Using the command line interface
The cardano-cli
command line interface (CLI) is installed as part of the node
installation process. This CLI provides a collection of tools for generating
keys, constructing transactions, creating certificates, and other important
tasks.
It is organized in a hierarchy of subcommands, and each level comes with its own built-in documentation of command syntax and options. For more details, read the CLI command reference.
To access the top level help, type the following command (without arguments):
cardano-cli
All the available sub-subcommands are displayed, one of which is node
. To
continue drilling down the hierarchy, type the following command:
cardano-cli node
To learn about the sub-sub-subcommand key-gen
, type the following command:
cardano-cli node key-gen
The parameters that this command takes are displayed. To generate a key-pair of offline keys and a file for the issue counter, type the following command:
cardano-cli node key-gen \--cold-verification-key-file cold.vkey \--cold-signing-key-file cold.skey \--operational-certificate-issue-counter-file cold.counter