> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.chainstack.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Environment setup

> Prepare your Kubernetes cluster and install required tools for a Chainstack Self-Hosted deployment, including kubectl, Helm, and storage configuration.

This page walks you through preparing a Linux server for Chainstack Self-Hosted. By the end, you will have a running Kubernetes cluster and all required command-line tools installed.

For hardware and software specifications, see [System requirements](/docs/self-hosted/requirements).

## Install Kubernetes (k3s)

k3s is a lightweight Kubernetes distribution suitable for single-server deployments. Other distributions (k8s, EKS, GKE, AKS) are also supported, but k3s is what's tested and documented.

```bash theme={"system"}
# Install k3s
curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | sh -

# Configure kubectl to use k3s
export KUBECONFIG=/etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.yaml

# Make the configuration persistent
echo 'KUBECONFIG=/etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.yaml' >> /etc/environment

# Verify the cluster is running
kubectl cluster-info
kubectl get nodes
```

You should see output indicating the cluster is running and your node is in `Ready` state.

## Install required tools

### Helm

Helm is the package manager used to deploy Chainstack Self-Hosted.

```bash theme={"system"}
# Install prerequisites
apt update
apt install curl gpg wget apt-transport-https --yes

# Add the Helm repository and install
curl -fsSL https://packages.buildkite.com/helm-linux/helm-debian/gpgkey | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/helm.gpg > /dev/null
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/helm.gpg] https://packages.buildkite.com/helm-linux/helm-debian/any/ any main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/helm-stable-debian.list
apt update
apt install helm --yes

# Verify
helm version
```

### yq

The installer uses yq (mikefarah version) to process YAML configuration files.

```bash theme={"system"}
# Download and install yq
wget https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/releases/latest/download/yq_linux_amd64 -O /usr/local/bin/yq
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/yq

# Verify (v4+ required)
yq --version
```

### openssl

openssl is used during installation to generate certificates and RSA keys. It is pre-installed on most Linux distributions.

```bash theme={"system"}
# Verify
openssl version
```

If openssl is not installed, install it with your package manager:

```bash theme={"system"}
apt install openssl --yes
```

## Configure storage

### Default storage (single disk)

If your server uses a single disk, the default k3s `local-path` storage class works out of the box. No additional configuration is needed.

```bash theme={"system"}
# Verify the storage class is available
kubectl get storageclass
```

### Multi-disk storage with TopoLVM

If you have multiple disks available for blockchain node data, set up LVM and TopoLVM for dynamic storage provisioning.

#### Set up LVM

```bash theme={"system"}
# Install LVM tools
apt install lvm2 --yes

# Find your disk devices
lsblk

# Create physical volumes (replace with your actual disk devices)
pvcreate /dev/sdb /dev/sdc /dev/sdd

# Create volume group
vgcreate myvg1 /dev/sdb /dev/sdc /dev/sdd
```

<Note>
  Device paths vary by provider. The paths `/dev/sdb`, `/dev/sdc`, `/dev/sdd` are examples. On DigitalOcean, volumes appear under `/dev/disk/by-id/`. On AWS, they may be `/dev/nvme1n1`, `/dev/nvme2n1`, etc. Always verify your actual device paths with `lsblk` before creating physical volumes.
</Note>

#### Install TopoLVM

```bash theme={"system"}
# Add the TopoLVM Helm repository
helm repo add topolvm https://topolvm.github.io/topolvm
helm repo update

# Create namespace and install cert-manager (required by TopoLVM)
kubectl create namespace topolvm-system
CERT_MANAGER_VERSION=v1.17.4
kubectl apply -f https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/releases/download/${CERT_MANAGER_VERSION}/cert-manager.crds.yaml

# Install TopoLVM
helm install --namespace=topolvm-system topolvm topolvm/topolvm --set cert-manager.enabled=true

# Check storage classes
kubectl get storageclass
```

#### Set TopoLVM as the default storage class

```bash theme={"system"}
# Remove default from local-path
kubectl patch storageclass local-path -p '{"metadata": {"annotations":{"storageclass.kubernetes.io/is-default-class":"false"}}}'

# Set TopoLVM as default
kubectl patch storageclass topolvm-provisioner -p '{"metadata": {"annotations":{"storageclass.kubernetes.io/is-default-class":"true"}}}'

# Verify
kubectl get storageclass
```

## Verify your environment

Run these commands to confirm everything is in place before proceeding to [Installation](/docs/self-hosted/installation):

```bash theme={"system"}
# Kubernetes cluster
kubectl cluster-info
kubectl get nodes

# Required tools
helm version
yq --version
openssl version

# Storage class
kubectl get storageclass
```

All commands should complete without errors. Your node should show `Ready` status, and at least one storage class should be listed.