rvn-core-server-docker

Dockerized Ravencoin Core full node, built from source with ZMQ notification support.

Docker Hub

Pre-built images: dramirezrt/ravencoin-core-server

docker pull dramirezrt/ravencoin-core-server:latest

Available Tags

Tag	Ravencoin Core	Base Image	ZMQ	Notes
v2.4	4.6.1	Ubuntu 22.04	✅	Built from source
v2.3.1	—	Ubuntu 20.04	❌	Legacy (pre-built binary)
v2.3	—	Ubuntu 20.04	❌	Legacy
v2.0	—	Ubuntu 20.04	❌	Legacy
v1.1	—	Ubuntu 20.04	❌	Legacy

What It Does

1. Downloads and seeds the Ravencoin bootstrap file via BitTorrent
2. Runs the Raven Core full node (ravend) — built from source with ZMQ
3. Serves a simple status monitoring frontend
4. Exposes ZMQ pub/sub endpoints for real-time block and transaction notifications

Features

• Built from source — not pre-compiled binaries, so ZMQ and UPnP are fully supported
• ZMQ notifications — real-time hashblock and hashtx events for downstream services
• REST API — enabled by default (rest=1) for block/tx data retrieval
• Bootstrap seeding — BitTorrent-based blockchain bootstrap for faster initial sync
• Environment variables — configurable ports, UPnP, ZMQ, and user agent

Usage

Basic

docker run -d \
  -v ~/raven-node/kingofthenorth:/kingofthenorth \
  -v ~/raven-node/home:/home/kingofthenorth \
  -p 31413:31413/tcp \
  -p 31413:31413/udp \
  -p 38767:38767 \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  --name rvn-node dramirezrt/ravencoin-core-server:latest

With UPnP (host networking)

docker run -d \
  -v ~/raven-node/kingofthenorth:/kingofthenorth \
  -v ~/raven-node/home:/home/kingofthenorth \
  -e UPNP=true \
  --net=host \
  --name rvn-node dramirezrt/ravencoin-core-server:latest

With ZMQ Enabled

docker run -d \
  -v ~/raven-node/kingofthenorth:/kingofthenorth \
  -v ~/raven-node/home:/home/kingofthenorth \
  -e ZMQ=true \
  -p 38767:38767 \
  -p 28332:28332 \
  -p 28333:28333 \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  --name rvn-node dramirezrt/ravencoin-core-server:latest

Full Custom Configuration

docker run -d \
  -v ~/raven-node/kingofthenorth:/kingofthenorth \
  -v ~/raven-node/home:/home/kingofthenorth \
  -e UPNP=true \
  -e RAVEN_PORT=8767 \
  -e TRANSMISSION_PORT=51413 \
  -e FRONTEND_PORT=8069 \
  -e ZMQ=true \
  -e UACOMMENT=MyNode \
  --net=host \
  --name rvn-node dramirezrt/ravencoin-core-server:latest

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
UPNP	false	Enable UPnP port forwarding (use with --net=host)
RAVEN_PORT	38767	Ravencoin P2P port (official Ravencoin mainnet port is 8767)
TRANSMISSION_PORT	—	Custom BitTorrent port for bootstrap seeding
FRONTEND_PORT	8080	Status frontend port
UACOMMENT	(empty)	Custom user agent comment for the node
ZMQ	false	Enable all ZMQ notifications (hashblock/hashtx on port 28332, rawblock/rawtx on port 28333)

Exposed Ports

Port	Protocol	Service
38767	TCP	Ravencoin P2P (mainnet default)
31413	TCP/UDP	BitTorrent (bootstrap seeding)
8080	TCP	Status monitoring frontend
28332	TCP	ZMQ hashblock notifications (when enabled)
28333	TCP	ZMQ hashtx notifications (when enabled)

Volumes

Path	Purpose
/kingofthenorth/	Blockchain data and bootstrap files (persistent)
/home/kingofthenorth/	Node home directory — config, transmission settings, logs

Persisting Configuration Across Rebuilds

raven.conf and other node settings live in /home/kingofthenorth/ inside the container.
By default this directory is ephemeral — it resets on every container rebuild/recreate.

To persist it, mount it as either a host path or a named volume:

Option A — Host path (recommended; config files are directly accessible on the host):

docker run -d \
  -v ~/raven-node/kingofthenorth:/kingofthenorth \
  -v /path/on/host/home:/home/kingofthenorth \
  --name rvn-node dramirezrt/ravencoin-core-server:latest

On first run the container will populate /path/on/host/home from the image. Edit raven.conf there directly.

