# Deploy Stacks RPC Node Stacks node requires a Bitcoin node to connect to on the back-end for [Proof of Transfer](https://docs.stacks.co/understand-stacks/proof-of-transfer). You can deploy a Bitcoin node using Kotal operator like we did in this [guide](https://docs.kotal.co/tutorials/bitcoin/rpc). In this tutorial, we will be using Bitcoin node hosted by Stacks Foundation. {% hint style="warning" %} Make sure Bitcoin node is fully synced before deploying your Stacks node. {% endhint %} ### Bitcoin node JSON-RPC user password Let's store Stacks Foundation Bitcoin node JSON-RPC password in a Kubernetes secret to be used by our node: {% code title="bitcoin-node-rpc-password.yaml" %} ```yaml apiVersion: v1 kind: Secret metadata: name: bitcoin-node-rpc-password stringData: password: blockstacksystem ``` {% endcode %} Apply `bitcoin-node-rpc-password.yaml` to create the password secret: ```bash kubectl apply -f bitcoin-node-rpc-password.yaml ``` ### Deploy Stacks RPC Node The following manifest describes a Stacks node that syncs Stacks mainnet `network: mainnet`, and connects to the bitcoin node using configurations in `bitcoinNode: ...` for Proof of Transfer: {% code title="stacks.yaml" %} ```yaml apiVersion: stacks.kotal.io/v1alpha1 kind: Node metadata: name: stacks-node spec: network: mainnet bitcoinNode: endpoint: bitcoin.blockstack.com rpcPort: 8332 p2pPort: 8333 rpcUsername: blockstack rpcPasswordSecretName: bitcoin-node-rpc-password ``` {% endcode %} Apply `stacks.yaml` manifest: ```bash kubectl apply -f stacks.yaml ``` Kotal operator will notice your `stacks-node` and will create all the necessary pods, persistent volumes, services, configmaps, and secrets neccessary. You can fetch the deployed Stacks `Node` using: ```bash kubectl get nodes.stacks ``` It will return an output similar to the following: ```bash NAME NETWORK CLIENT MINER stacks-node mainnet stacks false ``` ### Fetch Node Logs Get the pods that has been created by Kotal for the node: ```bash kubectl get pods ``` It will return an output similar to the following: ```bash NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE stacks-node-0 1/1 Running 0 1m ``` Get the logs of the running node: ```bash kubectl logs -f stacks-node-0 ``` It will return node logs similar to the following: ```bash INFO [1649597250.010714] [testnet/stacks-node/src/main.rs:113] [main] Loading config at path /home/stacks/kotal-config/config.toml INFO [1649597250.599067] [testnet/stacks-node/src/run_loop/neon.rs:341] [main] Start syncing Bitcoin headers, feel free to grab a cup of coffee, this can take a while INFO [1649597251.949664] [src/burnchains/bitcoin/spv.rs:923] [main] Syncing Bitcoin headers: 0.3% (2000 out of 731268) INFO [1649597253.010039] [src/burnchains/bitcoin/spv.rs:923] [main] Syncing Bitcoin headers: 0.5% (4000 out of 731268) INFO [1649597254.019798] [src/burnchains/bitcoin/spv.rs:923] [main] Syncing Bitcoin headers: 0.8% (6000 out of 731268) INFO [1649597254.992070] [src/burnchains/bitcoin/spv.rs:923] [main] Syncing Bitcoin headers: 1.1% (8000 out of 731268) INFO [1649597256.214756] [src/burnchains/bitcoin/spv.rs:923] [main] Syncing Bitcoin headers: 1.4% (10000 out of 731268) INFO [1649597257.276950] [src/burnchains/bitcoin/spv.rs:923] [main] Syncing Bitcoin headers: 1.6% (12000 out of 731268) INFO [1649597258.383248] [src/burnchains/bitcoin/spv.rs:923] [main] Syncing Bitcoin headers: 1.9% (14000 out of 731268) ... ``` ### Call JSON-RPC Method By default, Stacks node JSON-RPC server port is `20443`, which can be changed using `rpcPort`. Forward localhost:20443 calls to the node pod: ```bash kubectl port-forward bitcoin-node-0 20443 ``` {% hint style="warning" %} HTTP server will start after Bitcoin headers sync, till then you will get the following error if you tried to send JSON-RPC calls: ```bash curl: (52) Empty reply from server ``` {% endhint %} In another terminal window call `info` JSON-RPC method to retrieve information about the Core API including the server version: ```bash curl localhost:20443/v2/info ``` You will get JSON result similar to the following: ```json { "peer_version": 402653189, "pox_consensus": "9bed78c9f02d2ba5a5950fe88c4746436b47c730", "burn_block_height": 666051, "stable_pox_consensus": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000", "stable_burn_block_height": 666050, "server_version": "stacks-node No Version Info (No Branch Info:No Commit Info, release build, linux [x86_64])", "network_id": 1, "parent_network_id": 3652501241, "stacks_tip_height": 0, "stacks_tip": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000", "stacks_tip_consensus_hash": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000", "genesis_chainstate_hash": "74237aa39aa50a83de11a4f53e9d3bb7d43461d1de9873f402e5453ae60bc59b", "unanchored_tip": null, "unanchored_seq": null, "exit_at_block_height": null } ``` Finally you can delete the node by: ```bash kubectl delete -f stacks.yaml ``` Kubernetes garbage collector will delete all the resources that has been created by Stacks `Node` controller. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. 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