Lodestar client guides and options

One-page interactive complete guide to configurate and operate Lodestar client.

Disclaimer

This guide is for informational purposes only. The author nor website owner does not guarantee accuracy of the information in this guide and is not responsible for any damages or losses incurred by following the guide.

Individual guides

Install Lodestar client Update Lodestar client Emergency for Lodestar client Add Lodestar validator Exit Lodestar validator

Chains support

Supported Ethereum
Supported Gnosis

On-page actions for Lodestar client

Lodestar client can be used for staking on various supported chains. Client installation is always only one, used by services with an individual configuration (different service name, data path and ports in use).

Install Lodestar client

  1. Installing NodeJS through the Node Version Manager

    Node Version Manager (NVM) is a piece of shell code that allows you to easily install and maintain different versions of Node.js and its associated packages.

    1. Check latest verision of NVM on GitHub.

    2. View code of NVM ver 0.39.4

      curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.4/install.sh

    3. Install NVM

      curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.4/install.sh | bash

      NVM will be installed with permissions of a user that processing that request (you). NVM is installed to user account, specifically to "~/.bashrc" directory.

    4. source/reload nvm for an option to use it

      source ~/.bashrc

    5. Check available Node.js versions

      nvm list-remote
      Selected version: v

    6. Install requested Node.js version

      nvm install v20.11.0

      Node.js is installed with permissions of a user that processing that request (you)

    7. Show active Node.js version in use

      node -v

      If o version is selected, use nvm use 20.11.0

  2. Install build-essential tools

    sudo apt-get install build-essential -y

  3. Install Yarn

    corepack enable
    corepack prepare yarn@stable --activate
    yarn help

  4. Build Lodestar

    • Download latest Lodestar client from GitHub

      cd ~/downloads && git clone -b stable https://github.com/chainsafe/lodestar.git

    • Install yarn

      cd lodestar && yarn install

    • Build Lodestart client

      yarn run build

    • Check builded Lodestar version

      ./lodestar -v

  5. Copy new production client to /usr/local/bin directory

    sudo cp -a ~/downloads/lodestar /usr/local/bin

Configurate service

  1. Configuring lodestarbeacon service user and data directory

    • Create a service user

      : 
      $ sudo useradd --system --no-create-home --shell /bin/false lodestarbeacon

    • Enable lodestarbeacon user access NodeJs

      : 
      sudo usermod -aG myserveruser lodestarbeacon

    • Create a directory for Lodestar Beacon data

      : 
      sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/lodestar/beacon

    • Set directory ownership

      sudo chown -R lodestarbeacon:lodestarbeacon /var/lib/lodestar/beacon

  2. Communication ports selection

    Each service on the server needs a custom port for communication. Through ports, consensus client communicates with other peers in the network as well as other services running on the server, such as validator clients. There is an IPv4 and IPv6 variant, depending on the ISP support / preference. Each protocol version needs custom port. If you are not sure what to select, continue with default IPv4 port.

    1. Configurate public IPv4 port for P2P communication with other peers

      • :
      • Verify availability of selected port 9000 
        ss -tuln | grep ':9000'

        If it returns empty response, the port 9000 is free and can be used.

      • Enable traffic on the port through UFW 
        $ sudo ufw allow 9000
      • Disable IPv6 traffic on the port
        • List allowed ports 
          sudo ufw status numbered
        • Find order number for V6, see 9000 (V6) and remove it with the following line 
          sudo ufw delete <Number>

    2. QUIC IPv4 port

      • :
      • Verify availability of selected port 9001 
        ss -tuln | grep ':9001'

        If it returns empty response, the port 9001 is free and can be used.

    3. Beacon API port for internal communication

      • :
      • Verify availability of selected port 5052 
        ss -tuln | grep ':5052'

        If it returns empty response, the port 5052 is free and can be used.

    1. Configurate public IPv6 port for P2P communication with other peers

      • :
      • Verify availability of selected port 9090 
        ss -tuln | grep ':9090'

        If it returns empty response, the port 9090 is free and can be used.

      • Enable traffic on the port through UFW 
        $ sudo ufw allow 9090
      • Disable IPv6 traffic on the port
        • List allowed ports 
          sudo ufw status numbered
        • Find order number for V6, see 9090 and remove it with the following line 
          sudo ufw delete <Number>

    2. QUIC IPv6 port

      • :
      • Verify availability of selected port 9091 
        ss -tuln | grep ':9091'

        If it returns empty response, the port 9091 is free and can be used.

