Get intial ether on Ethereum network set up using Azure Ethereum PoA solution template

Question

I've a private Ethereum PoA network set up using the MS Azure Ethereum proof-of-authority consortium solution template . I can connect my metamask to it but I cannot deploy contracts on it as I do not have any ether. How do I get the initial ether to fund my account to start deploying contracts on this network? The AWS Blockchain PoW templates gives you the option to add some test ether to some wallets when you deploy the network. How do I use the PoA Ethereum network set up using Azure template?

Any input is appreciated.

Answer 1

The Azure Ethereum Proof-of-Authority (PoA) template does not require a gas price to make transactions, and thus no Ether is required. In fact, the network does not pre-allocate any Ether to any accounts in the genesis file like the Azure Ethereum Proof-of-Work (PoW) template does. If you wish to make a transaction via MetaMask be sure to use the estimated gas, but set the gas price to zero like so:

1. Select the "Edit" option

2. On the "Advanced" tab, set the gas price to 0.

You should now be able to successfully make your transaction. When making transactions from code via Web3-based libraries, remember to set the gas price to zero as well.