Introduction to Canton Network
Canton Network is an interoperable privacy-enabled network built on Digital Asset's Canton technology. Operators connect through synchronizers and run application services such as validators, wallets, scan, and automation components.
This section focuses on running a validator for the public Canton test environments documented at docs.test.sync.global and docs.dev.sync.global.
Network Overview
| Network | Purpose | Current Bundle | Migration ID | Registration Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TestNet | Long-lived testing environment for MainNet candidates | Splice node 0.6.3 | 3 | Requires approval for MainNet readiness and an onboarding secret from a sponsoring SV |
| DevNet | Faster moving developer environment | Splice node 0.6.4 | 7 | Self-service onboarding secret from the DevNet sponsor API |
DevNet and TestNet are separate environments. Do not reuse the same .env, party hint, wallet user, onboarding secret, or data directory between them.
Validator Role
A Canton validator operator runs local services that connect an operator's validator identity to the network. In the Docker Compose deployment, the bundle starts the validator app, wallet, scan access, automation services, PostgreSQL, and supporting components from the official Splice release bundle.
Validator onboarding has three important moving parts:
- Sponsor SV: The super validator that issues or coordinates the onboarding secret.
- Onboarding secret: A one-time secret used when the validator joins a network for the first time.
- Party hint and wallet user: Human-readable local identifiers used during the validator startup flow.