📂 Reference > Example Deployment Files

# README.md

Welcome to the ChainAPI deployment README! This guide will explain the various files contained in the zip file that are required for deploying an Airnode instance, how they work and what is required from you in order to get up and running as quickly as possible.

README.md

# Reading this document

This README is provided in Markdown format (opens new window) in order to provide a richer user experience. It is advisable to use a tool to view this file. Some options:

Option A: Pasting the contents into a Github Gist (opens new window). You will need to create a Github account first.

Option B: Opening with a text editor

Visual Studio Code (opens new window) with Markdown Preview Enhanced (opens new window) installed

Option C: Some other helpful Markdown viewing websites (no affiliation with ChainAPI):

# Requirements

You will need account(s) with the following services before Airnode can be deployed

Amazon Web Services (AWS) (opens new window)

You will need the following tools installed locally

Docker (opens new window)

# Quick start

# Step 1: Create account resources

Create the relevant account and project resources through your preferred cloud provider(s) web interface. ChainAPI recommends following the API3 guides (opens new window).

# Step 2: Populate .env files with secrets

Populate the .env file(s) provided with this README with your secrets for your API and other important accounts. Follow the comments in the files for how to populate specific keys.

# Step 3: Open a terminal where you saved the files

Open a terminal and change directory to where you extracted these files. This can be done using the following commands.

# Windows

Click start, type "cmd" and hit enter. This should open a Command Prompt window. Type cd my-folder to move to the "my-folder" directory. Type cd .. to move up a directory.

# OSX or Linux

Open a terminal window and type cd my-folder to move to the "my-folder" directory. Type cd .. to move up a directory.

# Step 4: Run the Airnode deployer tool

Run the following Docker command based on your current operating system. Follow any prompts or instructions.

You can more detailed information in the API3 Deployment Tutorial (opens new window)

# Windows

docker run -it --rm ^
      --env-file aws.env ^
      -v "%cd%/config:/app/config" ^
      -v "%cd%/output:/app/output" ^
      api3/airnode-deployer:0.6.4 deploy

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# OSX

docker run -it --rm \
      --env-file aws.env \
      -e USER_ID=$(id -u) -e GROUP_ID=$(id -g) \
      -v "$(pwd)/config:/app/config" \
      -v "$(pwd)/output:/app/output" \
      api3/airnode-deployer:0.6.4 deploy

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# Linux

docker run -it --rm \
      --env-file aws.env \
      -e USER_ID=$(id -u) -e GROUP_ID=$(id -g) \
      -v "$(pwd)/config:/app/config" \
      -v "$(pwd)/output:/app/output" \
      api3/airnode-deployer:0.6.4 deploy

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# Step 5: Inspect your Airnode

If successful, your Airnode should now be deployed to your preferred cloud provider(s)! Log in through the relevant cloud provider account portal and you should be able to see the deployed Airnode resources. These will be linked to how the cloud provider "serverless" functions. i.e. For AWS, you will find your Airnode resources under "Lambda". For GCP, you will find these resources under "Cloud Functions".

# Files

# config/config.json

NO USER INPUT REQUIRED

config.json defines a single Airnode and how the node should function. By default, Airnode does not contain any kind of dynamic database or cache, but the config.json file can be thought of as a kind of static database provided when starting the node. Whenever Airnode needs information around things like what endpoints are available, how they can be called, which blockchains are supported etc, it will reference the config.json file. More dynamic data, such as account balances and API call requests are fetched directly from the blockchains themselves. By doing this, Airnode is able to only use a single source of truth (the blockchain) instead of trying to replicate blockchain data locally which can very easily become out of sync.

The contents of config.json are defined as a JSON file which allows Airnode an easy way of reading the file. JSON is also human-readable, so you're able to open this file with any text editor and make any additional configuration changes. ChainAPI has already provided a fully formed config.json for you that has been included with this README. config.json is blockchain and platform agnostic and can be re-used for Airnode deployments on any platform.

One important thing to note is that you typically do not want to define any kind of secret value directly in config.json. Secret values are referenced using the following syntax:

"secretKey": "${MY_SECRET_VALUE}"

The Airnode deployer tool processes and injects these values in order to store them securely on your preferred cloud provider(s) such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

Read more: https://docs.api3.org/airnode/v0.6/reference/deployment-files/config-json.html

# config/secrets.env

USER INPUT REQUIRED

secrets.env is a key-value list of secret values that are available to the Airnode instance. At no point does ChainAPI have access to any of your application or personal secrets. Also note that you should NEVER share this file or upload it anywhere that you do not trust to be secure.

By convention, secret keys should be defined as all upper case words, joined with underscores. Secret values can be in any format and are surrounded by double quotes when the value contains spaces. Examples:

AIRNODE_WALLET_MNEMONIC="achieve climb ... echo label"
MY_API_KEY=bba353...57b-101537e7ee74

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This file can also contain comments, using "#". Everything after "#" on the same line will be ignored and can be used for human-readable explanations.

ChainAPI has provided a template secrets.env file included with this README that contains all of the required (auto-generated) keys for your Airnode deployment. These keys are based on how you configured your deployment and integrations through the ChainAPI interface. This file also contains explanatory comments for each group of secrets.

Please open the secrets.env file with your preferred text editor and enter the required secret values

Read more: https://docs.api3.org/airnode/v0.6/reference/deployment-files/secrets-env.html

# aws.env

USER INPUT REQUIRED

aws.env is another simple key-value file that defines how the Airnode deployer tool should authenticate and authorize your account to deploy to AWS. As you selected to deploy to AWS through the ChainAPI deployment wizard, you will need to fill out this file in a similar way to secrets.env

Read more: https://docs.api3.org/airnode/v0.6/reference/deployment-files/aws-env.html

← Overview config.json →