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Install

Beginner
Tutorial

Overview​

When a canister has been initially created, it is empty and does not contain code or state. It only contains information such as the settings, canister ID, cycles balance, and controllers. You can learn more about creating a canister in the creation documentation.

When a canister's code is installed, the following components are created:

  • The canister's code in the form of a canister module.

  • The canister's state, including the canister's memory and global values.

  • Additional IC-specific information, such as the canister's input and output queues.

Installing canister code​

Code must be installed into the canister using the dfx canister install command:

dfx canister install canister_name // install canister code locally
dfx canister install canister_name --network ic // install canister code on the mainnet
dfx canister install --all // install all canisters in the project's dfx.json file

Creating a canister on the mainnet will cost cycles

At this step, settings can be configured for the canister using the optional flags. View the full list of settings that can be configured.

Next steps​