blockchain//Besu//enode

An enode is the URL that identifies a node, `enode://<public-key>@<ip>:<port>`, joining a cryptographic identity and a network location in one string. It is the single most critical piece of information for joining a network: who and where.

An enode is the URL that identifies a node, enode://<public-key>@<ip>:<port>, joining a cryptographic identity and a network location in one string. It is the single most critical piece of information for joining a network: who and where.

The public key prevents man-in-the-middle attacks, because nodes verify the peer's identity with ECDSA during the RLPx handshake, and a mismatched public key gets the connection rejected there. The IP must be explicit, since Besu does not resolve Docker hostnames inside enode URLs.