coin_register_events": {
          "counter": "1",
          "guid": {
            "id": {
              "addr": "0xf1f20ddd0b0dd2291b6e42c97274668c479bca70f07c6b6a80b99720779696",
              "creation_num": "0"
            }
          }
        },
        "guid_creation_num": "4",
        "key_rotation_events": {
          "counter": "0",
          "guid": {
            "id": {
              "addr": "0xf1f20ddd0b0dd2291b6e42c97274668c479bca70f07c6b6a80b99720779696",
              "creation_num": "1"
            }
          }
        },
        "rotation_capability_offer": {
          "for": {
            "vec": []
          }
        },
        "sequence_number": "0",
        "signer_capability_offer": {
          "for": {
            "vec": []
          }
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

List the default profile

You can also list the default profile from configuration with no account specified.

tip

Account addresses may differ from example to example in this section.

$ aptos account list
{
  "Result": [
    {
      "coin": {
        "value": "10000"
      },
      "deposit_events": {
        "counter": "1",
        "guid": {
          "id": {
            "addr": "0xb9bd2cfa58ca29bce1d7add25fce5c62220604cd0236fe3f90d9de91ed9fb8cb",
            "creation_num": "1"
          }
        }
      },
      "withdraw_events": {
        "counter": "0",
        "guid": {
          "id": {
            "addr": "0xb9bd2cfa58ca29bce1d7add25fce5c62220604cd0236fe3f90d9de91ed9fb8cb",
            "creation_num": "2"
          }
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "register_events": {
        "counter": "1",
        "guid": {
          "id": {
            "addr": "0xb9bd2cfa58ca29bce1d7add25fce5c62220604cd0236fe3f90d9de91ed9fb8cb",
            "creation_num": "0"
          }
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "counter": "3"
    },
    {
      "authentication_key": "0xb9bd2cfa58ca29bce1d7add25fce5c62220604cd0236fe3f90d9de91ed9fb8cb",
      "self_address": "0xb9bd2cfa58ca29bce1d7add25fce5c62220604cd0236fe3f90d9de91ed9fb8cb",
      "sequence_number": "0"
    }
  ]
}

Use the name of the profile

Additionally, any place that takes an account can use the name of a profile:

$ aptos account list --query resources --account superuser
{
  "Result": [
    {
      "coin": {
        "value": "10000"
      },
      "deposit_events": {
        "counter": "1",
        "guid": {
          "id": {
            "addr": "0x742854f7dca56ea6309b51e8cebb830b12623f9c9d76c72c3242e4cad353dedc",
            "creation_num": "1"
          }
        }
      },
      "withdraw_events": {
        "counter": "0",
        "guid": {
          "id": {
            "addr": "0x742854f7dca56ea6309b51e8cebb830b12623f9c9d76c72c3242e4cad353dedc",
            "creation_num": "2"
          }
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "register_events": {
        "counter": "1",
        "guid": {
          "id": {
            "addr": "0x742854f7dca56ea6309b51e8cebb830b12623f9c9d76c72c3242e4cad353dedc",
            "creation_num": "0"
          }
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "counter": "3"
    },
    {
      "authentication_key": "0x742854f7dca56ea6309b51e8cebb830b12623f9c9d76c72c3242e4cad353dedc",
      "self_address": "0x742854f7dca56ea6309b51e8cebb830b12623f9c9d76c72c3242e4cad353dedc",
      "sequence_number": "0"
    }
  ]
}

Listing modules in an account

You can pass different types of queries to view different items under an account. Currently, 'resources' and 'modules' are supported but more query types are coming. For example, to fetch modules:

