Program Deployment

Once your program is complete, deploy it to devnet or mainnet to enable user interaction.

Program Deployment

Build your program to generate the necessary deployment files:

anchor build

This creates a target/deploy folder containing:

<project-name>.so: your program's bytecode
<project-name>-keypair.json: a generated keypair for deployment

You can replace this keypair with a vanity address by substituting the keypair in the <project-name>-keypair.json file.

Retrieve the program address:

solana address -k target/deploy/<project-name>-keypair.json

Update the declare_id!() function in lib.rs with this address, then configure your Anchor.toml with the right target cluster and program ID:

[provider]
cluster = "devnet"

[programs.devnet]
<project-name> = "<PROGRAM_ID>"

Deploy your program:

anchor deploy

This deploys using the specified address, cluster, and wallet from Anchor.toml as the fee payer.

Deployment Failures

Failed deployments create intermediate buffer accounts that hold lamports. You'll see recovery instructions like:

==================================================================================
Recover the intermediate account's ephemeral keypair file with
`solana-keygen recover` and the following 12-word seed phrase:
==================================================================================
valley flat great hockey share token excess clever benefit traffic avocado athlete
==================================================================================
To resume a deploy, pass the recovered keypair as
the [BUFFER_SIGNER] to `solana program deploy` or `solana program write-buffer'.
Or to recover the account's lamports, pass it as the
[BUFFER_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS] argument to `solana program drain`.
==================================================================================

To recover your balance:

Resume deployment by recovering the keypair:

solana-keygen recover -o <KEYPAIR_PATH>

Enter the 12-word seed phrase when prompted, then deploy with the buffer:

solana program deploy ./target/deploy/<project-name>.so --program-id ./target/deploy/<project-name>-keypair.json --buffer ./target/deploy/<buffer>-keypair.json

Close the buffer to reclaim lamports:
```
solana program close <ADDRESS>
```

Deployment through Solana CLI

You can deploy your programs directly using Solana CLI instead of Anchor:

solana program deploy ./target/deploy/<project-name>.so --program-id ./target/deploy/<project-name>-keypair.json

During network congestion, use these flags to improve deployment success:

--with-compute-unit-price: Set compute unit price in micro-lamports
--use-rpc: Send transactions to RPC instead of validator TPUs
--max-sign-attempts: Maximum retry attempts after blockhash expiration

Program Upgrade

By default, anchor deploy creates a new program ID. To upgrade an existing program while preserving its address and associated accounts:

anchor upgrade target/deploy/<project-name>.so --program-id <PROGRAM_ID>

If the new executable is larger than the deployed version, extend the program account first:

solana program extend ./target/deploy/<project-name>.so <ADDITIONAL_BYTES>

Upgrade through Solana CLI

The process remains the same: extend if needed, then deploy:

solana program deploy ./target/deploy/<project-name>.so --program-id ./target/deploy/<project-name>-keypair.json

Making Programs Immutable

You can remove the upgrade authority to make your program immutable:

solana program set-upgrade-authority <PROGRAM_ID> --final

This action is irreversible. Once set, the program cannot be updated.

Migrating Programs

Migration transfers a program from one address to another. The CLI closes the old program and redeploys to the new location:

solana program migrate ./target/deploy/<project-name>.json

Migration breaks all existing PDAs since they derive from the old Program ID. Users must update their applications to use the new address and change authority over any token account which autority is a PDA.

Uploading an IDL

An Interface Description Language (IDL) file provides a standardized JSON description of your program's instructions and accounts, enabling easier client integration.

Upload the IDL onchain to help developers integrate your program:

anchor idl init --filepath target/idl/<program_name>.json <PROGRAM_ID>

Upgrading the IDL

After redeploying your program, update the onchain IDL:

anchor idl upgrade --filepath target/idl/<program_name>.json <PROGRAM_ID>

Verified Builds

Verified builds ensure that the executable program deployed on Solana matches the source code in your repository. This verification enables developers and users to confirm the onchain program corresponds exactly to the public codebase.

The verification process compares the hash of the onchain program against the locally built program from source code, detecting any discrepancies between versions.

Building programs with the Solana CLI can embed machine-specific code into binaries. Compiling the same program on different machines may produce different executables. To address this, build inside a Docker container with pinned dependencies for reproducible results.

Anchor provides CLI commands that handle building and Docker configuration:

anchor build --verifiable

Verify a build against a program deployed on mainnet:

anchor verify -p <lib-name> <program-id>

The <lib-name> corresponds to the name defined in your program's Cargo.toml file.

Anchor for Dummies

Program Deployment