To run a validator node, a fully synced normal node is required. Please follow the link to run a normal node.
You should use --syncmode=full, or use --syncmode=snap but wait til it is switched to full sync mode.
Note that https and ws must NOT be enabled on a server that stores wallet account because hackers can exploit via them.
Register validator
After installing everything we need, you can continue by registering your validator node on-chain. To do this, you need to create a validator wallet. The wallet is the validator’s identity in the network which it uses to authenticate, sign messages, etc…
Create a validator wallet
The node running and syncing the network in your current console, so you need to open up a new console window, connect via SSH to the server and enter the following commands to create a wallet:
$ ./u2u account new
After entering the command, you will get prompted to enter a password for the account (or wallet) — use a strong one! You can e.g. use a password manager to generate a 20+ digit password to secure your wallet.
It will look something like this:
INFO [10-02|17:40:23.913] Maximum peer count total=50
INFO [10-02|17:40:23.913] Smartcard socket not found, disabling err="stat /run/pcscd/pcscd.comm: no such file or directory"
INFO [10-02|17:40:23.913] Maximum peer count total=50
INFO [10-02|17:40:23.913] Smartcard socket not found, disabling err="stat /run/pcscd/pcscd.comm: no such file or directory"
Your new account is locked with a password. Please give a password. Do not forget this password.
Passphrase:
Repeat passphrase:
Your new key was generated
Public address of the key: 0x1BB3BDF5BA61E9003706732F48e8734399473C16
Path of the secret key file: /home/steven/.u2u/keystore/UTC--2023-10-02T10-40-31.162498643Z--1bb3bdf5ba61e9003706732f48e8734399473c16
- You can share your public address with anyone. Others need it to interact with you.
- You must NEVER share the secret key with anyone! The key controls access to your funds!
- You must BACKUP your key file! Without the key, it's impossible to access account funds!
- You must REMEMBER your password! Without the password, it's impossible to decrypt the key!
NEVER share your private key or keystore with anyone!
By the way: The wallet above is not a real wallet we use, it’s just for demonstration purposes only.
Fund your validator wallet
The next step is to fund your validator wallet with enough U2U to become a validator. That means you need to have at least 1,000,000 U2U in the wallet you just created (send a little more to cover transaction fees).
Make sure you wait for your node to be fully synced, otherwise your U2U will not show up in your wallet!
Create a new validator key
We have to create validator private key to sign consensus messages with. It can be done only using go-u2u:
$ ./u2u validator new
Follow the prompts and supply the password, the output is as follows:
Your new key was generated
Public key: 0xc004bcc53189fdeb42752bb2a40318e649aa03d3ff7ac65badc66f8768c5be4a04e1d03bea85fab33a94d6f6a576754fd6435183110482205336eb380dcf6094d5c9
Path of the secret key file: /home/steven/.u2u/keystore/validator/c004bcc53189fdeb42752bb2a40318e649aa03d3ff7ac65badc66f8768c5be4a04e1d03bea85fab33a94d6f6a576754fd6435183110482205336eb380dcf6094d5c9
- You can share your public key with anyone. Others need it to validate messages from you.
- You must NEVER share the secret key with anyone! The key controls access to your validator!
- You must BACKUP your key file! Without the key, it's impossible to operate the validator!
- You must REMEMBER your password! Without the password, it's impossible to decrypt the key!
Create your validator via the SFC
You should wait for your node to sync to the latest block of the network before proceeding.
Connect your wallet and make sure you have enough stake amount to become a validator.
Fill in your validator public key
Hit "Register" button
Metamask pops up a confirmation, hit on "Confirm"
Then wait for network confirms the transaction
You could use explorer to check your transaction status:
To proceed, open up the console where you entered the commands to create the validator wallet previously and attach to thenode console:
$ ./u2u attach
By doing so, you will get a JavaScript console where you can directly interact with the node and e.g. send transactions (which you will do in a moment):
Welcome to the Hashgraph JavaScript console!
instance: go-u2u/v1.0.0-rc.1-a2b8d980-1695987090/linux-amd64/go1.21.1
coinbase: 0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
at block: 1 (Sat Aug 26 2023 07:00:00 GMT+0700 (+07))
datadir: /home/steven/.u2u
modules: abft:1.0 admin:1.0 dag:1.0 debug:1.0 net:1.0 personal:1.0 rpc:1.0 trace:1.0 txpool:1.0 web3:1.0
From now on, when you see “>” prompt. That means you should type the command in Javascript console.
