[How-To] Run an IBC Relayer with Hermes in Docker

No time to waste. Let’s get straight to it.

Pre-requisite

• Docker
• Chain-specific binaries for key management. As an example we will be using Osmosis (osmosisd), Umee (umeed) and Cosmos (gaiad) for the rest of this tutorial
• Hermes docker image. I host an unofficial one here
• Some funds for relaying transactions (duh)
• Patience, peace and love

Initialization

$ sudo mkdir -p ~/.hermes
$ cd ~/.hermes && touch config.toml
$ osmosisd keys add rly-osmosis --keyring-backend file --output json > rly-osmosis.json
$ umeed keys add rly-umee --keyring-backend file --output json > rly-umee.json
$ gaiad keys add rly-gaia --keyring-backend file --output json > rly-gaia.json

Populate the Configuration File

$ nano ~/.hermes/config.toml

Here is a sample config for your reference. Feel free to tweak it as you see fit.

Start Hermes

$ docker run --name hermes -dt --restart unless-stopped --net="host" -v ~/.hermes/:/root/.hermes jim380/hermes-unofficial:<tag> /bin/sh -c "hermes start"

Import Keys in Hermes

$ docker exec -it hermes hermes keys add cosmoshub-4 --file /root/.hermes/rly-gaia.json
$ docker exec -it hermes hermes keys add osmosis-1 --file /root/.hermes/rly-osmosis.json
$ docker exec -it hermes hermes keys add umee-1 --file /root/.hermes/rly-umee.json

Maintenance

View Logs

$ docker logs hermes -f --since 1m

List Keys

$ docker exec -it hermes hermes keys list <chain-id>

Delete Keys

$ docker exec -it hermes hermes keys delete <chain-id> --name <key-name>

Health Check

docker exec -it hermes hermes health-check

Create New Channels

$ docker exec -it hermes hermes create channel <chain-1> <chain-2> --port-a transfer --port-b transfer

Query Clients

$ docker exec -it hermes hermes query clients <chain-id> # all clients on a given chain

Query Connections

$ docker exec -it hermes hermes query connections <chain-id> # all connections on a given chain

Query Channels

$ docker exec -it hermes hermes query channels <chain-id> # all channels on a given chain

Update Clients

$ docker exec -it hermes hermes update client <DST_CHAIN_ID> <DST_CLIENT_ID>

Make Transfers

$ docker exec -it shentu certik tx ibc-transfer transfer [src-port] [src-channel] [receiver] [amount] --from [wallet] --chain-id [chain-id]

Get Help

$ docker exec -it hermes hermes help

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