Introduction

Installation

The installation method for different terminal platforms will not be the same, the next will introduce some common platform environment installation steps.

Rust toolchain

Rust is a modern, type sound, and performant programming language that provides a rich feature set for building complex systems. The language also has an active developer community and a growing ecosystem of sharable libraries called crates.

Learning Rust

Rust is the core language used to build Substrate-based blockchains, so if you intend to do Substrate development, you need to be familiar with the Rust programming language, compiler, and toolchain management. If you are just getting started with Rust, you should bookmark The Rust Programming Language and refer to other Learn Rust resources on the Rust website to guide you. However, there are a few important points to be aware of as you prepare your development environment.

About the Rust toolchain

The core tools in the Rust toolchain are the rustc compiler, the cargo build and package manager, and the rustup toolchain manager. At any given point in time, there can multiple versions of Rust available. For example, there are release channels for stable, beta, and nightly builds. You use the rustup program to manage the builds available in your environment and the versions of the toolchain programs that are used with different Rust builds. The rustc compiler enables you to build binaries for different architectures, referred to as targets. Targets are identified by a string that specifies the kind of output the compiler should produce. This feature is important because Substrate is compiled to both a native Rust binary and a WebAssembly target. WebAssembly is a portable binary format that can be executed on any modern computer hardware and through any browser accessing the internet. The WebAssembly (Wasm) target enables Substrate to produce portable blockchain runtimes. For more information about how these binaries are used, see Build process.

Linux

Linux development environment

Rust supports most Linux distributions. Depending on the specific distribution and version of the operating system you use, you might need to add some software dependencies to your environment. In general, your development environment should include a linker or C-compatible compiler such as clang and an appropriate integrated development environment (IDE).

Before you begin

Check the documentation for your operating system for information about the packages that are installed and how to download and install any additional packages you might need. For example, if you use Ubuntu, you can use the Ubuntu Advanced Packaging Tool (apt) to install the build-essential package:

sudo apt install build-essential

At a minimum, you need the following packages before you install Rust:

clang curl git make

Because the blockchain requires standard cryptography to support the generation of public/private key pairs and the validation of transaction signatures, you must also have a package that provides cryptography, such as libssl-dev or openssl-devel.

Install required packages and Rust

Install required packages and Rust To install the Rust toolchain on Linux:

  1. Log on to your computer and open a terminal shell.
  2. Check the packages you have installed on the local computer by running an appropriate package management command for your Linux distribution.
  3. Add any package dependencies you are missing to your local development environment by running an appropriate package management command for your Linux distribution. For example, on Ubuntu Desktop or Ubuntu Server, you might run a command similar to the following:
sudo apt install --assume-yes git clang curl libssl-dev

Click the tab titles to see examples for other Linux operating systems: DebianArchFedoraOpensuse

sudo apt install --assume-yes git clang curl libssl-dev llvm libudev-dev make protobuf-compiler

Remember that different distributions might use different package managers and bundle packages in different ways. For example, depending on your installation selections, Ubuntu Desktop and Ubuntu Server might have different packages and different requirements. However, the packages listed in the command-line examples are applicable for many common Linux distributions, including Debian, Linux Mint, MX Linux, and Elementary OS. 4. Download the rustup installation program and use it to install Rust by running the following command:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
  1. Follow the prompts displayed to proceed with a default installation.
  2. Update your current shell to include Cargo by running the following command:
source $HOME/.cargo/env
  1. Verify your installation by running the following command:
rustc --version
  1. Configure the Rust toolchain to default to the latest stable version by running the following commands:
rustup default stable
rustup update
  1. Add the nightly release and the nightly WebAssembly (wasm) targets to your development environment by running the following commands:
rustup update nightly
rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown --toolchain nightly
  1. Verify the configuration of your development environment by running the following command:
rustup show
rustup +nightly show

The command displays output similar to the following:

# rustup show

active toolchain
----------------

stable-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu (default)
rustc 1.62.1 (e092d0b6b 2022-07-16)

# rustup +nightly show

active toolchain
----------------

nightly-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu (overridden by +toolchain on the command line)
rustc 1.65.0-nightly (34a6cae28 2022-08-09)

MacOS

macOS development environment

You can install Rust and set up a Substrate development environment on Apple macOS computers with either Intel or an Apple M1 processors.

