Step 8: Creating an Allocation on Blobber

To create storage space on the blobber we have to use the zboxcli to interface with the blockchain.

1. Install zboxcli.

2. Install zwalletcli ,create wallet(if you have not created one) and get test tokens into your wallet using the command below:

  ./zwallet faucet --methodName pour --input "{Pay day}"

On Successful response:

Execute faucet smart contract success with txn :  50e6cf293567e456527a13a6981f1188fb6eb6b930c805c7ddba5e7e26ba9e6f

3. Check Token balance in zwallet using the

./zwallet getbalance

Response-

Balance: 1.000 ZCN (0.44 USD)

Note : Before Proceeding further at least have 3 ZCN balance in the wallet. The tokens are required for staking before creating an allocation. Run ./zwallet faucet --methodName pour --input "{Pay day}" command three times to get 3 ZCN tokens. 4. Once the wallet has an available balance, you have to lock tokens into stake pool .To lock tokens into stake pool you need a id of blobbers to stake which can be fetched using the zboxcli command

./zbox ls-blobbers

The sample response will show all the active blobbers:

- id:                    7a90e6790bcd3d78422d7a230390edc102870fe58c15472073922024985b1c7d
  url:                   http://198.18.0.92:5052
  allocated / total capacity: 2.0 GiB / 232.2 GiB
  last_health_check:      2022-11-24 05:27:00 +0530 IST
  terms:
    read_price:          10.000 mZCN / GB
    write_price:         100.000 mZCN / GB / time_unit
    min_lock_demand:     0.1
    max_offer_duration:  744h0m0s
- id:                    f65af5d64000c7cd2883f4910eb69086f9d6e6635c744e62afcfab58b938ee25
  url:                   http://198.18.0.91:5051
  allocated / total capacity: 2.0 GiB / 232.3 GiB
  last_health_check:      2022-11-24 05:27:29 +0530 IST
  terms:
    read_price:          10.000 mZCN / GB
    write_price:         100.000 mZCN / GB / time_unit
    min_lock_demand:     0.1
    max_offer_duration:  744h0m0s
​

5. Export Blobber IDs to variables.

export BLOBBER1=f65af5d64000c7cd2883f4910eb69086f9d6e6635c744e62afcfab58b938ee25
export BLOBBER2=7a90e6790bcd3d78422d7a230390edc102870fe58c15472073922024985b1c7d

6.Add tokens to the stake pools of all the active blobbers to allow them to accept allocations.

./zbox sp-lock --blobber_id $BLOBBER1 --tokens 1
./zbox sp-lock --blobber_id $BLOBBER2 --tokens 1

Sample Response:

tokens locked, txn hash: 04bde4414459739e9315722f61b409fa12a5ffb70b8acd483b874f2f3b810376

7. Once the tokens are locked into stake pool you can create and fun storage allocation by using the zbox newallocation command. To understand the syntax type

./zbox newallocation --help

This will output the mandatory and optional flags that need to be added with the newallocation command.

Parameter	Description	Default	Valid Values
allocationFileName	local file to store allocation information	allocation.txt	file path
cost	returns the cost of the allocation, no allocation created		flag
data	number of data shards, effects upload and download speeds	2	int
expire	duration to allocation expiration	720h	duration
free_storage	free storage marker file.		file path
owner	owner's id, use for funding an allocation for another		string
owner_public_key	public key, use for funding an allocation for another		string
lock	lock write pool with given number of tokens		float
mcct	max challenge completion time	1h	duration
parity	number of parity shards, effects availability	2	int
read_price	filter blobbers by read price range	0-inf	range
size	size of space reserved on blobbers	2147483648	bytes
usd	give token value in USD		flag
write_price	filter blobbers by write price range	0-inf	range

7.For getting started we can create a basic allocation with 1 data and parity shard. Lock some tokens using lock float variable(for example 0.5) . The complete command would be :

./zbox newallocation --lock 0.5 --data 1 --parity 1 

Successful Response will create an allocation with allocation ID:

Allocation created :fa34be9c225077ede736b8012738d6b591aff822d75a630701ae99c05c32fac7

Note: For creating allocation with more data and parity shards, run more blobbers. The sum of data and parity shards should be equal or smaller than the number of running blobbers. 8.If you have successfully created an allocation verify it by running

./zbox listallocations

You will see your allocation ID listed with the specified configuration:

Response:

  ID   |    SIZE    |          EXPIRATION           | DATASHARDS | PARITYSHARDS | FINALIZED | CANCELED | R  PRICE | W  PRICE
+------------------------------------------------------------------+------------+-------------------------------+------------+--------------+-----------+----------+----------+----------+
  52fb9b5926c06e43a9290e9d7ad3217a4aee51c94684baf0fc174aa41abe6059 | 2147483648 | 2021-05-14 17:50:59 +0000 UTC |   2 |            2 | false     | false    |     0.04 |     0.04

Notes:

• If you are not able to create allocation and getting "transaction not found on any of the sharders", check error causes in zbox Tips and Troubleshooting Section.

• To upload files on an allocation, modify allocation and use advanced features check zboxcli documentation.