Akash Node Via Helm Chart | Akash Network - Your Guide to Decentralized Cloud

Deploy an Akash RPC node to your Kubernetes cluster using Helm. This method uses blockchain snapshots for rapid synchronization.

Time: 20-30 minutes (including snapshot download and sync)

Requirements:

Existing Kubernetes cluster
Helm 4.0+
kubectl access
100 GB storage (minimum), 1 TB recommended

Step 1 - Prepare Kubernetes Cluster

Create Namespace

kubectl create ns akash-services
kubectl label ns akash-services akash.network/name=akash-services akash.network=true

Install Helm

# Download Helm
wget https://get.helm.sh/helm-v4.0.1-linux-amd64.tar.gz
tar -zxvf helm-v4.0.1-linux-amd64.tar.gz
install linux-amd64/helm /usr/local/bin/helm

# Add Akash Helm repository
helm repo add akash https://akash-network.github.io/helm-charts
helm repo update akash

Step 2 - Install Akash Node

Install with Default Settings (Recommended)

The default installation uses blockchain snapshots for fast initial sync (~20 minutes for download and extraction, depending on connection speed).

helm install akash-node akash/akash-node -n akash-services

Expected output:

NAME: akash-node
NAMESPACE: akash-services
STATUS: deployed

What happens:

Downloads latest blockchain snapshot from Akash snapshot provider
Extracts snapshot to node data directory
Begins syncing from snapshot height to current block

Install with Custom Storage

For production nodes, increase storage allocation:

helm install akash-node akash/akash-node -n akash-services \
  --set ceph_storage.enabled=true \
  --set ceph_storage.capacity=1000Gi \
  --set ceph_storage.storageclass=beta3

Install with State Sync (Alternative)

State sync is faster but requires finding reliable RPC endpoints:

helm install akash-node akash/akash-node -n akash-services \
  --set state_sync.enabled=true \
  --set state_sync.rpc1="https://akash-rpc.polkachu.com:443" \
  --set state_sync.rpc2="https://akash-rpc.polkachu.com:443"

Step 3 - Verify Node

Check Pod Status

kubectl get pods -n akash-services

Expected output:

NAME                       READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
akash-node-1-xxxxx-xxxxx   1/1     Running   0          2m

Check Sync Status

# Get pod name
POD_NAME=$(kubectl get pods -n akash-services -l app=akash-node -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}')

# Check status
kubectl exec -n akash-services $POD_NAME -- akash status | jq '.sync_info.catching_up'

Expected:

true - Still syncing
false - Fully synced

Monitor Logs

kubectl logs -n akash-services -l app=akash-node --tail=50 -f

Press Ctrl+C to stop following logs.

Access Node RPC

From Within Kubernetes Cluster

export AKASH_NODE="http://$(kubectl -n akash-services get svc akash-node-1 -o jsonpath='{.spec.clusterIP}'):26657"
curl -s "$AKASH_NODE/status" | jq '.result.sync_info'

From Outside Kubernetes (Port Forward)

# Forward RPC port
kubectl -n akash-services port-forward svc/akash-node-1 26657:26657

# In another terminal, test the connection
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:26657/status | jq '.result.sync_info'

Configuration Options

View available configuration options:

helm show values akash/akash-node

Common options:

Option	Default	Description
`akash_node.snapshot_provider`	`akash`	Snapshot provider: `akash`, `polkachu`, `c29r3`, or `autostake`
`state_sync.enabled`	`false`	Enable state sync (alternative to snapshot)
`ceph_storage.enabled`	`false`	Use Ceph block storage
`ceph_storage.capacity`	`100Gi`	Size of Ceph volume
`ceph_storage.storageclass`	`akash-nodes`	Storage class name
`local_storage.enabled`	`false`	Use local node storage
`local_storage.capacity`	`100Gi`	Size of local volume
`akash_node.moniker`	`mynode`	Node name
`akash_node.chainid`	`akashnet-2`	Chain ID
`akash_node.pruning`	`nothing`	Pruning strategy

Upgrade Node

# Update Helm repository
helm repo update akash

# Upgrade node
helm upgrade akash-node akash/akash-node -n akash-services

Uninstall Node

helm -n akash-services uninstall akash-node

Note: This does not delete the persistent volume claim. To remove it:

kubectl -n akash-services delete pvc data-akash-node-1-0

Next Steps

For Validators: See Running a Validator
For Providers: Configure provider to use this node as RPC endpoint
For dApps: Use the node’s cluster IP or port-forward for local development

Questions? Join #validators on Discord