Before you begin

Before you install Rust and set up your development environment on macOS, verify that your computer meets the following basic requirements:

  • Operating system version is 10.7 Lion, or later.
  • Processor speed of at least 2Ghz, 3Ghz recommended.
  • Memory of at least 8 GB RAM, 16 GB recommended.
  • Storage of at 10 GB available space.
  • Broadband Internet connection.

Support for Apple M1

If you have a macOS computer with an Apple M1 ARM system on a chip, you must have Apple Rosetta installed to run the protoc tool during the Rust build process. The Rust toolchain and the target binaries remain native. You can install Rosetta on your macOS computer by opening the Terminal application and running the following command:

softwareupdate --install-rosetta

Install Homebrew

In most cases, you should use Homebrew to install and manage packages on macOS computers. If you don't already have Homebrew installed on your local computer, you should download and install it before continuing.

To install Homebrew:

  1. Open the Terminal application.
  2. Download and install Homebrew by running the following command:
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"

3.Verify Homebrew has been successfully installed by running the following command:

brew --version

The command displays output similar to the following:

Homebrew 3.3.1
Homebrew/homebrew-core (git revision c6c488fbc0f; last commit 2021-10-30)
Homebrew/homebrew-cask (git revision 66bab33b26; last commit 2021-10-30)

Install required packages and Rust

Because the blockchain requires standard cryptography to support the generation of public/private key pairs and the validation of transaction signatures, you must also have a package that provides cryptography, such as openssl.

To install openssl and the Rust toolchain on macOS:

  1. Open the Terminal application.
  2. Ensure you have an updated version of Homebrew by running the following command:
brew update
  1. Install the openssl package by running the following command:
brew install openssl
  1. Download the rustup installation program and use it to install Rust by running the following command:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
  1. Follow the prompts displayed to proceed with a default installation.
  2. Update your current shell to include Cargo by running the following command:
source ~/.cargo/env
  1. Verify your installation by running the following command:
rustc --version
  1. Configure the Rust toolchain to default to the latest stable version by running the following commands:
rustup default stable
rustup update
  1. Add the nightly release and the nightly WebAssembly (wasm) targets to your development environment by running the following commands:
rustup update nightly
rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown --toolchain nightly
  1. Verify the configuration of your development environment by running the following command:
rustup show
rustup +nightly show

The command displays output similar to the following:

# rustup show

active toolchain
----------------

stable-x86_64-apple-darwin (default)
rustc 1.61.0 (fe5b13d68 2022-05-18)

# rustup +nightly show

active toolchain
----------------

nightly-x86_64-apple-darwin (overridden by +toolchain on the command line)
rustc 1.63.0-nightly (e71440575 2022-06-02)

i.Install cmake using the following command:

brew install cmake

Windows

Windows development environment

In general, UNIX-based operating systems—like macOS or Linux—provide a better development environment for building Substrate-based blockchains. All of the code examples and command-line instructions in Substrate Tutorials and How-to guides illustrate how to interact with Substrate using UNIX-compatible commands in a terminal.

However, if your local computer uses Microsoft Windows instead of a UNIX-based operating system, you can configure it with additional software to make it a suitable development environment for building Substrate-based blockchains. To prepare a development environment on a computer running Microsoft Windows, you can use Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) to emulate a UNIX operating environment.

Before you begin

Before installing on Microsoft Windows, verify the following basic requirements:

  • You have a computer running a supported version of the Microsoft Windows operating system.
  • You must be running Microsoft Windows 10, version 2004 or later, or Microsoft Windows 11 to install Windows Subsystem for Linux on a computer with the Windows desktop operating system.
  • You must be running Microsoft Windows Server 2019, or later, to install Windows Subsystem for Linux on a computer with the Windows server operating system.
  • You have good internet connection and access to a shell terminal on your local computer.

You have good internet connection and access to a shell terminal on your local computer.

