How to Run a Validator node

During Testnet Phase III, validators will be admitted in a permissioned way.

This guide will help you set up and run a Cysic Network mainnet validator node, including system requirements, installation configuration, node startup, private key generation, staking operations, and node monitoring.

If you need to run a validator node for a testnet network, please globally replace "mainnet" in the document with "testnet", and change all chain-ids from "cysicmint_4399-1" to "cysicmint_4398-1".

System Requirements

Minimum Hardware Requirements

• CPU: 4 cores (8 cores recommended)

• Memory: 8 GB RAM (16 GB recommended)

• Storage: 200 GB SSD (500 GB recommended for long-term operation)

• Network: Stable internet connection with P2P communication support

Software Requirements

• Operating System: Linux (Ubuntu 20.04+ recommended)

• Docker: >= 20.10.0

• Docker Compose: >= 1.29.0

• Git: Latest version

Port Requirements

Ensure the following ports are available:

• 26657: Tendermint RPC

• 26656: Tendermint P2P

• 8545: Ethereum JSON-RPC

• 8546: Ethereum WebSocket

• 1317: Cosmos REST API

• 9090: gRPC API

• 6065: Metrics (optional)

Download Configuration Files

# Create data directory
mkdir -p /data/mainent && cd /data
# Download validator repo
git clone https://github.com/cysic-labs/validator
# Copy mainent folder to data
cp -rf validator/mainent/* /data/mainent
# Change directory to /data/mainent
cd /data/mainent

Install Docker

sudo apt remove $(dpkg --get-selections docker.io docker compose docker-compose-v2 docker-doc podman-docker containerd runc | cut -f1)
# Add Docker's official GPG key:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ca-certificates curl
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

# Add the repository to Apt sources:
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.sources <<EOF
Types: deb
URIs: https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu
Suites: $(. /etc/os-release && echo "${UBUNTU_CODENAME:-$VERSION_CODENAME}")
Components: stable
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
EOF

sudo apt update
sudo apt install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin
sudo systemctl status docker

Start Node with Docker Compose

1. Pull the latest docker image

docker compose pull

2. Start Node

*** Before starting the node, you need to send the node's Elastic IP address to the Cysic team for whitelist configuration ***

# Start validator node
docker compose up -d node

# View node logs
docker compose logs -f node

3. Verify Node Running Status

# Check node status
curl http://localhost:26657/status

# Check node information
curl http://localhost:26657/abci_info

Generate Private Key

1. Generate Key in Container

_{**Important** write this mnemonic phrase in a safe place. It is the only way to recover your account if you ever forget your password.}

# Enter running container
docker exec -it node bash

# Generate new validator key
./cysicmintd keys add validator-xxx --home ./cysicmint --keyring-backend test
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# Verify generated node ID and validator public key
./cysicmintd tendermint show-node-id --home ./cysicmint --keyring-backend test
./cysicmintd tendermint show-validator --home ./cysicmint --keyring-backend test

2. Backup Private Key （Optional）

^{**Important** If you perform this operation, please securely save the exported private key}

./cysicmintd keys export validator-xxx --home ./cysicmint --keyring-backend test

3. Get Validator Address

# Get validator address
./cysicmintd keys show validator-xxx --home ./cysicmint --keyring-backend test -a

# Get validator operator address
./cysicmintd keys show validator-xxx --home ./cysicmint --keyring-backend test --bech=val -a

Staking Operations to Increase Validator Power

1. Get Tokens

Check balance

# Check account balance
./cysicmintd query bank balances $(./cysicmintd keys show validator-xxx --home ./cysicmint --keyring-backend test -a)

*** Please contact the Cysic team to obtain mainnet staking tokens ***

2. Create Validator

Use the stake-as-validator command to create a validator and self-stake:

# Create validator (example parameters)
./cysicmintd tx staking create-validator \
    --amount=100000000000000000000CGT \
    --moniker="james" \
    --details="james's validator"
    --chain-id cysicmint_4399-1 \
    --commission-rate="0.05" \
    --commission-max-rate="0.20" \
    --commission-max-change-rate="0.01" \
    --min-self-delegation=1000000000000000000 \
    --pubkey=$(./cysicmintd tendermint show-validator --home ./cysicmint) \
    --from validator-xxx \
    --home=./cysicmint \
    --keyring-backend test \
    --gas auto \
    --gas-adjustment 1.2 \
    --gas-prices=300000CYS \
    --yes

