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Deploy smart contracts to an Ethereum chain

This tutorial shows you how to deploy smart contracts as transactions to a network.

Prerequisites​

This tutorial requires a local blockchain network. You can use the Developer Quickstart to rapidly generate one. If deploying a private contract, enable privacy on the network (public contracts can also be deployed on privacy-enabled networks).

Use eth_sendSignedTransaction​

To deploy a smart contract using eth_sendSignedTransaction, use an account's private key to sign and serialize the transaction, and send the API request.

This example uses the web3js library to make the API calls.

Using the SimpleStorage.sol smart contract as an example, create a new file called compile.js with the following content:

compile.js
const fs = require("fs").promises;
const solc = require("solc");

async function main() {
  // Load the contract source code
  const sourceCode = await fs.readFile("SimpleStorage.sol", "utf8");
  // Compile the source code and retrieve the ABI and bytecode
  const { abi, bytecode } = compile(sourceCode, "SimpleStorage");
  // Store the ABI and bytecode into a JSON file
  const artifact = JSON.stringify({ abi, bytecode }, null, 2);
  await fs.writeFile("SimpleStorage.json", artifact);
}

function compile(sourceCode, contractName) {
  // Create the Solidity Compiler Standard Input and Output JSON
  const input = {
    language: "Solidity",
    sources: { main: { content: sourceCode } },
    settings: { outputSelection: { "*": { "*": ["abi", "evm.bytecode"] } } },
  };
  // Parse the compiler output to retrieve the ABI and bytecode
  const output = solc.compile(JSON.stringify(input));
  const artifact = JSON.parse(output).contracts.main[contractName];
  return {
    abi: artifact.abi,
    bytecode: artifact.evm.bytecode.object,
  };
}

main().then(() => process.exit(0));

Run compile.js to get the smart contract's output JSON:

node compile.js

Run solc to get the contract's bytecode and ABI:

solc SimpleStorage.sol --bin --abi

Once you have the bytecode and ABI, you can rename the output files to make them easier to use; this tutorial refers to them as SimpleStorage.bin and SimpleStorage.abi.

Create a new file named public_tx.js to send the transaction (or run the following commands in a JavaScript console). The Developer Quickstart provides an example of a public transaction script.

const web3 = new Web3(host);
// use an existing account, or make an account
const privateKey =
  "0x8f2a55949038a9610f50fb23b5883af3b4ecb3c3bb792cbcefbd1542c692be63";
const account = web3.eth.accounts.privateKeyToAccount(privateKey);

// read in the contracts
const contractJsonPath = path.resolve(__dirname, "SimpleStorage.json");
const contractJson = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(contractJsonPath));
const contractAbi = contractJson.abi;
const contractBinPath = path.resolve(__dirname, "SimpleStorage.bin");
const contractBin = fs.readFileSync(contractBinPath);
// initialize the default constructor with a value `47 = 0x2F`; this value is appended to the bytecode
const contractConstructorInit =
  "000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000002F";

// get txnCount for the nonce value
const txnCount = await web3.eth.getTransactionCount(account.address);

const rawTxOptions = {
  nonce: web3.utils.numberToHex(txnCount),
  from: account.address,
  to: null, //public tx
  value: "0x00",
  data: "0x" + contractBin + contractConstructorInit, // contract binary appended with initialization value
  gasPrice: "0x0", //ETH per unit of gas
  gasLimit: "0x24A22", //max number of gas units the tx is allowed to use
};
console.log("Creating transaction...");
const tx = new Tx(rawTxOptions);
console.log("Signing transaction...");
tx.sign(privateKey);
console.log("Sending transaction...");
var serializedTx = tx.serialize();
const pTx = await web3.eth.sendSignedTransaction(
  "0x" + serializedTx.toString("hex").toString("hex"),
);
console.log("tx transactionHash: " + pTx.transactionHash);
console.log("tx contractAddress: " + pTx.contractAddress);

rawTxOptions contains the following fields:

  • nonce - the number of transactions sent from an address.
  • from - address of the sending account. For example 0xfe3b557e8fb62b89f4916b721be55ceb828dbd73.
  • to - address of the receiver. To deploy a contract, set to null.
  • gas - amount of gas provided by the sender for the transaction.
  • gasPrice - price for each unit of gas the sender is willing to pay.
  • data - binary of the contract (in this example there's also a constructor initialization value, so we append that to the binary value).
  • value - amount of Ether/Wei transferred from the sender to the recipient.

Run the public_tx.js to send the transaction:

node public_tx.js

This example code creates the transaction tx, signs it with the private key of the account, serializes it, then calls eth_sendSignedTransaction to deploy the contract.

Use eth_sendTransaction​

You can use eth_sendTransaction as an alternative to eth_sendSignedTransaction. However, Hyperledger Besu does not support the eth_sendTransaction API call and keeps account management separate for stronger security. Configure EthSigner with your Besu node to make the eth_sendTransaction API call.

An example can be found in the Developer Quickstart where the RPC node is paired with EthSigner. Refer to the EthSigner documentation for configuration details.

