Step 1. Setup

Follow the instructions in Setup and Installation to build and install the Theta Blockchain node software. Make sure you are compiling the latest testnet branch, as mentioned in the special notes. Next, execute the following commands to setup the environment.

cd $THETA_HOME
mkdir ../testnet
cp -r ./integration/testnet/walletnode ../testnet
wget -O ../testnet/walletnode/snapshot `curl -k https://theta-testnet-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/snapshot/snapshot`

Step 2. Launch and connect to the testnet

Start a screen or tmux session, and use the following commands to launch a launch a node and connect to the Theta testnet. It may take some time to download the blockchain data to be in-sync with the network.

theta start --config=../testnet/walletnode

Note: when the testnet Theta Node is launched for the first time, you need to choose a password to generate an address for the node. Please choose a secure password and keep it in a safe place. The next time when you launch the node again, you will need the password to unlock it.