Parameter description:

• 10000000000000000000: Staking amount (10 CGT)

• "My Validator": Validator name

• "A reliable Cysic validator": Validator description

• "0.05": Initial commission rate (5%)

• "0.20": Maximum commission rate (20%)

• "0.01": Commission change rate (1%)

• 1000000000000000000: Minimum self-stake (1 CGT)

3. Delegate More Tokens

# Delegate additional tokens to validator
./cysicmintd tx staking delegate \
    $(./cysicmintd keys show validator-xxx --home ./cysicmint --keyring-backend test --bech=val -a) \
    10000000000000000000CGT \
    --from validator-xxx \
    --home=./cysicmint \
    --keyring-backend test \
    --chain-id cysicmint_4399-1 \
    --gas auto \
    --gas-adjustment 1.2 \
    --gas-prices=300000CYS

4. View Validator Status

# View validator information
./cysicmintd query staking validator $(./cysicmintd keys show validator-xxx --home ./cysicmint  --keyring-backend test --bech=val -a)

# View validator set
./cysicmintd query staking validators

# View delegation information
./cysicmintd query staking delegations $(./cysicmintd keys show validator-xxx --home ./cysicmint  --keyring-backend test -a)

Node Health Monitoring

1. Monitoring Endpoints

• Node Status: http://localhost:26657/status

• Network Information: http://localhost:26657/net_info

• Validator Information: http://localhost:26657/validators

• Prometheus Metrics: http://localhost:6065/debug/metrics/prometheus

2. Key Monitoring Metrics

# Check node sync status
curl -s http://localhost:26657/status | jq '.result.sync_info'

# Check latest block height
curl -s http://localhost:26657/status | jq '.result.sync_info.latest_block_height'

# Check validator voting power
curl -s http://localhost:26657/validators | jq '.result.validators[] | select(.address=="YOUR_VALIDATOR_ADDRESS")'

# Check number of peer connections
curl -s http://localhost:26657/net_info | jq '.result.n_peers'

Common Commands

Node Operations

# Stop node
docker-compose down

# Restart node
docker-compose restart node

# View node logs
docker-compose logs -f node

# Start node
docker-compose up -d

Key Management

# List all keys
./cysicmintd keys list --keyring-backend test

# Recover key
./cysicmintd keys add validator-xxx --recover --keyring-backend test

# Delete key
./cysicmintd keys delete validator-xxx --keyring-backend test

Staking Management

# Unbond stake
./cysicmintd tx staking unbond \
    $(./cysicmintd keys show validator-xxx --keyring-backend test --bech=val -a) \
    1000000000000000000CGT \
    --from validator \
    --keyring-backend test \
    --chain-id cysicmint_4399-1

# Withdraw rewards
./cysicmintd tx distribution withdraw-all-rewards \
    $(./cysicmintd keys show validator-xxx --keyring-backend test --bech=val -a) \
    --from validator \
    --keyring-backend test \
    --chain-id cysicmint_4399-1

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Node Cannot Sync

   • Check network connection

   • Verify configuration files

   • Clear data and resync

2. Validator Not in Active Set

   • Check if staking amount is sufficient

   • Confirm validator is not jailed

   • Check staking status of other validators in the network

3. Container Startup Failure

   • Check if ports are occupied

   • Verify configuration file paths

   • Check container logs

Log Analysis

# View detailed logs
docker-compose logs --tail=100 node

# Filter error logs
docker-compose logs node | grep -i error

# Real-time log monitoring
docker-compose logs -f node | grep -E "(error|failed|panic)"

Emergency Recovery

If the node encounters issues, follow these steps to recover:

1. Backup important data

2. Stop the node

3. Check configuration files

4. Restart the node

5. Verify sync status

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For more help, please refer to the official documentation or contact the Cysic community.