Pass the following parameters to the eth_sendTransaction call to EthSigner; EthSigner then converts the request to an eth_sendRawTransaction call that Besu uses:

  • to - address of the receiver. To deploy a contract, set to null.
  • from - address of the sender account. For example 0x9b790656b9ec0db1936ed84b3bea605873558198.
  • gas - amount of gas provided by the sender for the transaction
  • gasPrice - price for each unit of gas the sender is willing to pay
  • data - one of the following:
    • For contract deployments (this use case) - compiled code of the contract
    • For contract interactions - hash of the invoked method signature and encoded parameters (see Ethereum Contract ABI)
    • For simple ether transfers - empty
'eth_sendTransaction' parameters
params: {
  "to": null,
  "from": "0x9b790656b9ec0db1936ed84b3bea605873558198",
  "gas": "0x76c0",
  "gasPrice": "0x9184e72a000",
  "data": "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"
}

Make the request using eth_sendTransaction:

'eth_sendTransaction' curl HTTP request
curl -X POST --data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"eth_sendTransaction","params":[{"from":"0x9b790656b9ec0db1936ed84b3bea605873558198", "to":null, "gas":"0x7600","gasPrice":"0x9184e72a000", "data":"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"}], "id":1}' <JSON-RPC-endpoint:port>

Use eea_sendRawTransaction for private contracts with web3js-quorum​

To deploy a private contract to another node or privacy group member, use the web3js-quorum library and the eea_sendRawTransaction API call. You must use this API call instead of eth_sendTransaction because Hyperledger Besu keeps account management separate for stronger security.

The Developer Quickstart provides an example of a private transaction script.

This example uses the web3js library to make the API calls.

Use web3.priv.generateAndSendRawTransaction by running the following commands in a JavaScript console, or by including them in a private_tx.js file and running node private_tx.js:

'private_tx.js' using 'web3.priv.generateAndSendRawTransaction'
const Web3 = require("web3");
const Web3Quorum = require("web3js-quorum");

const bytecode =
  "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";
// initialize the default constructor with a value `47 = 0x2F`; this value is appended to the bytecode
const contractConstructorInit =
  "000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000002F";

const chainId = 1337;
const web3 = new Web3(clientUrl);
const web3quorum = new Web3Quorum(web3, chainId);

const txOptions = {
  data: "0x" + bytecode + contractConstructorInit,
  privateKey: fromPrivateKey,
  privateFrom: fromPublicKey,
  privateFor: [toPublicKey],
};
console.log("Creating contract...");
const txHash = await web3quorum.priv.generateAndSendRawTransaction(txOptions);
console.log("Getting contractAddress from txHash: ", txHash);

const privateTxReceipt = await web3quorum.priv.waitForTransactionReceipt(
  txHash,
);
console.log("Private Transaction Receipt: ", privateTxReceipt);
return privateTxReceipt;

txOptions contains the following field:

  • data - compiled code of the contract (in this example there's also a constructor initialization value, so we append that to the bytecode).

The deployment process includes creating the client as in the previous examples, but rather than deploying the contract with to: null, it instead sends the transaction with privateFor: [memberPublicKey/s]. Once you make the API call, you receive a transactionHash, which you can use to get a transactionReceipt containing the contract's address.

note

This example doesn't use a privacy group and makes a simple node-to-node transaction. To use a privacy group:

  • Create the privacy group using the public keys of the nodes in the group.
  • Specify the privacyGroupId instead of the privateFor option in the txOptions above and then send the transaction.

The Developer Quickstart provides an example of a private transaction with a privacy group.

Use eea_sendRawTransaction for private contracts with web3js-eea​

danger

This web3js-eea library will be deprecated on December 31, 2021. Please use the web3js-quorum library instead and refer to the previous section.

To deploy a private contract to another privacy group member, use the web3js-quorum library and the eea_sendRawTransaction API call. You must use this API call instead of eth_sendTransaction because Hyperledger Besu keeps account management separate for stronger security.

The Developer Quickstart provides an example of a private transaction script.

This example uses the web3js library to make the API calls.

Use eea_sendRawTransaction by running the following commands in a JavaScript console, or by including them in a private_tx.js file and running node private_tx.js:

'private_tx.js' using 'eea_sendRawTransaction'
const Web3 = require("web3");
const EEAClient = require("web3-eea");

const bytecode =
  "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";
// initialize the default constructor with a value `47 = 0x2F`; this value is appended to the bytecode
const contractConstructorInit =
  "000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000002F";

const web3 = new Web3(clientUrl);
const web3eea = new EEAClient(web3, 1337);
const txOptions = {
  data: "0x" + bytecode + contractConstructorInit,
  privateKey: fromPrivateKey,
  privateFrom: fromPublicKey,
  privateFor: [toPublicKey],
};
console.log("Creating contract...");
const txHash = await web3eea.eea.sendRawTransaction(txOptions);
console.log("Getting contractAddress from txHash: ", txHash);

const privateTxReceipt = await web3.priv.getTransactionReceipt(
  txHash,
  fromPublicKey,
);
// console.log("Private Transaction Receipt: ", privateTxReceipt);
return privateTxReceipt;

txOptions contains the following field:

  • data - compiled code of the contract (in this example there's also a constructor initialization value, so we append that to the bytecode).

The deployment process includes creating the client as in the previous examples, but rather than deploying the contract with to: null, it instead sends the transaction with privateFor: [memberPublicKey/s]. Once you make the API call, you receive a transactionHash, which you can use to get a transactionReceipt containing the contract's address.