Node configuration

sova is configured by environment variables. On the command line it takes only these:

usage: sova               (run the node; configured by SOVA_* env vars)
       sova genesis-hash  (print the genesis hash for SOVA_CHAIN / SOVA_SIP7, and exit)
       sova --version     (print the version, and exit)

Anything else is refused, so a typo never starts a node.

The environment

Joining the public testnet sets everything through testnet.env. Every variable, with its testnet value: the sova environment.

A few matter beyond the testnet:

Variable	Default	Notes
`SOVA_CHAIN`	`dev`	`dev` (a local chain, chain ID 1337, with publicly keyed prefunded accounts) or `sova-testnet`
`SOVA_GOSSIP`	`relay`	`p2p` for devp2p (`sova/1`) with discovery; the testnet uses `p2p`
`SOVA_RPC_PROFILE`	`local`	`local`: reth’s standard `eth`, `net` and `web3` over HTTP on 127.0.0.1. `public`: read-and-broadcast only, for an RPC strangers reach (the method list); WebSocket off
`SOVA_RPC_CORS`	unset (no CORS headers)	`*` or a comma-separated list of origins, for browser pages calling your node
`SOVA_WS_PORT`	unset (no WebSocket)	WebSocket RPC on 127.0.0.1. Needed for `sova_subscribe("zcashBlocks")`
`SOVA_SEND_SYNC_TIMEOUT_SECS`	`300`	How long `eth_sendRawTransactionSync` waits for the receipt. Whole seconds, 1 to 3600
`SOVA_CROSS_BLOCK_CACHE_MB`	`256`	reth’s cross-block state cache, in MiB (reth’s own default is 4 GiB). 32 to 16384

A value out of range stops the node at startup with a message naming the variable. Other SOVA_* variables in the source serve the simulation harness.

Ports

Port	What	Binds
`8545`	HTTP JSON-RPC (`SOVA_HTTP_PORT`)	127.0.0.1
`8551`	Engine API (`SOVA_AUTH_PORT`)	127.0.0.1
`30303`	P2P, TCP and UDP (`SOVA_P2P_PORT`)	`SOVA_P2P_ADDR`, default `0.0.0.0`
set by `SOVA_WS_PORT`	WebSocket JSON-RPC	127.0.0.1

Inbound P2P is optional: a node works with outbound connections only.

The data directory

SOVA_DATADIR holds the chain, the node key (discovery-secret) and, on a sealing node, seal-journal/. Keep it across restarts, and never delete the seal journal: it stops a restart from signing two blocks for one slot. Sealing.

Running as a service

The project’s hosts use sova-node.service with an EnvironmentFile=. If you adapt it, write SOVA_DATADIR as an absolute path: systemd doesn’t expand $HOME. Stop the node with SIGTERM so it writes its recent blocks first: keeping it running.