  3. Create configuration file for the Lodestar beacon service

    • Open the configuration file

      sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/lodestarbeacon.service

    • Copy following configuration to the file

      :
      This can be get with command $ node version

      [Unit]
Description=Lodestar Consensus Beacon Client (Ethereum mainnet)
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target
[Service]
User=lodestarbeacon
Type=simple
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
WorkingDirectory=/usr/local/bin/lodestar
Environment="PATH=/home/myserveruser/.nvm/versions/node/v20.11.0/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin"
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/lodestar/lodestar beacon \
  --network mainnet \
  --dataDir /var/lib/lodestar/beacon \
  --execution.urls http://127.0.0.1:8551 \
  --jwt-secret /var/lib/jwtsecret/ethereum.hex \
  --port 9000 \
  --port6 9090
  #--suggestedFeeRecipient 0x.........................
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
      [Unit]
Description=Lodestar Consensus Beacon Client (Gnosis Chain)
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target
[Service]
User=lodestarbeacon
Type=simple
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
WorkingDirectory=/usr/local/bin/lodestar
Environment="PATH=/home/myserveruser/.nvm/versions/node/v20.11.0/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin"
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/lodestar/lodestar beacon \
  --network gnosis \
  --dataDir /var/lib/lodestar/beacon \
  --execution.urls http://127.0.0.1:8551 \
  --jwt-secret /var/lib/jwtsecret/gnosis.hex \
  --port 9000 \
  --port6 9090
  #--suggestedFeeRecipient 0x.........................
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
      *Note: Update jwt-secret, if you use different

      Check all available flags.

    • Press CTRL + X then Y then ENTER to save and exit the config file.

  4. Reload daemon

    sudo systemctl daemon-reload

  5. Run the service

    sudo systemctl start lodestarbeacon

  6. Monitor the running lodestar Beacon service

    systemctl status lodestarbeacon
    journalctl -fu lodestarbeacon

  7. Enable auto start on server statup

    sudo systemctl enable lodestarbeacon

Launch validator instance / validator(s)

  1. Do you want to create a new validation instance or extend exisiting instance for more validators?

    • Create a directory for validator instance data

      sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/lodestar/vi1

    • Enable accessing /var/lib/lodestar/vi1 for server user myserveruser

      sudo chown -R myserveruser:myserveruser /var/lib/lodestar/vi1

    • Load keystores to /var/lib/lodestar/vi1

      :

      Move to Lodestar client directory

      cd /usr/local/bin/lodestar
      ./lodestar validator import --network mainnet --importKeystores $HOME/keystores/ddk_i1 --dataDir /var/lib/lodestar/vi1

      ./lodestar validator import --network gnosis --importKeystores $HOME/keystores/ddk_i1 --dataDir /var/lib/lodestar/vi1

      • Insert keystores encryption password (the one used during keystores generation) on request
      • If there are keystores with different encryption password, repeat the process for each encryption password

    • Create a service user for the validator instance

      sudo useradd --system --no-create-home --shell /bin/false lodestar-vi1

    • Set ownership of /var/lib/lodestar/vi1 to lodestar-vi1 user

      sudo chown -R lodestar-vi1:lodestar-vi1 /var/lib/lodestar/vi1

    • Enable access to NodeJs for user lodestar-vi1

      : 
      sudo usermod -aG myserveruser lodestar-vi1

    • Create configuration service file for lodestar-vi1 service

      1. Open the configuration file

        sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/lodestar-vi1.service

      2. Copy the configuration below into the file.

        • :
          This can be get with command $ node version

        [Unit]
Description=Lodestar Validator Instance (Ethereum Mainnet)
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target
[Service]
User=lodestar-vi1
Group=lodestar-vi1
Type=simple
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
WorkingDirectory=/usr/local/bin/lodestar
Environment="PATH=/home/myserveruser/.nvm/versions/node/v20.11.0/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin"
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/lodestar/lodestar validator \
  --network mainnet \
  --dataDir /var/lib/lodestar/validators/i1 \
  --suggestedFeeRecipient 0xXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX \
  # ToDo: Add Beacon API URL
  --force \
  --graffiti "Nethermind+Lodestar"
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
        [Unit]
Description=Lodestar Validator Instance (Gnosis Network)
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target
[Service]
User=lodestar-vi1
Group=lodestar-vi1
Type=simple
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
WorkingDirectory=/usr/local/bin/lodestar
Environment="PATH=/home/myserveruser/.nvm/versions/node/v20.11.0/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin"
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/lodestar/lodestar validator \
  --network gnosis \
  --dataDir /var/lib/lodestar/validators/i1 \
  --suggestedFeeRecipient 0xXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX \
  # ToDo: Add Beacon API URL
  --force \
  --graffiti "Nethermind+Lodestar"
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
      3. Press CTRL + X then Y then ENTER to save and exit the config file.

    • Adding validator instance to staking services manager

      If you use a staking manager client, add the new instance into it.

