# Creating a Private Network using Clique (Proof of Authority) Consensus Protocol
A private network provides a configurable network for testing. This private network uses the [Clique (Proof of Authority)
consensus protocol](../Consensus-Protocols/Clique.md).
!!!important
An Ethereum private network created as described here is isolated but not protected or secure.
We recommend running the private network behind a properly configured firewall.
## Prerequisites
[Pantheon ](../Installation/Install-Binaries.md )
[Curl (or similar web service client) ](https://curl.haxx.se/download.html )
## Steps
To create a private network:
1. [Create Folders ](#1-create-folders )
1. [Get Address for Node-1 ](#2-get-address-for-node-1 )
1. [Create Genesis File ](#3-create-genesis-file )
1. [Start First Node as Bootnode ](#4-start-first-node-as-bootnode )
1. [Start Node-2 ](#5-start-node-2 )
1. [Start Node-3 ](#6-start-node-3 )
1. [Confirm Private Network is Working ](#7-confirm-private-network-is-working )
### 1. Create Folders
Each node requires a data directory for the blockchain data. When the node is started, the [node key ](../Configuring-Pantheon/Node-Keys.md ) is saved in this directory.
Create directories for your private network, each of the three nodes, and a data directory for each node:
```bash
Clique-Network/
├── Node-1
│
├── Node-2
│
└── Node-3
├── data
```
### 2. Get Address for Node-1
In Clique networks, the address of at least one initial signer must be included in the genesis file.
For this Clique network, we will use Node-1 as the initial signer. This requires obtaining the address for Node-1.
To obtain the address for Node-1, in the `Node-1` directory, use the [`public-key export-address` ](../Reference/Pantheon-CLI-Syntax.md#public-key )
subcommand to write the node address to the specified file (`node1Address` in this example)
```bash tab="MacOS"
pantheon --data-path=data public-key export-address --to=data/node1Address
```
```bash tab="Windows"
pantheon --data-path=data public-key export-address --to=data\node1Address
```
### 3. Create Genesis File
The genesis file defines the genesis block of the blockchain (that is, the start of the blockchain).
The [Clique genesis file ](../Consensus-Protocols/Clique.md#genesis-file ) includes the address of Node-1 as the initial signer in the `extraData` field.
All nodes in a network must use the same genesis file.
Copy the following genesis definition to a file called `cliqueGenesis.json` and save it in the `Clique-Network` directory:
```json
{
"config":{
"chainId":1981,
"constantinoplefixblock": 0,
"clique":{
"blockperiodseconds":15,
"epochlength":30000
}
},
"coinbase":"0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
"difficulty":"0x1",
"extraData":"0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000< Node 1 Address > 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
"gasLimit":"0xa00000",
"mixHash":"0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
"nonce":"0x0",
"timestamp":"0x5c51a607",
"alloc": {
"fe3b557e8fb62b89f4916b721be55ceb828dbd73": {
"privateKey": "8f2a55949038a9610f50fb23b5883af3b4ecb3c3bb792cbcefbd1542c692be63",
"comment": "private key and this comment are ignored. In a real chain, the private key should NOT be stored",
"balance": "0xad78ebc5ac6200000"
},
"627306090abaB3A6e1400e9345bC60c78a8BEf57": {
"privateKey": "c87509a1c067bbde78beb793e6fa76530b6382a4c0241e5e4a9ec0a0f44dc0d3",
"comment": "private key and this comment are ignored. In a real chain, the private key should NOT be stored",
"balance": "90000000000000000000000"
},
"f17f52151EbEF6C7334FAD080c5704D77216b732": {
"privateKey": "ae6ae8e5ccbfb04590405997ee2d52d2b330726137b875053c36d94e974d162f",
"comment": "private key and this comment are ignored. In a real chain, the private key should NOT be stored",
"balance": "90000000000000000000000"
}
},
"number":"0x0",
"gasUsed":"0x0",
"parentHash":"0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"
}
```
In `extraData` , replace `<Node 1 Address>` with the [address for Node-1 ](#2-get-address-for-node-1 ) excluding the 0x prefix.
!!! example
```json
{
...
"extraData":"0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000b9b81ee349c3807e46bc71aa2632203c5b4620340000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
...
}
```
!!! warning
Do not use the accounts in `alloc` in the genesis file on mainnet or any public network except for testing.
The private keys are displayed which means the accounts are not secure.
### 4. Start First Node as Bootnode
Start Node-1:
```bash tab="MacOS"
pantheon --data-path=data --genesis-file=../cliqueGenesis.json --bootnodes --network-id 123 --rpc-http-enabled --rpc-http-api=ETH,NET,CLIQUE --host-whitelist=* --rpc-http-cors-origins="all"
```
```bash tab="Windows"
pantheon --data-path=data --genesis-file=..\cliqueGenesis.json --bootnodes --network-id 123 --rpc-http-enabled --rpc-http-api=ETH,NET,CLIQUE --host-whitelist=* --rpc-http-cors-origins="all"
```
!!!note
The [`--genesis-file` ](../Reference/Pantheon-CLI-Syntax.md#genesis-file ) option is not used when running
Pantheon from the [Docker image ](../Getting-Started/Run-Docker-Image.md ). Use a bind mount to
[specify a configuration file with Docker ](../Getting-Started/Run-Docker-Image.md#custom-genesis-file ).
