Using custom Bootnodes

What are Bootnodes?

Bootnodes on Ethereum refer to a specific type of node that serves as an entry point for new nodes to join the Ethereum network. These nodes are typically maintained by the Ethereum Foundation or other trusted entities, and they are responsible for helping new nodes find other nodes to connect to on the network.

When a new node wants to join the Ethereum network, it first needs to connect to one or more bootnodes. The bootnode will then provide the new node with a list of other nodes that it can connect to on the network. Once connected to these nodes, the new node can start participating in the Ethereum network by verifying transactions, executing smart contracts, and more.

Bootnodes are important for the health and security of the Ethereum network because they help ensure that new nodes can quickly and easily join the network, even if they don't know any other nodes to connect to. Additionally, bootnodes can help prevent certain types of attacks on the network, such as Sybil attacks, by only providing a limited number of node addresses to new nodes.

How to use custom bootnodes with Sedge

Sedge supports the use of custom bootnodes, which can be useful for testing and development purposes. To use custom bootnodes on the Execution Client, you can specify the --execution-bootnodes flag when starting Sedge. For example:

sedge generate full-node --execution-bootnodes enode://<bootnode-enode-url1>,enode://<bootnode-enode-ur2>,enode://<bootnode-enode-ur3>

If you want to modify the Consensus Client bootnodes, you can specify the --consensus-bootnodes flag when starting Sedge. For example:

sedge generate full-node --consensus-bootnodes enr:-<bootnode-enr-1>,enr:-<bootnode-enr-2>,enr:-<bootnode-enr-3>

Those examples can be applied to the Sedge commands that generate a node, such as sedge generate consensus or sedge geneate execution, setting in each case the bootnodes for the corresponding client, for

sedge generate consensus --consensus-bootnodes enr:-<bootnode-enr-1>,enr:-<bootnode-enr-2>,enr:-<bootnode-enr-3>

or

sedge generate execution --execution-bootnodes enode://<bootnode-enode-url1>,enode://<bootnode-enode-ur2>,enode://<bootnode-enode-ur3>