$ aptos account list --query modules
{
  "Result": [
    {
      "bytecode": "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",
      "abi": {
        "address": "0xb9bd2cfa58ca29bce1d7add25fce5c62220604cd0236fe3f90d9de91ed9fb8cb",
        "name": "Message",
        "friends": [],
        "exposed_functions": [
          {
            "name": "get_message",
            "visibility": "public",
            "is_entry": false,
            "generic_type_params": [],
            "params": [
              "address"
            ],
            "return": [
              "0x1::string::String"
            ]
          },
          {
            "name": "set_message",
            "visibility": "public",
            "is_entry": true,
            "generic_type_params": [],
            "params": [
              "signer",
              "vector<u8>"
            ],
            "return": []
          }
        ],
        "structs": [
          {
            "name": "MessageChangeEvent",
            "is_native": false,
            "abilities": [
              "drop",
              "store"
            ],
            "generic_type_params": [],
            "fields": [
              {
                "name": "from_message",
                "type": "0x1::string::String"
              },
              {
                "name": "to_message",
                "type": "0x1::string::String"
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "name": "MessageHolder",
            "is_native": false,
            "abilities": [
              "key"
            ],
            "generic_type_params": [],
            "fields": [
              {
                "name": "message",
                "type": "0x1::string::String"
              },
              {
                "name": "message_change_events",
                "type": "0x1::event::EventHandle<0xb9bd2cfa58ca29bce1d7add25fce5c62220604cd0236fe3f90d9de91ed9fb8cb::Message::MessageChangeEvent>"
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

Transferring coins

The Aptos CLI is a simple wallet as well, and can transfer coins between accounts.

$ aptos account transfer --account superuser --amount 100
{
  "Result": {
    "gas_used": 73,
    "balance_changes": {
      "742854f7dca56ea6309b51e8cebb830b12623f9c9d76c72c3242e4cad353dedc": {
        "coin": {
          "value": "10100"
        },
        "deposit_events": {
          "counter": "2",
          "guid": {
            "id": {
              "addr": "0x742854f7dca56ea6309b51e8cebb830b12623f9c9d76c72c3242e4cad353dedc",
              "creation_num": "1"
            }
          }
        },
        "withdraw_events": {
          "counter": "0",
          "guid": {
            "id": {
              "addr": "0x742854f7dca56ea6309b51e8cebb830b12623f9c9d76c72c3242e4cad353dedc",
              "creation_num": "2"
            }
          }
        }
      },
      "b9bd2cfa58ca29bce1d7add25fce5c62220604cd0236fe3f90d9de91ed9fb8cb": {
        "coin": {
          "value": "9827"
        },
        "deposit_events": {
          "counter": "1",
          "guid": {
            "id": {
              "addr": "0xb9bd2cfa58ca29bce1d7add25fce5c62220604cd0236fe3f90d9de91ed9fb8cb",
              "creation_num": "1"
            }
          }
        },
        "withdraw_events": {
          "counter": "1",
          "guid": {
            "id": {
              "addr": "0xb9bd2cfa58ca29bce1d7add25fce5c62220604cd0236fe3f90d9de91ed9fb8cb",
              "creation_num": "2"
            }
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "sender": "b9bd2cfa58ca29bce1d7add25fce5c62220604cd0236fe3f90d9de91ed9fb8cb",
    "success": true,
    "version": 1139,
    "vm_status": "Executed successfully"
  }
}

Key examples

Generating a key

To allow generating private keys, you can use the aptos key generate command. You can generate either x25519 or ed25519 keys.

$ aptos key generate --key-type ed25519 --output-file output.key
{
  "Result": {
    "PrivateKey Path": "output.key",
    "PublicKey Path": "output.key.pub"
  }
}

Generating a vanity prefix key

If you are generating an ed25519 key, you can optionally supply a vanity prefix for the corresponding account address:

$ aptos key generate --output-file starts_with_ace.key --vanity-prefix 0xace
{
  "Result": {
    "PrivateKey Path": "starts_with_ace.key",
    "PublicKey Path": "starts_with_ace.key.pub",
    "Account Address:": "0xaceffa015e51dcd32c34794c143e19185b3f1be5464dd6184239a37e57e72ea3"
  }
}

This works for multisig accounts too:

% aptos key generate --output-file starts_with_bee.key --vanity-prefix 0xbee --vanity-multisig
{
  "Result": {
    "PrivateKey Path": "starts_with_bee.key",
    "PublicKey Path": "starts_with_bee.key.pub",
    "Account Address:": "0x384cf987aab625f9727684d4dda8de668abedc18aa8dceabd7651a1cfb69196f",
    "Multisig Account Address:": "0xbee0797c577428249125f6ed7f4a2a5939ddc34389294bd9f5d1627508832f56"
  }
}