Now initialize the SFC contract ABI variable:
abi = JSON.parse('[{"anonymous":false,"inputs":[{"indexed":true,"internalType":"uint256","name":"validatorID","type":"uint256"},{"indexed":false,"internalType":"uint256","name":"status","type":"uint256"}],"name":"ChangedValidatorStatus","type":"event"},{"anonymous":false,"inputs":[{"indexed":true,"internalType":"uint256","name":"validatorID","type":"uint256"},{"indexed":false,"internalType":"uint256","name":"deactivatedEpoch","type":"uint256"},{"indexed":false,"internalType":"uint256","name":"deactivatedTime","type":"uint256"}],"name":"DeactivatedValidator","type":"event"},{"anonymous":false,"inputs":[{"indexed":true,"internalType":"address","name":"previousOwner","type":"address"},{"indexed":true,"internalType":"address","name":"newOwner","type":"address"}],"name":"OwnershipTransferred","type":"event"},{"anonymous":false,"inputs":[{"indexed":false,"internalType":"uint256","name":"value","type":"uint256"}],"name":"UpdatedBaseRewardPerSec","type":"event"},{"anonymous":false,"inputs":[{"indexed":false,"internalType":"uint256","name":"blocksNum","type":"uint256"},{"indexed":false,"internalType":"uint256","name":"period","type":"uint256"}],"name":"UpdatedOfflinePenaltyThreshold","type":"event"},{"payable":true,"stateMutability":"payable","type":"fallback"},{"constant":false,"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"validatorID","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"bool","name":"syncPubkey","type":"bool"}],"name":"_syncValidator","outputs":[],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"currentEpoch","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"currentSealedEpoch","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"name":"getEpochSnapshot","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"endTime","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"epochFee","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"totalBaseRewardWeight","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"totalTxRewardWeight","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"baseRewardPerSecond","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"totalStake","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"totalSupply","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"delegator","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"toValidatorID","type":"uint256"}],"name":"getLockedStake","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"name":"getLockupInfo","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"lockedStake","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"fromEpoch","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"endTime","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"duration","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"name":"getStake","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"name":"getStashedLockupRewards","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"lockupExtraReward","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"lockupBaseReward","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"unlockedReward","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"name":"getValidator","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"status","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deactivatedTime","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"deactivatedEpoch","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"receivedStake","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"createdEpoch","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"createdTime","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address","name":"auth","type":"address"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"}],"name":"getValidatorID","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"name":"getValidatorPubkey","outputs":[{"internalType":"bytes","name":"","type":"bytes"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"name":"getWithdrawalRequest","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"epoch","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"time","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"amount","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"delegator","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"toValidatorID","type":"uint256"}],"name":"isLockedUp","outputs":[{"internalType":"bool","name":"","type":"bool"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"isOwner","outputs":[{"internalType":"bool","name":"","type":"bool"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"lastValidatorID","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"minGasPrice","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"owner","outputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":false,"inputs":[],"name":"renounceOwnership","outputs":[],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"name":"slashingRefundRatio","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"stakeTokenizerAddress","outputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"name":"stashedRewardsUntilEpoch","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"totalActiveStake","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"totalSlashedStake","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"totalStake","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"totalSupply","outputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":false,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"newOwner","type":"address"}],"name":"transferOwnership","outputs":[],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"treasuryAddress","outputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"version","outputs":[{"internalType":"bytes3","name":"","type":"bytes3"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"pure","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"voteBookAddress","outputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":false,"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256","name":"sealedEpoch","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"_totalSupply","type":"uint256"},{"internalType":"address","name":"nodeDriver","type":"address"},{"internalType":"address","name":"lib","type":"address"},{"internalType":"address","name":"_c","type":"address"},{"internalType":"address","name":"owner","type":"address"}],"name":"initialize","outputs":[],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"constant":false,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"addr","type":"address"}],"name":"updateStakeTokenizerAddress","outputs":[],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"constant":false,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"v","type":"address"}],"name":"updateLibAddress","outputs":[],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"constant":false,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"v","type":"address"}],"name":"updateTreasuryAddress","outputs":[],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"constant":false,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"v","type":"address"}],"name":"updateConstsAddress","outputs":[],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"constsAddress","outputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"","type":"address"}],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"view","type":"function"},{"constant":false,"inputs":[{"internalType":"address","name":"v","type":"address"}],"name":"updateVoteBookAddress","outputs":[],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"constant":false,"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256[]","name":"offlineTime","type":"uint256[]"},{"internalType":"uint256[]","name":"offlineBlocks","type":"uint256[]"},{"internalType":"uint256[]","name":"uptimes","type":"uint256[]"},{"internalType":"uint256[]","name":"originatedTxsFee","type":"uint256[]"},{"internalType":"uint256","name":"epochGas","type":"uint256"}],"name":"sealEpoch","outputs":[],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"},{"constant":false,"inputs":[{"internalType":"uint256[]","name":"nextValidatorIDs","type":"uint256[]"}],"name":"sealEpochValidators","outputs":[],"payable":false,"stateMutability":"nonpayable","type":"function"}]')
After initializing both variables, you can now interact with the network’s SFC. Enter the following command to check that everything works as expected:
sfc.lastValidatorID()
Finally, execute the following command again to check your validatorID:
Congrats, you are now a U2U validator! Close the console window by typing “exit”.
Run your validator node
Before you run off celebrating, you need to restart your node in validator mode!
Make sure your node is already synced to the latest block in read mode, and it's synced in --syncmode full. To stop the u2u process (read mode):
$ pkill u2u
Then wait a few seconds. Then head back to the console window where you started your node with the following command along with flags and options applied in synced normal node:
$ ./u2u --genesis mainnet.g --validator.id ID --validator.pubkey 0xPubkey --validator.password /path/to/password
