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Aura Validator
How to setup a Nethermind Validator in Aura (Authority Round) consensus algorithm
This article will lead you through docker-compose setup of Nethermind Aura Validator (xDai chain in this example). Same result can be obtained by Downloading & Running Nethermind package or by Building Nethermind from the source code.
If you chose not to use docker-compose, you can skip docker-compose related sections and read about config file and private key configuration only.
Prerequisites
- docker-compose
- docker
- machine with at least 4GB RAM is recommended
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sudo apt-get install docker docker-compose -y
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Clock synchronization
You system clock needs to be synchronized otherwise you might encounter skipping block sealing. By default
stepDuration is configured to 5s.Verify if your system clock is synchronized, type
timedatectl status and you should see similar output:1
Local time: Tue 2020-06-30 17:16:19 UTC
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Universal time: Tue 2020-06-30 17:16:19 UTC
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RTC time: Tue 2020-06-30 17:16:19
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Time zone: Etc/UTC (UTC, +0000)
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System clock synchronized: yes
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systemd-timesyncd.service active: yes
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RTC in local TZ: no
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If
System clock synchronized displays yes you are all set, otherwise you may need to either:- synchronize clock with NTP servers (allow UDP port 123 for both incoming and outgoing traffic)
- use below script to sync with google.com:
Create
fixtime.sh script and run it with watch -n 60 command in a screen1
echo sudo date -s '"$(wget -qSO- --max-redirect=0 google.com 2>&1 | grep Date: | cut -d' ' -f5-8)Z"' > fixtime.sh
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chmod +x fixtime.sh
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screen -S time
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watch -n 60 ./fixtime.sh
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Press
Ctrl+A+D to leave the screenDocker-compose file sample
Create and edit
docker-compose.yml file1
nano docker-compose.yml
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docker-compose.yml
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version: '3.5'
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​
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services:
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nethermind-validator:
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image: nethermind/nethermind
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container_name: nethermind-validator
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restart: unless-stopped
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ports:
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- 8545:8545
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- 30303:30303
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network_mode: host
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environment:
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- NETHERMIND_CONFIG=xdai
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volumes:
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- ${PWD}/nethermind_db:/nethermind/nethermind_db
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- ${PWD}/keystore:/nethermind/keystore
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- ${PWD}/logs:/nethermind/logs
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- ${PWD}/xdai.cfg:/nethermind/configs/xdai.cfg
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- ${PWD}/NLog.config:/nethermind/NLog.config
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- ${PWD}/static-nodes.json:/nethermind/Data/static-nodes.json
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​
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volumes:
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nethermind_db:
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driver: local
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name: nethermind_db
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keystore:
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driver: local
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name: keystore
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logs:
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driver: local
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name: logs
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Configure Nethermind node via environment variables or use local config file and map it to the one, existing inside container (
xdai.cfg file in above example).Make sure that
nethermind_db, keystore(logs - optional ) are mapped, otherwise you might lose database or keys​
NLog.config file is optional.
static-nodes.json can be filled with an array of enodes, this is also optional.Mining Private key
Make sure that the filename contains key's public address otherwise it won't be recognized by Nethermind Client as a keyfile.
Correct naming of a
keyfile: key-a5237f7f43cc46cba43ac212dabd0c45e3e3050aThe
keyfile should be then stored inside keystore volume.Config file
Things to be configured:
Init.IsMiningtrueInit.MemoryHintcan be left default, recommended to configure it accordingly to the machine hardware setup (forxdai1000000000 is enough)EthStatssection if you wish to report node status to the ethstats page for a given networkKeyStore.PasswordFilespath to the file containing password for mining private keyKeyStore.UnlockAccountsan array of accounts, provide mining public address hereKeyStore.BlockAuthorAccountmining public address should be provided here as wellAura.ForceSealingset to true
xdai.cfg
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{
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"Init": {
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"WebSocketsEnabled": false,
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"StoreReceipts": true,
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"IsMining": true,
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"ChainSpecPath": "chainspec/xdai.json",
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"GenesisHash": "0x4f1dd23188aab3a76b463e4af801b52b1248ef073c648cbdc4c9333d3da79756",
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"BaseDbPath": "nethermind_db/xdai",
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"LogFileName": "xdai.logs.txt",
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"MemoryHint": 3000000000,
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"StaticNodesPath": "Data/static-nodes.json"
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},
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"Network": {
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"DiscoveryPort": 30303,
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"P2PPort": 30303
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},
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"JsonRpc": {
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"Enabled": false,
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"Host": "127.0.0.1",
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"Port": 8545,
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"WebSocketsPort": 8546
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},
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"Db": {
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"HeadersDbCacheIndexAndFilterBlocks": false,
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"BlocksDbCacheIndexAndFilterBlocks": false,
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"ReceiptsDbCacheIndexAndFilterBlocks": false,
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"BlockInfosDbCacheIndexAndFilterBlocks": false
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},
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"Sync": {
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"FastSync": true,
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"PivotNumber": 10410000,
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"PivotHash": "0x806f498fdde010f25bd3beb18e6f8a9c9450752f8c0e27da2cd2465ff184628c",
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"PivotTotalDifficulty": "3542339439646969404653729663364707080928280566",
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"FastBlocks": true,
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"UseGethLimitsInFastBlocks": false,
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"FastSyncCatchUpHeightDelta": 10000000000
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},
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"EthStats": {
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"Enabled": false,
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"Server": "ws://localhost:3000/api",
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"Name": "Nethermind xDai",
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"Secret": "secret",
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"Contact": "[email protected]"
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},
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"Metrics": {
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"NodeName": "Nethermind xDai",
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"Enabled": false,
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"PushGatewayUrl": "http://localhost:9091/metrics",
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"IntervalSeconds": 5
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},
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"KeyStore": {
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"PasswordFiles": ["keystore/password.file"],
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"UnlockAccounts": ["0x..."],
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"BlockAuthorAccount": "0x..."
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},
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"Aura": {
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"ForceSealing": true
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},
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"Bloom": {
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"IndexLevelBucketSizes": [
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16,
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16
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]
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}
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}
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​
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Running Validator node
Run it with a simple docker-compose command.
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docker-compose up -d
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You will need to wait for the node to be fully synchronized.
To check the logs and verify if it is sealing blocks as expected (look for the
Sealed block log).1
docker-compose logs -f nethermind-validator
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​
Last modified 1yr ago