Note the vanity flag documentation from the aptos key generate help:

--vanity-multisig
    Use this flag when vanity prefix is for a multisig account. This mines a private key for
    a single signer account that can, as its first transaction, create a multisig account
    with the given vanity prefix

--vanity-prefix <VANITY_PREFIX>
    Vanity prefix that resultant account address should start with, e.g. 0xaceface or d00d.
    Each additional character multiplies by a factor of 16 the computational difficulty
    associated with generating an address, so try out shorter prefixes first and be prepared
    to wait for longer ones

tip

If you want even faster vanity address generation for long prefixes, try out the parallelism-optimized optivanity tool from Econia Labs

Generating a peer config

To allow others to connect to your node, you need to generate a peer configuration. Below command shows how you can use the aptos CLI to generate a peer configuration and write it into a file named peer_config.yaml.

$ aptos key extract-peer --output-file peer_config.yaml

The above command will generate the following output on the terminal:

{
  "Result": {
    "8cfb85603080b13013b57e2e80887c695cfecd7ad8217d1cac22fa6f3b0b5752": {
      "addresses": [],
      "keys": [
        "0x8cfb85603080b13013b57e2e80887c695cfecd7ad8217d1cac22fa6f3b0b5752"
      ],
      "role": "Upstream"
    }
  }
}

The peer_config.yaml file will be created in your current working directory, with the contents as shown in the below example:

---
8cfb85603080b13013b57e2e80887c695cfecd7ad8217d1cac22fa6f3b0b5752:
  addresses: []
  keys:
    - "0x8cfb85603080b13013b57e2e80887c695cfecd7ad8217d1cac22fa6f3b0b5752"
  role: Upstream

Note: In the addresses key, you should fill in your address.

Move Examples

Move examples can be found in the Move section.

Node command examples

This section summarizes how to run a local testnet with Aptos CLI. See Run a Local Testnet with Aptos CLI for more details.

For Aptos CLI commands applicable to validator nodes, see the Owner and Voter instructions.

Running a local testnet

You can run a local testnet from the aptos CLI, that will match the version it was built with. Additionally, it can run a faucet side by side with the local single node testnet.

$ aptos node run-local-testnet --with-faucet
Completed generating configuration:
        Log file: "/Users/greg/.aptos/testnet/validator.log"
        Test dir: "/Users/greg/.aptos/testnet"
        Aptos root key path: "/Users/greg/.aptos/testnet/mint.key"
        Waypoint: 0:d302c6b10e0fa68bfec9cdb383f24ef1189d8850d50b832365eea21ae52d8101
        ChainId: TESTING
        REST API endpoint: 0.0.0.0:8080
        Fullnode network: /ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/6181

Aptos is running, press ctrl-c to exit

This will have consistent state if the node is shutdown, it will start with the previous state. If you want to restart the chain from genesis, you can add the --force-restart flag.

$ aptos node run-local-testnet --with-faucet --force-restart
Are you sure you want to delete the existing chain? [yes/no] >
yes
Completed generating configuration:
        Log file: "/Users/greg/.aptos/testnet/validator.log"
        Test dir: "/Users/greg/.aptos/testnet"
        Aptos root key path: "/Users/greg/.aptos/testnet/mint.key"
        Waypoint: 0:649efc34c813d0db8db6fa5b1ffc9cc62f726bb5168e7f4b8730bb155d6213ea
        ChainId: TESTING
        REST API endpoint: 0.0.0.0:8080
        Fullnode network: /ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/6181

Aptos is running, press ctrl-c to exit

Genesis ceremonies

The aptos tool supports bootstrapping new blockchains through what is known as a genesis ceremony. The output of the genesis ceremony is the output of move instructions that prepares a blockchain for online operation. The input consists of:

• A set of validators and their configuration
• The initial set of Move modules, known as a framework
• A unique ChainId (u8) that distinguishes this from other deployments
• For test chains, there also exists an account that manages the minting of AptosCoin

Generating genesis

• The genesis organizer constructs a Layout and distributes it.
• The genesis organizer prepares the Aptos framework's bytecode and distributes it.
• Each participant generates their ValidatorConfiguration and distributes it.
• Each participant generates a genesis.blob from the resulting contributions
• The genesis organizer executes the genesis.blob to derive the initial waypoint and distributes it.
• Each participant begins their aptos-node. The aptos-node verifies upon startup that the genesis.blob with the waypoint provided by the genesis organizer .
• The blockchain will begin consensus after a quorum of stake is available.

