---
title: Railway Deployment
description: One-click deploy to Railway
---

[Railway](https://railway.com/) offers an easy deployment experience for Kora
nodes with automatic SSL, domain management, and built-in monitoring. This guide
will walk through setting up a Kora node on railway with a simple Docker image
and the Railway CLI.

## Prerequisites

- [Railway Account](https://railway.app)
- [Railway CLI](https://docs.railway.com/guides/cli) installed
- [Solana CLI](https://solana.com/docs/intro/installation) for private key
  creation
- [Solana RPC Endpoint](https://solana.com/rpc)

## Step 1: Prepare Deployment Files

Create a new directory for your Kora node:

```bash
mkdir my-kora-node
cd my-kora-node
```

Add the sample files to your directory:

- [kora.toml](https://github.com/solana-foundation/kora/blob/v2.0.5/examples/deploy/kora.toml)
- [signers.toml](https://github.com/solana-foundation/kora/blob/v2.0.5/examples/deploy/signers.toml)
- [Dockerfile](https://github.com/solana-foundation/kora/blob/v2.0.5/examples/deploy/Dockerfile)

Your directory should now look like:

```bash
my-kora-node/
├── kora.toml
├── signers.toml
└── Dockerfile
```

## Step 2: Deploy to Railway

From your project directory, login to Railway

```bash
# Login to Railway
railway login
```

Follow the on-screen instructions to log in with your account.

Initialize Railway project in your directory.

```bash
railway init
```

Railway will prompt you to:

1. Create a new project or select existing
2. Choose a project name (e.g., "my-kora-node")

### Deploy Your Application

```bash
# Deploy the application
railway up
```

This will:

- Upload your files to Railway
- Build the Docker image
- Deploy your application

**Expected output:**

```
Build time: 121.81 seconds
Deploy complete
Starting Container
```

Great! We are all set up! You will probably notice an error in your logs
("error: a value is required for `--rpc-url <RPC_URL>` but none was supplied ").
This is because we have not yet configured our environment variables--so let's
do that next.

## Step 3: Configure Environment Variables

Open your Railway dashboard at [railway.app](https://railway.app) and navigate
to your project. In your project, click "Settings" > "Variables"

![Railway Environment Variables for Kora](/assets/docs/tools/kora/deploy/railway-variables.jpg)

Add these environment variables:

| Variable           | Value                                 | Description                             |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| `RPC_URL`          | `https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com` | Solana RPC endpoint                     |
| `KORA_PRIVATE_KEY` | `your-base58-private-key`             | Your Solana private key (base58 format) |
| `RUST_LOG`         | `info`                                | Log level for debugging                 |

> **Security Warning**: Your private key has access to SOL for paying fees. Use
> a dedicated keypair for your Kora node and only fund it with the SOL you're
> willing to spend on transaction fees. For more information on signers, see the
> [Signers Guide](/docs/tools/kora/operators/signers).

### Getting Your Private Key

If you need to create a new keypair:

```bash
# Generate new keypair
solana-keygen new --outfile ~/.config/solana/kora-keypair.json
```

Make sure to deposit adequate SOL for testing/operator your node.

## Step 4: Redeploy

After saving your variables, you will be prompted to redeploy your server--do
that.

## Step 5: Test Your Deployment

### Generate Public Endpoint

To send requests to your endpoint, you will need to generate a public Domain.
From your deployment, go to "Settings" > "Generate domain".

![Railway Domain Setup](/assets/docs/tools/kora/deploy/railway-domain.jpg)

Use the default port, "8080" and click "Generate Domain".

You should get a domain like `https://my-kora-node.railway.app/`

### Test Configuration Endpoint

```bash
curl -X POST https://my-kora-node.railway.app \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"getConfig","params":[]}' | jq
```

**Expected response:**

```json
{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "result": {
    "fee_payer": "YourPublicKeyHere...",
    "validation_config": {
      "max_allowed_lamports": 1000000,
      "allowed_programs": [...],
      "allowed_spl_paid_tokens": [...]
      // ...
    }
  }
}
```

Nice job! Your Kora node is now live.

**Need Help?**

- **[Kora Node Operators Guide](/docs/tools/kora/operators)** - Common issues
  and solutions
- **[Railway Documentation](https://docs.railway.app/)** - Platform-specific
  help
- **[GitHub Issues](https://github.com/solana-foundation/kora/issues)** - Report
  bugs or get support
- **[Solana Stack Exchange](https://solana.stackexchange.com/)** - Ask
  questions/share learnings (make sure to use the `kora` tag)