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Zcash-stack Helm Chart - Plug and Play Zcash Ecosystem Deployment

This Helm chart is designed to be a plug and play solution for deploying the complete Zcash ecosystem on Kubernetes. With minimal configuration, you can easily deploy zcashd, zebra, lightwalletd, caddy, and dnsseeder to run a fully functional Zcash infrastructure.

Caddy as a Frontend

By default, this chart uses Caddy as a web frontend for lightwalletd, making it simple to expose the lightwalletd service securely over HTTPS. Caddy automatically manages SSL certificates and provides a modern, user-friendly configuration for serving HTTP(S) traffic. This setup allows you to quickly expose lightwalletd to external clients, such as mobile wallets, without worrying about complex web server configurations.

Customization Options

Although the default configuration is ready to deploy and run, this Helm chart is highly customizable. You can easily adapt it to fit your specific infrastructure needs:

  • Ingress or Internal Deployment: If you prefer not to use Caddy or want to integrate the deployment with an existing ingress controller (like NGINX, Traefik, etc.), you can disable Caddy and configure your own ingress to expose lightwalletd or other services. This makes the chart suitable for use in internal networks or environments where Caddy is not needed.

  • Internal Infrastructure: For deployments that don’t require public exposure (e.g., running on internal networks or for development purposes), you can modify the chart to adjust how services are exposed, allowing tighter integration with internal load balancers or private networking configurations.

  • Custom Images and Resources: All Docker images, resource limits, volume sizes, and other Kubernetes objects are fully customizable. You can override any value in the values.yaml file or through the --set flags in Helm, making it easy to adapt the deployment to your exact specifications.

In summary, this Helm chart provides a turnkey solution to deploy the Zcash ecosystem quickly and securely. However, it is also flexible enough to be adapted for more advanced use cases, whether for public-facing deployments or internal infrastructures.

Components Overview

This Helm chart includes several components that work together to create a complete Zcash infrastructure setup. Below is a brief explanation of each component, along with links to their respective GitHub repositories for more information.

Zebra

zebra is a Zcash full node implementation developed by the Zcash Foundation. It is responsible for maintaining the Zcash blockchain, validating transactions, and participating in the Zcash peer-to-peer network. zebra is written in Rust and focuses on security, performance, and modularity. It was developed to promote diversity in Zcash node software, making the network more robust and resilient. zebra is the preferred full node implementation for new deployments, and is configured by default in this Helm chart.

Zcashd

zcashd is the original Zcash node implementation developed by Electric Coin Company. It is written in C++ and was forked from Bitcoin Core. Like zebra, it operates as a full node, validating blocks and transactions in the Zcash network. zcashd has a longer history of deployment and is currently still the more widely deployed full node implementation, but is in the process of being deprecated in favour of zebra. Alternatives are being developed for functionality currently supported only by zcashd, such as its internal wallet. You should aim to have switched to zebra by early 2025, in advance of the NU7 network upgrade, which zcashd will likely not support (see ECC's roadmap).

Lightwalletd

lightwalletd is a lightweight server that acts as a proxy between Zcash light clients (such as mobile wallets) and full Zcash nodes like zcashd or zebra. It enables light clients to interact with the Zcash blockchain without requiring a full node locally. Lightwalletd processes client requests, such as syncing balances and sending transactions, by forwarding them to a connected full node.

Caddy

Caddy is a modern web server that can be deployed as a frontend for lightwalletd. It provides easy HTTPS configuration, automatic certificate management, and other features like routing and reverse proxying. In this setup, Caddy handles incoming HTTP traffic for lightwalletd, ensuring secure connections and simplified configuration.

DNSSeeder

dnsseeder is a service that provides seed nodes for Zcash clients. When a new Zcash node starts, it needs to find peers to connect to, and the DNSSeeder helps by returning a list of active nodes in the network. This component ensures that new nodes can quickly discover and join the Zcash network without needing a predefined set of peers.

Each of these components plays a critical role in the functioning of the Zcash network, from full node operations to lightweight client support, and peer discovery. You can visit their respective GitHub repositories for more details about their implementation, development, and configuration.

Project Structure

  • Chart.yaml: Metadata of the Helm chart.
  • values.yaml: Default values for deploying the Helm chart.
  • templates/: Helm templates that generate Kubernetes manifests.
  • .gitignore: Specifies files and directories to be ignored by Git.

Installation

To use this Helm chart, you need to have Helm installed.

