Chain ID Latest Version Tag Custom Port
initiation-2 v0.6.1 179

Setup validator name

Replace YOUR_MONIKER_GOES_HERE with your validator name

MONIKER="YOUR_MONIKER_GOES_HERE"

Install dependencies

Update system and install build tools 

sudo apt -q update
sudo apt -qy install curl git jq lz4 build-essential
sudo apt -qy upgrade

Install Go 

sudo rm -rf /usr/local/go
curl -Ls https://go.dev/dl/go1.21.13.linux-amd64.tar.gz | sudo tar -xzf - -C /usr/local
eval $(echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin' | sudo tee /etc/profile.d/golang.sh)
eval $(echo 'export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/go/bin' | tee -a $HOME/.profile)

Download and build binaries 

# Clone project repository
cd $HOME
rm -rf initia
git clone https://github.com/initia-labs/initia.git
cd initia
git checkout v0.6.1

# Build binaries
make build

# Prepare binaries for Cosmovisor
mkdir -p $HOME/.initia/cosmovisor/genesis/bin
mv build/initiad $HOME/.initia/cosmovisor/genesis/bin/
rm -rf build

# Create application symlinks
ln -s $HOME/.initia/cosmovisor/genesis $HOME/.initia/cosmovisor/current -f
sudo ln -s $HOME/.initia/cosmovisor/current/bin/initiad /usr/local/bin/initiad -f

Install Cosmovisor and create a service 

# Download and install Cosmovisor
go install cosmossdk.io/tools/cosmovisor/cmd/cosmovisor@v1.7.0

# Create service
sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/initia-testnet.service > /dev/null << EOF
[Unit]
Description=initia node service
After=network-online.target

[Service]
User=$USER
ExecStart=$(which cosmovisor) run start
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10
LimitNOFILE=65535
Environment="DAEMON_HOME=$HOME/.initia"
Environment="DAEMON_NAME=initiad"
Environment="UNSAFE_SKIP_BACKUP=true"
Environment="PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin:$HOME/.initia/cosmovisor/current/bin"

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable initia-testnet.service

Initialize the node 

# Set node configuration
initiad config set client chain-id initiation-2
initiad config set client keyring-backend test
initiad config set client node tcp://localhost:17957

# Initialize the node
initiad init $MONIKER --chain-id initiation-2

# Download genesis and addrbook
curl -Ls https://snapshots.kjnodes.com/initia-testnet/genesis.json > $HOME/.initia/config/genesis.json
curl -Ls https://snapshots.kjnodes.com/initia-testnet/addrbook.json > $HOME/.initia/config/addrbook.json

# Add seeds
sed -i -e "s|^seeds *=.*|seeds = \"3f472746f46493309650e5a033076689996c8881@initia-testnet.rpc.kjnodes.com:17959\"|" $HOME/.initia/config/config.toml

# Set minimum gas price
sed -i -e "s|^minimum-gas-prices *=.*|minimum-gas-prices = \"0.015uinit\"|" $HOME/.initia/config/app.toml

# Set pruning
sed -i \
  -e 's|^pruning *=.*|pruning = "custom"|' \
  -e 's|^pruning-keep-recent *=.*|pruning-keep-recent = "100"|' \
  -e 's|^pruning-keep-every *=.*|pruning-keep-every = "0"|' \
  -e 's|^pruning-interval *=.*|pruning-interval = "19"|' \
  $HOME/.initia/config/app.toml

# Set custom ports
sed -i -e "s%^proxy_app = \"tcp://127.0.0.1:26658\"%proxy_app = \"tcp://127.0.0.1:17958\"%; s%^laddr = \"tcp://127.0.0.1:26657\"%laddr = \"tcp://127.0.0.1:17957\"%; s%^pprof_laddr = \"localhost:6060\"%pprof_laddr = \"localhost:17960\"%; s%^laddr = \"tcp://0.0.0.0:26656\"%laddr = \"tcp://0.0.0.0:17956\"%; s%^prometheus_listen_addr = \":26660\"%prometheus_listen_addr = \":17966\"%" $HOME/.initia/config/config.toml
sed -i -e "s%^address = \"tcp://localhost:1317\"%address = \"tcp://0.0.0.0:17917\"%; s%^address = \":8080\"%address = \":17980\"%; s%^address = \"localhost:9090\"%address = \"0.0.0.0:17990\"%; s%^address = \"0.0.0.0:9091\"%address = \"0.0.0.0:17991\"%; s%:8545%:17945%; s%:8546%:17946%; s%:6065%:17965%" $HOME/.initia/config/app.toml

Download latest chain snapshot 

curl -L https://snapshots.kjnodes.com/initia-testnet/snapshot_latest.tar.lz4 | tar -Ilz4 -xf - -C $HOME/.initia
[[ -f $HOME/.initia/data/upgrade-info.json ]] && cp $HOME/.initia/data/upgrade-info.json $HOME/.initia/cosmovisor/genesis/upgrade-info.json

Start service and check the logs 

sudo systemctl start initia-testnet.service && sudo journalctl -u initia-testnet.service -f --no-hostname -o cat

Set up validator

Official documentation: https://docs.initia.xyz/run-initia-node/running-initia-node/becoming-a-validator

1. Create a wallet

First of all we will need to create wallet for our validator. You have two options for that.