The command line specifies:
* No arguments for the [`--bootnodes` ](../Reference/Pantheon-CLI-Syntax.md#bootnodes ) option because this is your bootnode
* JSON-RPC API is enabled using the [`--rpc-http-enabled` ](../Reference/Pantheon-CLI-Syntax.md#rpc-http-enabled ) option
* ETH,NET, and CLIQUE APIs are enabled using the [`--rpc-http-api` ](../Reference/Pantheon-CLI-Syntax.md#rpc-http-api ) option
* All hosts can access the HTTP JSON-RPC API using the [`--host-whitelist` ](../Reference/Pantheon-CLI-Syntax.md#host-whitelist ) option
* All domains can access the node using the HTTP JSON-RPC API using the [`--rpc-http-cors-origins` ](../Reference/Pantheon-CLI-Syntax.md#rpc-http-cors-origins ) option
When the node starts, the [enode URL ](../Configuring-Pantheon/Node-Keys.md#enode-url ) is displayed.
Copy the enode URL to specify Node-1 as the bootnode in the following steps.
### 5. Start Node-2
Start another terminal, change to the `Node-2` directory and start Node-2 specifying the Node-1 enode URL copied when starting Node-1 as the bootnode:
```bash tab="MacOS"
pantheon --data-path=data --genesis-file=../cliqueGenesis.json --bootnodes=< Node-1 Enode URL > --network-id 123 --p2p-port=30304 --rpc-http-enabled --rpc-http-api=ETH,NET,CLIQUE --host-whitelist=* --rpc-http-cors-origins="all" --rpc-http-port=8546
```
```bash tab="Windows"
pantheon --data-path=data --genesis-file=..\cliqueGenesis.json --bootnodes=< Node-1 Enode URL > --network-id 123 --p2p-port=30304 --rpc-http-enabled --rpc-http-api=ETH,NET,CLIQUE --host-whitelist=* --rpc-http-cors-origins="all" --rpc-http-port=8546
```
The command line specifies:
* Different port to Node-1 for P2P peer discovery using the [`--p2p-port` ](../Reference/Pantheon-CLI-Syntax.md#p2p-port ) option.
* Different port to Node-1 for HTTP JSON-RPC using the [`--rpc-http-port` ](../Reference/Pantheon-CLI-Syntax.md#rpc-http-port ) option.
* Enode URL for Node-1 using the [`--bootnodes` ](../Reference/Pantheon-CLI-Syntax.md#bootnodes ) option.
* Data directory for Node-2 using the [`--data-path` ](../Reference/Pantheon-CLI-Syntax.md#data-path ) option.
* Other options as for [Node-1 ](#5-start-first-node-as-bootnode ).
### 6. Start Node-3
Start another terminal, change to the `Node-3` directory and start Node-3 specifying the Node-1 enode URL copied when starting Node-1 as the bootnode:
```bash tab="MacOS"
pantheon --data-path=data --genesis-file=../cliqueGenesis.json --bootnodes=< Node-1 Enode URL > --network-id 123 --p2p-port=30305 --rpc-http-enabled --rpc-http-api=ETH,NET,CLIQUE --host-whitelist=* --rpc-http-cors-origins="all" --rpc-http-port=8547
```
```bash tab="Windows"
pantheon --data-path=data --genesis-file=..\cliqueGenesis.json --bootnodes=< Node-1 Enode URL > --network-id 123 --p2p-port=30305 --rpc-http-enabled --rpc-http-api=ETH,NET,CLIQUE --host-whitelist=* --rpc-http-cors-origins="all" --rpc-http-port=8547
```
The command line specifies:
* Different port to Node-1 and Node-2 for P2P peer discovery using the [`--p2p-port` ](../Reference/Pantheon-CLI-Syntax.md#p2p-port ) option.
* Different port to Node-1 and Node-2 for HTTP JSON-RPC using the [`--rpc-http-port` ](../Reference/Pantheon-CLI-Syntax.md#rpc-http-port ) option.
* Data directory for Node-3 using the [`--data-path` ](../Reference/Pantheon-CLI-Syntax.md#data-path ) option.
* Bootnode as for [Node-2 ](#6-start-node-2 ).
* Other options as for [Node-1 ](#5-start-first-node-as-bootnode ).
### 7. Confirm Private Network is Working
Start another terminal, use curl to call the JSON-RPC API [`net_peerCount` ](../Reference/JSON-RPC-API-Methods.md#net_peercount ) method and confirm the nodes are functioning as peers:
```bash
curl -X POST --data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"net_peerCount","params":[],"id":1}' localhost:8545
```
The result confirms Node-1 has two peers (Node-2 and Node-3):
```json
{
"jsonrpc" : "2.0",
"id" : 1,
"result" : "0x2"
}
```
## Next Steps
Look at the logs displayed to confirm Node-1 is producing blocks and Node-2 and Node-3 are importing blocks.
Use the [Clique API to add ](../Consensus-Protocols/Clique.md#adding-and-removing-signers ) Node-2 or Node-3 as a signer.
!!! note
To add Node-2 or Node-3 as a signer you need the [node address as when specifying Node-1 ](#2-get-address-for-node-1 ) as the initial signer.
Import accounts to MetaMask and send transactions as described in the [Private Network Quickstart Tutorial ](Private-Network-Quickstart.md#creating-a-transaction-using-metamask )
!!! info
Pantheon does not implement [private key management ](../Using-Pantheon/Account-Management.md ).
## Stop Nodes
When finished using the private network, stop all nodes using ++ctrl+c++ in each terminal window.
!!!tip
To restart the Clique network in the future, start from [4. Start First Node as Bootnode ](#4-start-first-node-as-bootnode ).
