This is a Solana hello world tutorial. We will walk you through the steps to install Solana and troubleshoot issues that may arise.
If you encounter an issue, please check the Troubleshooting section at the end of this article.
Skip this if you already have Rust installed.
# install rust
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
You will need this to run the unit tests. Skip this if you already have yarn installed.
# install yarn -- assumes node js is installed
corepack enable # corepack comes with node js
We strongly recommend using the stable version, not latest.
Solana installation no longer supports symbolic channel names (edge, beta, stable), hence we have to specify the version.
# install solana
sh -c "$(curl -sSfL https://release.solana.com/v1.16.25/install)"
Anchor is a framework for Solana development. It is quite similar to hardhat in many respects.
# install anchor
cargo install --git https://github.com/coral-xyz/anchor avm --locked --force
avm install latest
avm use latest
Mac users: we recommend calling your program day_1 instead of day1 because Anchor seems to silently insert underscores on Mac machines sometimes.
anchor init day1 # use day_1 if you have a mac
cd day1
anchor build
Depending on your machine and internet connection, this step may take a while. This is also where you are likely to run into installation problems, so please see the troubleshooting section if necessary.
# shell 1
solana config set --url localhost
Run the following command in a new shell, not in the Anchor project. But do not close the shell where you ran anchor build. This is running a local (test) Solana node instance on your machine:
# shell 2
solana-test-validator
Go back to the shell with the Anchor project and run the following command:
# shell 1
anchor keys sync
Run this in the Anchor project
# shell 1
anchor test --skip-local-validator
The command above runs the test for our program. If you have not already created a test wallet, Anchor will give you instructions for how to do so. We do not provide those instructions here because it will be dependent on your OS and file structure. You may also need to airdrop yourself some local Sol by running solana airdrop 100 {YOUR_WALLET_ADDRESS} in the terminal. You can get your wallet address by running solana address in the command line.
The expected output is as follows:
Now let’s make our program output “Hello, world!”. Add the following line marked with ****NEW LINE HERE**** to programs/day_1/src/lib.rs.
use anchor_lang::prelude::*;
declare_id!("...");
#[program]
pub mod day_1 {
use super::*;
pub fn initialize(ctx: Context<Initialize>) -> Result<()> {
msg!("Hello, world!"); // **** NEW LINE HERE ****
Ok(())
}
}
#[derive(Accounts)]
pub struct Initialize {}
solana-test-validator --reset
anchor test --skip-local-validator
ls .anchor/program-logs/
Alternatively, you can view the logs as the happen by opening a third shell and running:
# shell 3
solana logs
Now run the test again, and you should see the same message in the terminal where you ran solana logs.
In Rust, the exclamation point indicates that these are macros. We will revisit macros in a later tutorial.
No, that was autogenerated by the Anchor framework. You could name it whatever you like.
There is nothing special about the name initialize in this context, and so we can change the name to whatever we like. This is unlike some other keywords and languages, like how main is a special name in some languages, or how constructor is a special name in Solidity.
Exercise: Try renaming initialize in programs/day_1/src/lib.rs and initialize in tests/day_1.ts to become initialize2 and run the test again. See the change marked in the orange circles below.
When the tests run against a node, we will be able to query the node for state changes. If you are not able to get the node to run, it is okay to run anchor test without the --skip-local-validator flag. However, you will have a harder time developing and testing, so we recommend getting the local validator to work.
Solana is a rapidly developing software, and you may run into installation issues. We’ve documented the ones you are most likely to encounter the following sections.
Our tutorial series was written with the following versions: * Anchor = version 0.29.0 * Solana = version 1.16.25 * Rustc = 1.77.0-nightly
You can change the Anchor version by running:
avm install 0.29.0
avm use 0.29.0
solana-program v1.18.0 cannot be builterror: package `solana-program v1.18.0` cannot be built because it requires rustc 1.72.0 or newer, while the currently active rustc version is 1.68.0-dev
Either upgrade to rustc 1.72.0 or newer, or use
cargo update -p solana-program@1.18.0 --precise ver
Check the version of Solana you are running using solana --version. Then plug that version into the ver above. An example resolution is shown below:
If you get the following error:
error[E0658]: use of unstable library feature 'build_hasher_simple_hash_one'
--> src/random_state.rs:463:5
|
463 | / fn hash_one<T: Hash>(&self, x: T) -> u64 {
464 | | RandomState::hash_one(self, x)
465 | | }
| |_____^
|
= note: see issue #86161 https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/86161 for more information
= help: add #![feature(build_hasher_simple_hash_one)] to the crate attributes to enable
Run the following command: cargo update -p ahash@0.8.7 --precise 0.8.6.
Credit: https://solana.stackexchange.com/questions/8800/cant-build-hello-world
Error: Deploying program failed: Error processing Instruction 1: custom program error: 0x1
There was a problem deploying: Output { status: ExitStatus(unix_wait_status(256)), stdout: "", stderr: "" }.
If you get this error, your keys are not synced. Run anchor keys sync.
Your keys are not synced. Run anchor keys sync.
You ran anchor test without --skip-local-validator while the validator is running in the background. Either turn off the validator and run anchor test or run anchor test --skip-local-validator with the validator running. Skip local validator means skip the temporary one it creates for the project, not the one running in the background.
Run the command below to airdrop 100 SOL to your development address:
solana airdrop 100 J7t...zjK
Error: RPC request error: cluster version query failed: error sending request for url (http://localhost:8899/): error trying to connect: tcp connect error: Connection refused (os error 61)
There was a problem deploying: Output { status: ExitStatus(unix_wait_status(256)), stdout: "", stderr: "" }.
This means the solana-test-validator is not running in the background. Run solana-test-validator in another shell.
Option::unwrap() on a None value’thread 'main' panicked at 'called `Option::unwrap()` on a `None` value', /Users/username/.cargo/git/checkouts/anchor-50c4b9c8b5e0501f/347c225/lang/syn/src/idl/file.rs:214:73
note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` environment variable to display a backtrace
It’s likely you didn’t run anchor build yet.
Follow the instructions in this Stack Exchange thread.
Run the following commands:
brew install corepack
brew link --overwrite corepack
BPF SDK: /Users/rareskills/.local/share/solana/install/releases/stable-43daa37937907c10099e30af10a5a0b43e2dd2fe/solana-release/bin/sdk/bpf
cargo-build-bpf child: rustup toolchain list -v
cargo-build-bpf child: rustup toolchain link bpf /Users/rareskills/.local/share/solana/install/releases/stable-43daa37937907c10099e30af10a5a0b43e2dd2fe/solana-release/bin/sdk/bpf/dependencies/bpf-tools/rust
error: not a directory:
clear the cache: run rm -rf ~/.cache/solana/*.
anchor build?Create a new project and name it day_1 instead of day1. Anchor seems to silently insert underscores on some machines.
This tutorial is the first in our free Solana Course.
Originally Published February, 08, 2024
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