Ink

Ink is an OP-Stack L2 anchored on Ethereum. Every Ink node runs two processes: an op-reth execution layer and an op-node rollup client. They talk to each other over a JWT-secured Engine API that the platform manages — you never set it. Sequencer URL and op-node P2P bootnodes are baked in per network, so the node finds the chain without extra configuration. The one thing you must supply is an L1 Ethereum RPC for op-node to derive the rollup from (see L1 endpoint). Ink runs on Kubernetes only. Deploy it through an executor backed by the Kubernetes operator; it is not available for bare-metal executors.

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Networks and resources

Ink offers a single node type, full. The deploy wizard pre-fills resource and disk defaults:

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Clients

One pinned client per role today. The deploy wizard offers exactly the client and version the executor declares.

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Ports

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L1 endpoint (required)

op-node derives the L2 chain from Ethereum L1 — it does not sync purely from L2 peers. You provide the L1 connection through op-node config overrides: Point these at any reachable Ethereum mainnet RPC and beacon endpoint — a managed provider, or your own. If you already run an Ethereum node on Novacula, point op-node at its :8545 plus its beacon API to cut egress and avoid third-party rate limits.

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Config overrides

Set per-role overrides when you deploy or upgrade a node — see Edit configuration. Each role (el for op-reth, rollup for op-node) passes through any flag the platform doesn’t already manage. The L1 flags above are the ones you’ll normally set on op-node. The P2P bootnodes and static peer are baked in per network and managed for you, so --p2p.bootnodes and --p2p.static are rejected if you try to set them.

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Sync

op-node fetches batches from the L1 you configured and op-reth applies them through the Engine API. There is no checkpoint-sync URL or snapshot-restore option — initial sync is from genesis via the L1-derived chain, so a fresh node takes time and the disk default reflects full history. A healthy, reachable L1 endpoint is the gating factor for sync; if op-node can’t reach L1, it can’t make progress.

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Monitoring

Status, height, peers, sync progress, and disk combine both processes’ readings — see Node monitoring.

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Common patterns

• RPC provider for Ink mainnet — accept the defaults, supply an L1 endpoint, and serve the node’s HTTP and WebSocket RPC to your apps.
• Reuse your own L1 — run an Ethereum node on Novacula and feed its RPC and beacon endpoints into op-node’s L1 flags.