Prepare aptos-core

The following sections rely on tools from the Aptos source. See Building Aptos From Source for setup.

The layout file

The layout file contains:

• root_key: an Ed25519 public key for AptosCoin management.
• users: the set of participants
• chain_id: the ChainId or a unique integer that distinguishes this deployment from other Aptos networks

An example:

root_key: "0xca3579457555c80fc7bb39964eb298c414fd60f81a2f8eedb0244ec07a26e575"
users:
  - alice
  - bob
chain_id: 8

Building the Aptos Framework

From your Aptos-core repository, build the framework and package it:

cargo run --package framework
mkdir aptos-framework-release
cp aptos-framework/releases/artifacts/current/build/**/bytecode_modules/* aptos-framework-release

The framework will be stored within the aptos-framework-release directory.

The ValidatorConfiguration file

The ValidatorConfiguration file contains:

• account_address: The account that manages this validator. This must be derived from the account_key provided within the ValidatorConfiguration file.
• consensus_key: The public key for authenticating consensus messages from the validator
• account_key: The public key for the account that manages this validator. This is used to derive the account_address.
• network_key: The public key for both validator and fullnode network authentication and encryption.
• validator_host: The network address where the validator resides. This contains a host and port field. The host should either be a DNS name or an IP address. Currently only IPv4 is supported.
• full_node_host: An optional network address where the fullnode resides. This contains a host and port field. The host should either be a DNS name or an IP address. Currently only IPv4 is supported.
• stake_amount: The number of coins being staked by this node. This is expected to be 1, if it is different the configuration will be considered invalid.

An example:

account_address: ccd49f3ea764365ac21e99f029ca63a9b0fbfab1c8d8d5482900e4fa32c5448a
consensus_key: "0xa05b8f41057ac72f9ca99f5e3b1b787930f03ba5e448661f2a1fac98371775ee"
account_key: "0x3d15ab64c8b14c9aab95287fd0eb894aad0b4bd929a5581bcc8225b5688f053b"
network_key: "0x43ce1a4ac031b98bb1ee4a5cd72a4cca0fd72933d64b22cef4f1a61895c2e544"
validator_host:
  host: bobs_host
  port: 6180
full_node_host:
  host: bobs_host
  port: 6182
stake_amount: 1

To generate this using the aptos CLI:

1. Generate your validator's keys:

cargo run --package aptos -- genesis generate-keys --output-dir bobs

2. Generate your ValidatorConfiguration:

cargo run --package aptos -- \\
    genesis set-validator-configuration \\
    --keys-dir bobs \\
    --username bob \\
    --validator-host bobs_host:6180 \\
    --full-node-host bobs_host:6180 \\
    --local-repository-dir .

3. The last command will produce a bob.yaml file that should be distributed to other participants for genesis.blob generation.

Generating a genesis and waypoint

genesis.blob and the waypoint can be generated after obtaining the layout file, each of the individual ValidatorConfiguration files, and the framework release. It is important to validate that the ValidatorConfiguration provided in the earlier stage is the same as in the distribution for generating the genesis.blob. If there is a mismatch, inform all participants.

To generate the genesis.blob and waypoint:

• Place the layout file in a directory, e.g., genesis.
• Place all the ValidatorConfiguration files into the genesis directory.
• Ensure that the ValidatorConfiguration files are listed under the set of users within the layout file.
• Make a framework directory within the genesiss directory and place the framework release .mv files into the framework directory.
• Use the aptos CLI to generate genesis and waypoint:

cargo run --package aptos -- genesis generate-genesis --local-repository-dir genesis

Starting an aptos-node

Upon generating the genesis.blob and waypoint, place them into your validator and fullnode's configuration directory and begin your validator and fullnode.