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) enables you to emulate a Linux environment on a computer that uses the Windows operating system. The primary advantage of this approach for Substrate development is that you can use all of the code and command-line examples as described in the Substrate documentation. For example, you can run common commands—such as ls and ps—unmodified. By using Windows Subsystem for Linux, you can avoid configuring a virtual machine image or a dual-boot operating system.

To prepare a development environment using Windows Subsystem for Linux:

  1. Check your Windows version and build number to see if Windows Subsystem for Linux is enabled by default. If you have Microsoft Windows 10, version 2004 (Build 19041 and higher), or Microsoft Windows 11, Windows Subsystem for Linux is available by default and you can continue to the next step. If you have an older version of Microsoft Windows installed, see WSL manual installation steps for older versions. If you are installing on an older version of Microsoft Windows, you can download and install WLS 2 if your computer has Windows 10, version 1903 or higher.
  2. Select Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt from the Start menu, right-click, then Run as administrator.
  3. In the PowerShell or Command Prompt terminal, run the following command:
brew install cmake

This command enables the required WSL 2 components that are part of the Windows operating system, downloads the latest Linux kernel, and installs the Ubuntu Linux distribution by default. If you want to review the other Linux distributions available, run the following command:

brew install cmake
  1. After the distribution is downloaded, close the terminal.
  2. Click the Start menu, select Shut down or sign out, then click Restart to restart the computer. Restarting the computer is required to start the installation of the Linux distribution. It can take a few minutes for the installation to complete after you restart. For more information about setting up WSL as a development environment, see Set up a WSL development environment.

Install required packages and Rust

To install the Rust toolchain on WSL:

  1. Click the Start menu, then select Ubuntu.
  2. Type a UNIX user name to create user account.
  3. Type a password for your UNIX user, then retype the password to confirm it.
  4. Download the latest updates for the Ubuntu distribution using the Ubuntu Advanced Packaging Tool (apt) by running the following command:
sudo apt update
  1. Add the required packages for the Ubuntu distribution by running the following command:
sudo apt install --assume-yes git clang curl libssl-dev llvm libudev-dev make protobuf-compiler
  1. Download the rustup installation program and use it to install Rust for the Ubuntu distribution by running the following command:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
  1. Follow the prompts displayed to proceed with a default installation.
  2. Update your current shell to include Cargo by running the following command:
source ~/.cargo/env
  1. Verify your installation by running the following command:
rustc --version
  1. Configure the Rust toolchain to use the latest stable version as the default toolchain by running the following commands:
rustup default stable
rustup update
  1. Add the nightly version of the toolchain and the nightly WebAssembly (wasm) target to your development environment by running the following commands:
rustup update nightly
rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown --toolchain nightly
  1. Verify the configuration of your development environment by running the following command:
rustup show
rustup +nightly show

The command displays output similar to the following:

# rustup show

active toolchain
----------------

stable-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu (default)
rustc 1.61.0 (fe5b13d68 2022-05-18)

# rustup +nightly show

active toolchain
----------------

nightly-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu (overridden by +toolchain on the command line)
rustc 1.63.0-nightly (e71440575 2022-06-02)

Compile a Web3Games node

Now that you have Rust installed and the Rust toolchains configured for Substrate development, you are ready to finish setting up your development environment by cloning the Web3Games Node files and compiling a Web3Games node. The node template provides a working environment that includes all of the most common features you need to build a blockchain without any extraneous modules or tools. To ensure that the node template offers a relatively stable working environment for you to experiment with, the recommended best practice is to clone Web3Games node template from the Web3Games Developer Hub repository, rather than from the core Web3Games repository.

To compile the Web3Games node template:

  1. Clone the node template repository by running the following command:
git clone https://github.com/web3gamesofficial/web3games-blockchain.git
  1. Change to the root of the node template directory by running the following command:
cd web3games-blockchain
  1. Compile the node template by running the following command:
cargo build --release

Because of the number of packages required, compiling the node can take several minutes.

After the build completes successfully, your local computer is ready for Web3Games development activity.

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Run a local node