Solana Basic

Cluster in Solana

In Solana, a network is referred to as a cluster. There are four types of clusters:

  1. Mainnet Cluster: The live Solana network where real transactions occur. It is fully operational and supports all applications and services.
  2. Testnet Cluster: A public network that mimics the mainnet environment but is used for testing. It is more stable than Devnet and allows for testing with real-world conditions.
  3. Devnet Cluster: A public test network for developers to build and test applications. It is reset periodically, and users can obtain free tokens.
  4. Localnet: A local instance of the Solana blockchain that can be run on a developer's machine. It allows for quick testing without needing to connect to public networks.

Receive Latest Solana Configuration

To view the current Solana configuration, use:

solana config get

Example output:

Config File: /root/.config/solana/cli/config.yml
RPC URL: https://api.devnet.solana.com 
WebSocket URL: wss://api.devnet.solana.com/ (computed)
Keypair Path: /root/.config/solana/id.json
Commitment: confirmed

Explanation:

  • Config File: The location of the Solana CLI configuration file.
  • RPC URL: The endpoint for connecting to the cluster.
  • WebSocket URL: The endpoint for WebSocket connections to the cluster.
  • Keypair Path: The path to the default wallet used by Solana tools for network interactions.
  • Commitment: The level of transaction confirmation (e.g., confirmed or finalized).

Change the Configuration

To switch to a different cluster, use the following commands and verify with solana config get

# for Devnet
solana config set --url https://api.devnet.solana.com

# for Testnet
solana config set --url https://api.testnet.solana.com

# for Mainnet
solana config set --url https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com

# for Localnet
solana config set --url http://localhost:8899

Keypair

To interact with a Solana cluster, you need a wallet (also known as an account), which consists of a public key and a private key (collectively called a keypair). Create a new keypair with:

solana-keygen new -o ~/keypair-sample.json

The output includes the private key, for example:

[45, 132, 78, 23, 189, 67, 12, 234, 56, 199, 88, 145, 67, 23, 90, 175, 200, 11, 67, 150, 34, 78, 245, 123, 67, 89, 12, 45, 67, 234, 199, 56, 78, 145, 23, 67, 90, 175, 200, 11, 67, 150, 34, 78, 245, 123, 67, 89, 12, 45, 67, 234, 199, 56, 78, 145, 23, 67, 90, 175, 200, 11]

Retrieve the Public Key

Retrieve the public key using either of these commands:

# 1
solana-keygen publickey ./publickey-file.json

# 2
solana address -k ./publickey-file.json

Scanners

Solana offers two blockchain explorers:

  1. SolScan
  2. Solana Explorer

Balance

To check an account’s balance, use one of these commands. Ensure the configuration matches the desired cluster (solana config get), or specify the cluster explicitly:

# Option 1
solana balance <your-publickey>

# Option 2
solana balance $(solana address -k ./publickey-file.json)

# Option 3: Specify the cluster
solana balance $(solana address -k ./publickey-file.json) --url https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com

To airdrop free SOL on Devnet or Testnet, use:

solana airdrop 1 $(solana address -k ./publickey-file.json)

The command returns a transaction signature, which can be verified on Solana Explorer.

Web-based Faucets:

Transfer

To transfer SOL to another account:

  • --allow-unfunded-recipient: Allows the sender to pay a one-time rent fee if the recipient lacks sufficient SOL.

  • --fee-payer: Specifies whether the sender or receiver pays the transaction fee.

solana transfer --from <keypair-privatekey-sender> <publickey-receiver> value options

solana transfer --from ./publickey-file.json $(solana address -k ./publickey-file2.json) 1 --allow-unfunded-recipient --fee-payer ./publickey-file.json

Localnet Cluster

Run a local Solana cluster with, then availe on localhost:8899:

solana-test-validator

# another option
anchor localnet

To reset previous data

solana-test-validator -r

To run the Localnet with generated wallets:

solana-test-validator -r --account <publicAddr1> wallet1.json --account <publicAddr2> wallet2.json --account <publicAddr3> wallet3.json

Example wallet.json structure:

{
  "pubkey": "9on95coWwbYJpDkFWv35koXWpGcEA4WyB4gwG7nUo2yi",
  "account": {
    "lamports": 500000000000000000,
    "data": [
      "",
      "base64"
    ],
    "owner": "11111111111111111111111111111111",
    "executable": false,
    "rentEpoch": 0,
    "space": 0
  }
}
All Rights Reserved