Option B — Named volume (managed by Docker; survives image updates without a host path):

docker volume create rvn-node-home

docker run -d \
  -v ~/raven-node/kingofthenorth:/kingofthenorth \
  -v rvn-node-home:/home/kingofthenorth \
  --name rvn-node dramirezrt/ravencoin-core-server:latest

Inspect or edit files with: docker run --rm -v rvn-node-home:/data alpine sh

Without either option, any changes to raven.conf (custom RPC credentials, ZMQ endpoints, port overrides, etc.) will be lost when the container is removed or the image is rebuilt.

Build From Source

# Build with default Ravencoin version (v4.6.1)
docker build -t ravencoin-core-server .

# Build with specific version
docker build --build-arg RAVENCOIN_TAG=v4.6.1 -t ravencoin-core-server:v4.6.1 .

CI/CD

This repo uses GitHub Actions to automatically build and push Docker images on tag push. Tags must be on the main branch and follow semver (v*).

The workflow:

1. Builds ravend from source inside Docker (multi-stage)
2. Pushes to Docker Hub as dramirezrt/ravencoin-core-server:<tag>
3. Tags latest only for the highest semver version
4. Creates a GitHub Release with upstream release notes
5. Syncs the README to Docker Hub

The DOCKER_HUB_TOKEN secret must be set in the repository settings.

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  rvn-core-server container                      │
│                                                 │
│  ┌──────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌───────────┐  │
│  │  ravend   │  │ transmission│  │  node.js  │  │
│  │  (core)   │  │  (bootstrap)│  │ (frontend)│  │
│  └─────┬─────┘  └─────────────┘  └───────────┘  │
│        │                                         │
│   P2P :38767                        HTTP :8080   │
│   ZMQ :28332 (hashblock)                        │
│   ZMQ :28333 (hashtx)                           │
│   REST :38766 (API)                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

ZMQ Notifications

ZMQ is disabled by default. Enable all topics with a single flag:

docker run -d \
  -e ZMQ=true \
  -p 28332:28332 \
  -p 28333:28333 \
  ...

Topic	Port	Verified	Description
hashblock	28332	✅	New block hash
hashtx	28332	✅	New transaction hash
rawblock	28333	✅	Full serialized block
rawtx	28333	✅	Full serialized transaction

Note: getzmqnotifications RPC is not available in Ravencoin Core v4.6.1.

📖 Full documentation: docs/ZMQ.md — message format, code examples (Python & Node.js), verification steps, and configuration details.

Blockchain Snapshots (Bootstrap)

Bootstrap snapshots allow a fresh node to skip years of chain download and sync in hours instead of weeks.

On first start the container uses BitTorrent (transmission) to download the bootstrap archive, verify its integrity, and extract it before launching ravend.

Available Snapshots

File	Date	Compressed Size	Uncompressed	Chain Coverage	Torrent
rvn-bootstrap-08232022.tar.gz	Aug 23 2022	~22 GB	~30 GB	Genesis → Aug 2022	rvn-bootstrap-08232022.tar.gz.torrent
rvn-bootstrap-03142026.tar.gz	Mar 14 2026	~32 GB	~45 GB	Genesis → Mar 2026	rvn-bootstrap-03142026.tar.gz.torrent

Both snapshots ship with their checksums in rvn-bootstrap.sha512 (SHA512) and rvn-bootstrap.md5 (MD5, legacy 2022 snapshot only). On first start the container automatically picks the latest snapshot available in rvn-bootstrap.sha512.

Integrity Verification

All snapshots are verified before extraction. The node image ships with:

• rvn-bootstrap.sha512 — SHA512 checksums (used for all new snapshots)
• rvn-bootstrap.md5 — MD5 legacy checksum (used as fallback for the 2022 snapshot)

If both files are present, SHA512 takes precedence.

Creating a New Snapshot

The snapshot tool ships inside the container — no host dependencies needed:

docker exec rvn-node create_snapshot

The script:

1. Sets a maintenance lock so ravend does not restart mid-backup
2. Stops ravend gracefully via raven-cli stop
3. Archives assets/, blocks/, chainstate/ with live pv progress
4. Generates a SHA512 checksum and appends it to rvn-bootstrap.sha512
5. Creates a .torrent file (2 MiB piece size, DHT, no tracker required)
6. Removes the maintenance lock — ravend restarts automatically

After running, follow the printed next-steps to commit the new .torrent and updated rvn-bootstrap.sha512 to the repo and open a PR.

ravend Reference

Full ravend --help output is available at ravend-help.log.

Donations

• RVN: RFxiRVE8L7MHVYfNP2X9eMMKUPk83uYfpZ
• FLUX: t1ZsWHkFRfutSMCY1KPyk35k2pkNJ2GPjPU

Related Projects

• RVN-Electrumx-docker — ElectrumX server that connects to this node as its ravend backend
• rvn-node-frontend-docker — Real-time dashboard powered by this node's ZMQ and RPC endpoints