Cardano Node at Home: Sending Transactions via Your Node

[If you missed them, here are Part 1 and Part 2 of the guide]

Now that you have a working Cardano node (yours is working, right? 😊), we’re ready to configure Eternl Wallet (use the link to install the Chrome Browser Extension) on your desktop/laptop to send your transactions to the tx-submit-api running on your new node.

If you’re having trouble getting your node working, find me on Twitter/X: @brav0charlie. Feel free to send me a DM or tag me in a post.

Configuring Eternl Wallet

Getting Started

Setting up a wallet in Eternl is out of scope for this guide, but I’ll provide links below to get you started if you’re unfamiliar with Eternl. I will use the Chrome Browser extension version of Eternl in my examples.

• Opening an Existing Wallet in Eternl & Staking

  • Chef DAO member MacroMan created a great video on staking with Eternl wallet; the first 2:30 covers opening an existing wallet in Eternl.

• Eternl Light Wallet | Install & Setup

  • Marvin at NOVA Pool created this video, which covers the basics of the Eternl App, installing the browser extension, and creating a wallet.

Configuring Eternl to Use Your Node

Once your wallet is created or restored in Eternl, you’re ready to configure your node as the default API connection.

First, open the Eternl Wallet browser extension, and click App Settings in the bottom left.

Once the App Settings popover is open, expand Custom Submit API Endpoint and click the Add button, shown below.

You’ll need to know the IP address of your node to complete the next step. You can find it easily if you do not know this offhand. Log into your server and use the command hostname -I. The command will output all IP addresses assigned to the system on the following line.

Because we have Docker installed, we’ll have a couple of ‘virtual interfaces’ with addresses in addition to the physical interface. In my case, the first address is the correct one. Yours may begin with 192.168.x.x or 10.0.x.x, where x is a number between 0 and 254, but it should be the first address in the list.

In the Custom Submit API Endpoint popover, enter
http://<your ip address>:8090/api/submit/tx, as seen below, replacing <your ip address> with your server’s IP address. Once entered, click the Save button.

The tx-submit-api endpoint on your node listens on port 8090, and the path to the submit API is /api/submit/tx.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Because this node is meant to run on a home network, we are not implementing HTTPS on our API endpoint. Using this configuration on a publicly accessible IP address is highly discouraged—the information exchanged between your PC and your node is NOT encrypted in transit, which is all but required on the public internet. 

Once you’ve clicked the Save button, you’ll see your newly updated Custom Submit API Endpoint URL. Close the App Settings popover using the small X in the upper right corner of the popover.

Sending a Test Transaction

In this example, I will send 1 ADA from my hot wallet to my ledger wallet. In the following screenshots, my balances are hidden behind asterisks.

Click on your wallet in the list to the left, and then click the Transactions tab.

In the Send window, enter the address you want to send ADA to in the address box, highlighted with a red box and labeled 1. [NOTE: Yes, that is my address in the screenshot. Please don’t send anything to that address. 😂]

Next, enter the amount of ADA you'd like to send in the amount box, highlighted with a red box and labeled 2.

Finally, when you’re ready to send your transaction, click the Send button, highlighted with a red box and labeled 3.

After clicking Send, you’ll be prompted to sign your transaction. Enter your spending password in the password field, then click the Sign button.

After signing your transaction, you can click the Transactions tab and view your pending transaction. In the screenshot below, the transaction has already been submitted and processed.

Wrapping Up

Congratulations! You’ve built and configured a Cardano node, configured the Eternl Wallet app to use your node, and sent a test transaction. The hard work is done.

Any future transactions in Eternl will be routed to your personal node. You can change back by opening App Settings, expanding Custom Submit API Endpoint, and selecting https://eternl.io from the list.

That’s all there is! Thanks for reading! 😊

If you’re having trouble, message me on Twitter/X (@brav0charlie), and I’ll do my best to help.