Launch Your Own Network
PulseVM is a virtual machine plugin for metalgo (Metal Blockchain's node). Standing up your own network — sovereign, with your own validators and your own rules — is a provisioning exercise, not a research project. This is the path that makes PulseVM "your network, your rules" rather than "a chain you join."
For local development, the fastest path is metal-network-runner, which spins up a throwaway multi-node network on your machine. The steps below describe a real, persistent deployment.
The pieces
| Component | Role |
|---|---|
| metalgo | the node software; runs consensus (Avalanche Snowman) and hosts VMs |
| PulseVM plugin | the VM binary, placed in metalgo's plugins/ directory, keyed by its VM ID |
| Subnet | the set of validators that runs your chain |
| Genesis | initial chain state — core token, the bootstrap account, parameters |
| System contracts | the rules of your chain (accounts, resources, token), deployed from pulse-cdt-rust |
Shape of a deployment
- Provision hosts — one Linux box per validator (start with a handful for a consortium).
- Install metalgo on each, and place the PulseVM plugin binary in the plugins directory under its VM ID. Build the plugin from MetalBlockchain/pulsevm or use a release artifact.
- Create the subnet and add each node's NodeID as a validator. The subnet owner controls validator membership — this is your governance boundary.
- Define genesis: the core/system token, the bootstrap (system) account and its keys, and chain parameters. This is where you set the economics and identity of your network.
- Bootstrap the chain: deploy the system contracts (token, system, governance) to the system account, set up the initial permission structure, and activate any protocol features your deployment needs.
- Operate: nodes run under a service manager (e.g. systemd); monitor head and last-irreversible block; coordinate plugin upgrades across the validator set.
Customizing the rules
Because the chain's behavior lives in system contracts you control, this is also where customization happens — account-creation policy (e.g. KYC-gated onboarding), fee models, asset-level controls (freeze/clawback under legal order), resource economics, and settlement parameters. The Antelope lineage has a decade of precedent for forking the system layer into different economies (XPR Network, WAX, Telos, FIO each did exactly this).
Operating notes
- Coordinate plugin upgrades across the validator set rather than node-by-node — consensus-affecting changes should roll out in a planned window.
- Back up each node's staking keys before any maintenance.
- Detailed runbooks, provisioning scripts, and monitoring exist from operating live networks — contact Metallicus for deployment support, or ask in the community channels.
Why run your own
A network you operate keeps the data, the rules, the validator set, and the upgrade schedule under your control — and, with institution-issued assets on it, keeps the deposits and the customer relationship on your balance sheet. See For Banks & Fintechs.