dfx bootstrap

Use the dfx bootstrap command to start the bootstrap web server defined in the dfx.json configuration file or specified using command-line options.

The bootstrap web server you specify is used to serve the front-end static assets for your project.

Basic usage

dfx bootstrap [option]

Flags

You can use the following optional flags with the dfx bootstrap command.

Flag Description

-h, --help

Displays usage information.

-V, --version

Displays version information.

Options

You can specify the following options for the dfx bootstrap command.

Option Description

ip <ip_address>

Specifies the IP address that the bootstrap server listens on. If you don’t specify an IP address, the address setting you have configured in the dfx.json configuration file is used. By default, the server address is 127.0.0.1.

--network <network>

Specifies the network to connect to if you want to override the default local network endpoint (http://127.0.0.1:8080/api).

--port <port>

Specifies the port number that the bootstrap server listens on. By default, port number 8081 is used.

--root <root>

Specifies the directory containing static assets served by the bootstrap server. By default, the path to static assets is: $HOME/.cache/dfinity/versions/$DFX_VERSION/js-user-library/dist/bootstrap.

--timeout <timeout>

Specifies the maximum amount of time, in seconds, the bootstrap server will wait for upstream requests to complete. By default, the bootstrap server waits for a maximum of 30 seconds.

Examples

You can use the dfx bootstrap command to start a web server for your application using custom settings, including a specific server address, port number, and static asset location.

For example, to start the bootstrap server using a specific IP address and port number, you would run a command similar to the following:

dfx bootstrap --ip 192.168.47.1 --port 5353

The command displays output similar to the following:

binding to: V4(192.168.47.1:5353)
replica(s): \http://127.0.0.1:8080/api
Webserver started...

To use the default server address and port number but specify a custom location for static assets and longer timeout period, you might run a command similar to the following:

dfx bootstrap --root $HOME/ic-projects/assets --timeout 60

You can use CTRL-C to stop the bootstrap server.