Deploying contract with web3. Two different methods fail

Question

I tried this method to deploy a contract. It is described in the web3.eth.Contract documentation.

var contract = new web3.eth.Contract (JSON.parse (abi_json_string));
contract.deploy ({ data: contract_bytecode }).send ({ from: from_acct, gas: 160000, gasPrice: 8000000 });

However, it gives me the following error:

authentication needed: password or unlock

I can't find a way to sign the transaction using this method. All the examples, show it as a simple call to deploy and then send. What if you want to sign it first?

So I tried deploying a contract using the same method that I use to sign and send regular ether transactions.

var transaction_data =
{
    from: from_account,
    to: "0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
    data: contract_bytecode,
    gas: 160000,
    gasPrice: 8000000,
    nonce: nonce
};

var common = eth_common_lib.forCustomChain ('ropsten', { networkId: 1994, chainId: 1994, name: 'geth' }, 'muirGlacier');
var transaction = new eth_tx_lib.Transaction (transaction_data, { "common": common });

var bytes = [];
for (var b = 0; b < private_key.length; b += 2)
{
    var hex_byte = private_key.substr (b, 2);
    var int_byte = parseInt (hex_byte, 16);
    bytes.push (int_byte);
}

transaction.sign (Buffer.from (bytes));

var serialized_transaction = transaction.serialize ();

web3.eth.sendSignedTransaction ("0x" + serialized_transaction.toString ("hex")).catch ((error) => { console.log (error); });

I get a receipt when I do it this way but it shows the contractAddress as null. I'm guessing that means the deployment failed.

contractAddress: null

Is web3.eth.Contract the only possible way to deploy a contract? If so, is there a way to do it from a locked account?

Answer 1

Try this (tested with web3.js v1.2.1):

const Web3 = require("web3");

const NODE_ADDRESS  = "YourNodeAddress";
const PRIVATE_KEY   = "YourPrivateKey";
const CONTRACT_ARGS = ["arg1", "arg2"];

async function send(web3, account, transaction) {
    const options = {
        data: transaction.encodeABI(),
        gas : await transaction.estimateGas({from: account.address})
    };
    const signed  = await web3.eth.accounts.signTransaction(options, account.privateKey);
    const receipt = await web3.eth.sendSignedTransaction(signed.rawTransaction);
    return receipt;
}

async function run() {
    const web3        = new Web3(NODE_ADDRESS);
    const account     = web3.eth.accounts.privateKeyToAccount(PRIVATE_KEY);
    const contract    = new web3.eth.Contract(JSON.parse(abi_json_string));
    const options     = {data: contract_bytecode, arguments: CONTRACT_ARGS};
    const transaction = contract.deploy(options);
    const receipt     = await send(web3, account, transaction);
    console.log(receipt.contractAddress);
    if (web3.currentProvider.constructor.name == "WebsocketProvider")
        web3.currentProvider.connection.close();
}

run();