First, complete the basic Rust setup instructions.

Use Rust's native cargo command to build and launch the template node:

cargo run --release -- --dev --tmp

The cargo run command will perform an initial build. Use the following command to build the node without launching it:

cargo build --release

Once the project has been built, the following command can be used to explore all parameters and subcommands:

./target/release/deer-node -h

The provided cargo run command will launch a temporary node and its state will be discarded after you terminate the process. After the project has been built, there are other ways to launch the node.

This command will start the single-node development chain with persistent state:

./target/release/deer-node --dev

Purge the development chain's state:

./target/release/deer-node purge-chain --dev

Start the development chain with detailed logging:

RUST_LOG=debug RUST_BACKTRACE=1 ./target/release/deer-node -lruntime=debug --dev

Once the node template is running locally, you can connect it with Polkadot-JS Apps front-end to interact with your chain. Click here connecting the Apps to your local node template.

If you want to see the multi-node consensus algorithm in action, refer to our Start a Private Network tutorial.