FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Obol Stack

General

What is Obol Stack?

The Obol Stack is a local Kubernetes-based development environment for running blockchain networks. It uses k3d (Kubernetes in Docker) to provide a lightweight cluster where you can deploy Ethereum nodes, Layer 2 networks, and other blockchain infrastructure.

Is Obol Stack suitable for production?

No. Obol Stack is designed for local development, testing, and experimentation. For production deployments, use dedicated infrastructure with proper security, redundancy, and monitoring. Refer to the specific network documentation for production deployment guidance.

What operating systems are supported?

Obol Stack supports:

• macOS (Darwin) - Intel and Apple Silicon

• Linux - amd64 and arm64 architectures

Windows is not currently supported. Windows users can use WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) to run the Obol Stack.

What are the hardware requirements?

Minimum requirements:

Resource	Requirement
CPU	4 cores
RAM	8 GB
Storage	50 GB

Recommended for running full nodes:

Resource	Requirement
CPU	8+ cores
RAM	16+ GB
Storage	500 GB - 2 TB (depends on network)

Running multiple networks or full Ethereum mainnet nodes significantly increases resource requirements.

Installation

The installer fails with "Docker daemon not running"

Ensure Docker is installed and running:

# Check Docker status
docker info

# Start Docker (macOS)
open -a Docker

# Start Docker (Linux)
sudo systemctl start docker

How do I update the Obol Stack?

Re-run the installer to update to the latest version:

bash <(curl -s https://stack.obol.org)

The installer will update the CLI binary while preserving your configuration and data.

How do I uninstall Obol Stack?

1. Stop and remove the cluster:

obol stack purge -f

1. Remove installed files:

rm -rf ~/.config/obol
rm -rf ~/.local/share/obol
rm ~/.local/bin/obol

1. Optionally remove installed dependencies (kubectl, helm, k3d, etc.) from ~/.local/bin/.

The installer cannot modify /etc/hosts

The installer requires sudo access to add obol.stack to /etc/hosts. If this fails:

1. Run the installer and skip the hosts configuration.

2. Manually add the entry:

echo "127.0.0.1 obol.stack" | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts

Stack operations

The cluster fails to start

Common causes and solutions:

Docker resources insufficient:

Increase Docker's resource allocation in Docker Desktop settings (CPU, Memory, Disk).

Port conflicts:

Obol Stack uses ports 8080 and 8443. Check for conflicts:

lsof -i :8080
lsof -i :8443

Stop any conflicting services before starting the stack.

Previous cluster not cleaned up:

# Force remove any existing cluster
k3d cluster delete --all
obol stack init --force
obol stack up

How do I access the Kubernetes dashboard?

Use k9s for a terminal-based dashboard:

obol k9s

Or use kubectl directly:

obol kubectl get all -A

Can I use my existing kubectl configuration?

Obol Stack uses an isolated kubeconfig file at ~/.config/obol/kubeconfig.yaml. This prevents conflicts with your existing Kubernetes configuration.

To use the Obol Stack's cluster with standard kubectl:

export KUBECONFIG=~/.config/obol/kubeconfig.yaml
kubectl get nodes

How do I persist data across cluster restarts?

Data is automatically persisted. When you run obol stack down, the cluster stops but data remains in ~/.local/share/obol/. Running obol stack up restores the cluster with all previous data.

Only obol stack purge -f deletes persistent data.

Networks

How do I know which deployment ID was generated?

The deployment ID is displayed when you run obol network install:

Generated deployment ID: knowing-wahoo

You can also list your deployments:

ls ~/.config/obol/networks/

Can I run multiple instances of the same network?

Yes. Each deployment gets a unique namespace. For example:

obol network install ethereum --id=mainnet --network=mainnet
obol network install ethereum --id=hoodi --network=hoodi

This creates two separate deployments: ethereum-mainnet and ethereum-hoodi.

How long does it take to sync an Ethereum node?

Sync times vary significantly:

Network	Execution Client	Approximate Time
Hoodi	Reth	2-6 hours
Hoodi	Geth	4-12 hours
Mainnet	Reth	1-3 days
Mainnet	Geth	3-7 days

Sync times depend on your hardware, network connection, and current chain state. Consensus clients with checkpoint sync typically sync in minutes.

My network deployment is stuck in Pending state

Check for resource issues:

# Check pod status
obol kubectl describe pod -n <namespace> <pod-name>

# Check events
obol kubectl get events -n <namespace>

# Check persistent volume claims
obol kubectl get pvc -n <namespace>

Common causes:

• Insufficient resources - Increase Docker's allocated resources.

• PVC not bound - Storage provisioner issue; try restarting the stack.

• Image pull errors - Network connectivity or rate limiting.

How do I view logs for my network?

# View all pods in namespace
obol kubectl get pods -n <network>-<id>

# Stream logs from a specific pod
obol kubectl logs -n <network>-<id> <pod-name> -f

# View logs from all pods with a label
obol kubectl logs -n <network>-<id> -l app=execution -f

Troubleshooting

Error: "stack not running, use 'obol stack up' first"

The cluster is not running. Start it with:

obol stack up

If the cluster was previously initialized, this will restore it. If not, run obol stack init first.

Error: "deployment not found"

The specified network deployment does not exist. Check your deployment ID:

# List installed networks
ls ~/.config/obol/networks/

# Use the correct format
obol network sync ethereum/correct-id

Grafana shows "No data"

Ensure Prometheus is running and scraping metrics:

# Check Prometheus pods
obol kubectl get pods -n monitoring

# Check ServiceMonitors
obol kubectl get servicemonitors -A

Networks must have the release: monitoring label to be discovered by Prometheus.

How do I report a bug?

Report issues on GitHub: https://github.com/ObolNetwork/obol-stack/issues

Include:

• Obol Stack version (obol version)

• Operating system and architecture

• Docker version (docker version)

• Steps to reproduce

• Relevant logs

Need more help?

If your question is not answered here, head over to our Discord where a member of our team or the community will be happy to assist you.