Redesigning the Tezster GUI
A redesigned desktop app to interact & deploy smart contracts on a Tezos testnet, running locally (using Tezster-CLI) or remotely.
Tezster is Ganache for Tezos. It includes a personal Tezos blockchain, baker, Command-line tool, and Desktop application. The Tezster suite contains the Tezster tool and Tezster Bundles. It provides a complete interface to build, deploy, and interact with smart contracts and decentralized applications on Tezos.
Let's find out how the Tezster GUI works!
Prerequisites
Before we get started, make sure you have the following tools installed:
- Node v. 12.x+
- Tezster-CLI
If you don’t have them installed yet, you can follow the steps below to make sure you are ready to use the Tezster GUI.
Node.js Installation Guide
Use the following link to install Node.Js on your system:https://nodejs.org/en/download
Or, you can use the following official link to download via package manager based on your operating system. https://nodejs.org/en/download/package-manager
After installing run the following command to verify and check the installed version.
node -vTezster-CLI Installation Guide
Tezster-CLI will create sandboxed nodes on your local machine. You will be able to interact with them flawlessly with the Tezster GUI.
Note: Currently the local nodes of the Tezster-CLI are only available for the Linux operating system and will be available soon for MacOS and Windows. Connecting with a remote testnet like ChartageNet still works.
sudo npm install -g tezster@latestRun the following command to ensure the installed version of the tezster-CLI.
tezster --versionTo start the nodes run:
tezster start-nodesNow we can install the Tezster GUI!
Installing on Linux
Step 1: Downloading AppImage package
you can download the AppImage file using the following link.
Or you can install Tezster-GUI with the following command in your terminal:
wget https://tezster.s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/TEZSTER_GUI/PACKAGE/Tezster-2.0.0.AppImageStep 2: Make it executable
By default, the AppImage file won’t have execution permission. You’ll have to change the permission on the file to make it executable.
Just right click on the downloaded AppImage file and select Properties.
In the next screen, go to the Permissions tab and check the box that says “Allow executing file as program”.
Step 3: Run the AppImage file
Alternatively, if you prefer the command line, you can simply use chmod u+x to make it executable. Once you have made the AppImage file executable, just double click on it to run it.
Installing on Windows
To download a msi package use the following link.
Installing on MacOS
To download the MacOS image use the following link.
How Do I Use The Tezster GUI?
There are different sections in Tezster. The GUI contains an Accounts, Blocks, Transactions, Contracts, and Helpdesk page.
Accounts
There are two ways of activating/restoring accounts in Tezster. You can either create/restore a fundraiser account or a non-fundraiser account.
Create or Restore a Faucet Account
To add a faucet account, simply go to the Accounts tab and click on the Add Faucet Account button in the top right corner, and use the faucet received from https://faucet.tzalpha.net.
Note: This feature can be used when creating or restoring an account on Carthagenet, not on localnode.
Create or Restore a Non-Faucet Account
To create or restore a new wallet account with Tezster-GUI simply go to the Accounts tab and click on the Restore/Create Wallet button in the top right corner.
If you want to create an account copy the given mnemonics and your desired password. Click on Create Wallet.
If you already have a mnemonic or password from an already activated account use it to restore the account.
Note: Once an account is created you’ll have to transfer some Tez to this newly added account in order to activate it.
Blocks
This page shows the blocks on the selected network. It Takes either a block hash, a block height, or the string head as an argument.
Transactions
Steps for processing a transaction :
- Select the Transaction tab in the dashboard.
- Click on the Transfer Tezos button in the top left corner.
- Select the From account and the To Account.
- Enter your transfer Amount and Gas Price.
- Click on Pay Amount.
Contracts
Deploy Contract
- Select the wallet.
- Upload the smart contract, or copy-paste the smart contract.
- Enter the Contract Label, Contract Amount, and Initial Storage.
- Click on Deploy Contract. Once the contract is deployed you’ll get a contract address returned like this
KT1QfQ9g2zHQkbjdrfWGhbx1eLiSFWn5abLn
Go to the following link along with contract address to see the contract details in the explorer :https://carthagenet.tzstats.com/KT1QfQ9g2zHQkbjdrfWGhbx1eLiSFWn5abLn
Invoke Contract
- Select Invoke Contract.
- Select the wallet.
- Select your Contract and respective entry points.
- Enter values.
- Press the Invoke Contract button.
- Once the contract gets Invoked you’ll get a hash returned. It will look something like this:
ooF5y5gjRxZXBzgm8ZurvfhriVNqtrnm51ri5e9BCkmjyjYQuhx - Then go to the following link along with the hash to see the invocation changes.
https://carthagenet.tzstats.com/ooF5y5gjRxZXBzgm8ZurvfhriVNqtrnm51ri5e9BCkmjyjYQuhx
View Contract Storage
To view the storage of the contract goes to the View Contract Storage tab.
- Select the smart contract.
- Press the Show Storage button.
Open Source Contributions
We are continuously updating the features of Tezster on our Github Repository. Do you want to contribute to Tezster or just follow our development? Check our Github.
What to expect next?
We made a lot of changes and feature improvements since our last version of tezster-GUI. Still, there is a lot of room for improvement! The following features will be implemented soon:
- Built-in editor for Michelson smart contracts.
- Improved error logging.
- More features in the block explorer.
We are always eager to receive user feedback and feature requests! We will do our best to make them part of the next release.