    • Stop running validator instance lodestar-vi1

      sudo systemctl stop lodestar-vi1

    • Extend /var/lib/lodestar/validators/i1 for new keystores

      ./lodestar validator import --network mainnet --importKeystores $HOME/keystores/ddk_i1 --dataDir /var/lib/lodestar/vi1

      ./lodestar validator import --network gnosis --importKeystores $HOME/keystores/ddk_i1 --dataDir /var/lib/lodestar/vi1

      • You will be requested to insert keystores encryption password (the one used during keystores generation)
      • If there are keystores with different encryption password, repeat the process for each encryption password
      • Already existing keystores in the directory will be skipped

  2. Load processed changes to the system

    sudo systemctl daemon-reload

  3. Start the validator instance

    sudo systemctl start lodestar-vi1

  4. Check the running validator instance

    systemctl status lodestar-vi1
    journalctl -fu lodestar-vi1

  5. Other configurations

    Activate service to start automatically on OS startup

    $ sudo systemctl enable lodestar-vi1

    • Configurate Lodestar validator Log monitor service

      Log monitor service monitors the service log and process defined action (fixes) in a case of any issue detected.

      1. Check, whether the logmonitor util is installed: 
        /usr/local/bin/logmonitor.sh version

        If the util is not installed, install Lodestar validator Log monitor from GitHub.

      2. Check defined Errors list for lodestarvalidator service 
        sudo nano /usr/local/etc/lodestarvalidator_tracking_records.txt

        If not available, download it from GitHub. You can also modifiy it, if needed.

      3. Configurate the validator log monitor for service lodestar-vi1, see guide on Github.

    • Activate service to start automatically on OS startup

      Our guide uses a custom util for launching services. It has following benefits:

      • It allows set delay for starting services. It eliminates slashing risk in the following scenario:
        1. A database corruption occures
        2. Lodestar Log monitor detects it, stopping the validator instance and clearing broken database
        3. Very quick power failure happens while the staking node starts immediately automatically
        4. As the database with last attestation is removed now, we need to prevent start of the validator instance to avoid double attestation / block proposal within the same slot.
      • It allows starting services through a shared script

        Starting all services through the Staking Manager util and its command /usr/local/bin/staking.sh start execution prevents a human error when there is forgotten set of sudo systemctl enable ... for any staking-related service.

      There's a Start with delay util to manage this.

      1. Install Start with delay util from GitHub, if not installed yet.
      2. Open Start with delay util 
        sudo nano /usr/local/bin/delayed-start.sh
      3. Place new services (validator isntance and validator instance monitor) into the file 
        lodestar-vi1
        lodestar-vi1_logmonitor
      4. Verify, that a service `delayed-start.service` exists and is automatically launched on system start. See GitHub for a guide to do that.

    • Extend Staking manager clients.conf

      Insert lodestar-vi1 into clients.conf file that is used by Staking Manager. 
      sudo nano /usr/local/etc/staking/config/clients.conf

Exit validator instance / validator(s)

Bulk exit of all validators under the instance (within a directory)

  1. Go to a directory with Lodestar client 
    /usr/local/bin
  2. Perform the exit request for validator keystores in certain directory 
    ./lodestar validator voluntary-exit --network mainnet --yes --dataDir /var/lib/lodestar/vi1
    ./lodestar validator voluntary-exit --network gnosis --yes --dataDir /var/lib/lodestar/vi1

Update Lodestar client

Check current version of Lodestar running on the server:

cd /usr/local/bin/lodestar
./lodestar -v

  1. Remove old repository clone

    cd ~/downloads && sudo rm -r lodestar

  2. Build Lodestar

    • Download latest Lodestar client from GitHub

      cd ~/downloads && git clone -b stable https://github.com/chainsafe/lodestar.git

    • Install yarn

      cd lodestar && yarn install

    • Build Lodestart client

      yarn run build

    • Check builded Lodestar version

      ./lodestar -v

  3. Stop Lodestar services

    Stop Lodestar Beacon service and all validators-based services

    sudo systemctl stop lodestarbeacon
sudo systemctl stop lodestar-vi...
sudo systemctl stop lodestar-vi...
...

    Stop cosnsensus services

    /usr/local/bin/staking.sh stop consensus

    Check cosnsensus services status

    /usr/local/bin/staking.sh check consensus

  4. Remove old production Lodestar client

    sudo rm -r /usr/local/bin/lodestar

  5. Copy new production client to /usr/local/bin directory

    sudo cp -a ~/downloads/lodestar /usr/local/bin

  6. Start the Lodestar services

    Start Lodestar Beacon service and all validators-based services

    sudo systemctl start lodestarbeacon
sudo systemctl start lodestar-vi...
sudo systemctl start lodestar-vi...
...
    /usr/local/bin/staking.sh start consensus

  7. Monitor

    • systemctl status lodestarbeacon lodestar-vi.. lodestar-vi..
    • journalctl -fu lodestarbeacon
    • journalctl -f -u lodestar-vi.. -u lodestar-vi..
    /usr/local/bin/staking.sh check consensus
    /usr/local/bin/staking.sh monitor consensus