aleph-onchain

A Rust-native decentralized cloud platform coordinated by Solidity smart contracts on Arbitrum One. Replaces the Python-based Aleph Cloud stack with a single binary.

Overview

aleph-onchain provides decentralized compute instances, persistent storage, and custom domain routing — all coordinated through on-chain smart contracts on Arbitrum. The system replaces the current Python-based stack (pyaleph + aleph-vm) with a single Rust binary.

Architecture

The system consists of three layers:

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Rust 1.75+ with cargo
• Foundry (forge, cast, anvil)
• Access to an Arbitrum One RPC endpoint

Build from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/aleph-onchain/aleph-onchain.git
cd aleph-onchain

# Build the Rust node
cargo build --release

# Build smart contracts
cd contracts && forge build

# Run tests
cargo test --workspace
forge test

Configuration

# config.toml
[node]
role = "compute"          # or "coordinator"
data_dir = "/var/lib/aleph"

[chain]
rpc_url = "https://arb1.arbitrum.io/rpc"
private_key_path = "keys/node.key"

[storage]
engine = "rocksdb"
max_size_gb = 500

[network]
listen_addr = "/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/4001"
bootstrap_peers = []

[api]
bind = "0.0.0.0:8080"

Run the Node

# Start as a compute node
./target/release/aleph-node --config config.toml

# Or with feature flags
./target/release/aleph-node --config config.toml --role coordinator

Project Structure

Smart Contracts (Solidity)

Contract	Purpose
NodeRegistry	Node registration, metadata, heartbeats, status lifecycle
StakingManager	Self-staking, delegation, unbonding, slashing
JobManager	Job lifecycle (create/assign/run/stop/complete)
PaymentManager	Allowance-based settlement, multi-token, DEX swap
StorageRegistry	Storage commitments, Merkle proofs, challenge/response
DomainRegistry	Custom domain registration, TLS cert management
AlephGovernor	On-chain governance, proposals, voting
SLAManager	SLA definitions, violation tracking, penalties
ImageMarketplace	VM image publishing, ratings, revenue sharing

Rust Crates

Crate	Purpose
aleph-common	Shared types, config, crypto, metrics
aleph-chain	Chain watcher, contract bindings (alloy)
aleph-message	Message types and validation
aleph-storage	Content-addressed storage, Merkle proofs, erasure coding
aleph-network	P2P networking (libp2p)
aleph-api	HTTP API server (axum)
aleph-scheduler	Job scheduling (coordinator only)
aleph-executor	VM execution (Firecracker/QEMU)
aleph-vm-networking	VM TAP interfaces, nftables, port forwarding
aleph-node	Binary entry point (CLI, config, runtime)
aleph-audit	Security auditing and compliance
aleph-marketplace	Image marketplace client

Tech Stack