  1. Navigate to the chart directory:

    cd zcash-stack

  2. Add the repo

    helm repo add zcash-stack https://Electric-Coin-Company.github.io/zcash-stack/

  3. Install the chart:

    helm install <release-name> zcash-stack/zcash-stack

  4. If you need to override the default values, create a custom values.yaml and use the following command:

    helm install <release-name> zcash-stack/zcash-stack --values <custom-values-file.yaml>

Configuration

The following table lists the configurable parameters of the Zcashd Helm chart and their default values:

Parameter Description Default Required Possible values
zcashd.enabled Enable Zcashd node deployment False True False, True
zcashd.name Name of the Zcashd instance zcashd True Any string
zcashd.testnet Enable testnet mode False True true, True
zcashd.image.repository Zcashd Docker image repository electriccoinco/zcashd True Any valid image repository
zcashd.image.tag Zcashd Docker image tag latest True Any valid image tag
zcashd.image.pullPolicy Image pull policy IfNotPresent True Always, IfNotPresent, Never
zcashd.replicas Number of Zcashd replicas 1 True Any integer >= 1
zcashd.reindex Enable reindexing False True False, True
zcashd.nodes Seed nodes to connect to [mainnet.z.cash] True List of valid node addresses
zcashd.volumes.data.size Size of the Zcashd data volume 400Gi True Any valid size (e.g., 400Gi)
zcashd.volumes.data.storageClass Storage class for the Zcashd data volume default True Any valid storage class
zcashd.service.type Service type for Zcashd ClusterIP True ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer
zcashd.requests.cpu CPU requests for Zcashd nil True Any valid CPU request (e.g., 500m)
zcashd.requests.memory Memory requests for Zcashd nil True Any valid memory request (e.g., 512Mi)
zebra.enabled Enable Zebra node deployment True True False, True
zebra.name Name of the Zebra instance zebra True Any string
zebra.testnet Enable Zebra testnet mode False True False, True
zebra.image.repository Zebra Docker image repository zfnd/zebra True Any valid image repository
zebra.image.tag Zebra Docker image tag v1.9.0 True Any valid image tag
zebra.replicas Number of Zebra replicas 1 True Any integer >= 1
zebra.volumes.data.size Size of the Zebra data volume 400Gi True Any valid size (e.g., 400Gi)
zebra.volumes.data.storageClass Storage class for the Zebra data volume defaut True Any valid storage class
zebra.service.type Service type for Zebra ClusterIP True ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer
lightwalletd.enabled Enable Lightwalletd deployment True True False, True
lightwalletd.zcashNodeType Type of Zcash node (zcashd or zebra) zebra True zcashd, zebra
lightwalletd.image.repository Lightwalletd Docker image repository electriccoinco/lightwalletd True Any valid image repository
lightwalletd.image.tag Lightwalletd Docker image tag latest True Any valid image tag
lightwalletd.volumes.data.size Size of the Lightwalletd data volume 400Gi True Any valid size (e.g., 40Gi)
lightwalletd.volumes.data.storageClass Storage class for the Lightwalletd volume default True Any valid storage class
caddy.enabled Enable Caddy deployment (frontend for Lightwalletd) False True true, True
caddy.domain Domain for Caddy "lwd.example.com" True Any valid domain
caddy.email Email for SSL certificates "[email protected]" True Any valid email
dnsseeder.enabled Enable DNS seeder deployment True True False, True
dnsseeder.name Name of the DNS seeder instance dnsseeder True Any string
dnsseeder.image.repository DNS seeder Docker image repository electriccoinco/dnsseeder True Any valid image repository
dnsseeder.image.tag DNS seeder Docker image tag latest True Any valid image tag
dnsseeder.service.type Service type for DNS seeder ClusterIP True ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer
dnsseeder.env.seedHostname Hostname for the seeder "example.com" True Any valid hostname
dnsseeder.env.nodeHostname Hostname for the DNS node "zcash.example.com" True Any valid hostname
dnsseeder.env.email Admin email for DNS seeder "[email protected]" True Any valid email
dnsseeder.env.threads Number of threads for the seeder 384 True Any valid integer >= 1
dnsseeder.env.address IP address to bind for the seeder "0.0.0.0" True Any valid IP address
dnsseeder.env.network Network type for the seeder (mainnet or testnet) mainnet True mainnet, testnet
rpc.credentials.rpcUser RPC username 5s3rn4m3 True Any string
rpc.credentials.rpcPassword RPC password s3cr3tp4ssw0rd True Any string

Customizing the Deployment

You can override the default values by creating a custom values.yaml or using the --set flag. For example:

helm install <release-name> zcash-stack/zcash-stack

Acknowledgments

This project was inspired by the work in emersonian/zcash-stack. Their implementation provided valuable insights for structuring and organizing this codebase.