Option 1 - Create new wallet 

initiad keys add wallet

Option 2 - Recover existing wallet 

initiad keys add wallet --recover

Save the mnemonic output as this is the only way to recover your validator wallet in case you lose it!

To list your wallets use command below

initiad keys list

2. Fund a wallet

To create validator you have to fund the previously created wallet using https://faucet.testnet.initia.xyz/

To check wallet balance use command below

initiad q bank balances $(initiad keys show wallet -a)

3. Create validator

Please make sure you have adjusted moniker, identity, details, website to match your values.

initiad tx mstaking create-validator \
--amount 1000000uinit \
--pubkey $(initiad tendermint show-validator) \
--moniker "YOUR_MONIKER_NAME" \
--identity "YOUR_KEYBASE_ID" \
--details "YOUR_DETAILS" \
--website "YOUR_WEBSITE_URL" \
--chain-id initiation-2 \
--commission-rate 0.05 \
--commission-max-rate 0.20 \
--commission-max-change-rate 0.05 \
--from wallet \
--fees 5000uinit \
-y

Save the ~/.initia/config/priv_validator_key.json file as this is the only way to recover your validator signing key in case you lose it!

Set up Sidecar

This guide is only for validator nodes

Official documentation: https://docs.skip.build/connect/validators/quickstart

The Connect Sidecar consists of two main elements:

  1. An on-chain component that retrieves price data from the sidecar with each block, forwards these prices to the blockchain through vote extensions, and compiles prices from all validators involved.

  2. A sidecar process dedicated to polling price information from various providers and delivering this data to the on-chain component.

Step 1: Clone the Repository and build binaries 

# Clone repository
cd $HOME
rm -rf connect
git clone https://github.com/skip-mev/connect.git
cd connect
git checkout main

# Build binaries
make build

# Move binary to local bin
mv build/connect /usr/local/bin/
rm -rf build

Step 2: Run Sidecar

Create systemd service 

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/initia-testnet-sidecar.service > /dev/null <<EOF
[Unit]
Description=Initia Connect Sidecar
After=network-online.target

[Service]
User=$USER
ExecStart=$(which connect) --market-map-endpoint 127.0.0.1:17990
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=30
LimitNOFILE=65535

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

Enable and start systemd service 

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable initia-testnet-sidecar.service
sudo systemctl start initia-testnet-sidecar.service

Step 3: Verify Connect

To verify Connect is working, run the following command:

curl 'http://localhost:8080/connect/oracle/v2/prices' | jq .

The output of the command should look similar to this:

{
  "prices": {
    "ATOM/USD": "920650000",
    "BITCOIN/USD": "3980283250000",
    "DYDX/USD": "273682500",
    "ETHEREUM/BITCOIN": "5842000",
    "ETHEREUM/USD": "232550500000",
    "POLKADOT/USD": "638800000",
    "SOLANA/USD": "8430350000"
  },
  "timestamp": "2024-01-23T01:15:09.776890Z"
}

Step 4: Enable Oracle Vote Extension

In order to utilize the Connect oracle data in the Initia node, the Oracle setting should be enabled in the app.toml file.

###############################################################################
###                                  Oracle                                 ###
###############################################################################
[oracle]
# Enabled indicates whether the oracle is enabled.
enabled = "true"

# Oracle Address is the URL of the out of process oracle sidecar. This is used to
# connect to the oracle sidecar when the application boots up. Note that the address
# can be modified at any point, but will only take effect after the application is
# restarted. This can be the address of an oracle container running on the same
# machine or a remote machine.
oracle_address = "127.0.0.1:8080"

# Client Timeout is the time that the client is willing to wait for responses from 
# the oracle before timing out.
client_timeout = "250ms"

# MetricsEnabled determines whether oracle metrics are enabled. Specifically
# this enables instrumentation of the oracle client and the interaction between
# the oracle and the app.
metrics_enabled = "true"

interval = "1500ms"
price_ttl = "10s"

Restart service after configuration changes

sudo systemctl restart initia-testnet.service

Step 5: Check the systemd logs

To check service logs use command below:

journalctl -fu initia-testnet-sidecar.service -o cat