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Pocket Node Setup

Deploy Your Validator & Full Nodes

Create an account

An account is needed to participate at any level of the network.

pocket accounts create

Alternatively, you can create your account using the Wallet app, then use the encrypted import command to import the account into your node environment:

pocket accounts import-armored </path/to/ppk.json>

Backup the account

Backup your private key to an encrypted and ASCII armored json file, to the specified --path , using the secure export command. After you hit enter, you will be prompted for the decrypt passphrase and an encryption passphrase for the exported account. You will also have the option to add a hint to help remember your passphrase.

pocket accounts export <address> --path <path>

Do not use your node's account as your personal account address. Since the node's private key is stored in plaintext on the server, the key is as secure as your server is. Regularly sweep your node's rewards and transfer them to a more secure account stored offline.

For more details on securely managing your POKT accounts, see here:

urlhttps://github.com/pokt-foundation/docs/blob/master/buy-store-and-stake-pokt/README.md

Fund the account

To stake a Validator in Pocket Network, the account must have a balance above the minimum stake:

15,000 POKT or 15,000,000,000 uPOKT

The absolute minimum node stake (15,000 POKT) is not practical for real-world usage. 15,100 is a reasonable buffer against operational slashes which can occur on seemingly properly configured nodes as well as misconfigured and misbehaving ones.

Send POKT with the following command:

pocket accounts send-tx <fromAddr> <toAddr> <uPOKT amount> mainnet 10000 ""

You won't be able to send POKT using your CLI until you have a Validator set up. Until then, you can use the Wallet app.

If you're using the testnet, you can fund your account using the Testnet Faucet.

Set the account as Validator

pocket accounts set-validator <address>

Check that it worked with pocket accounts get-validator

Set Relay Chains

A Relay Chain is the blockchain that Validators are running full nodes for in service of Applications. Apps access Relay Chains through the serviceURI, the endpoint where Validators publicly expose the Pocket API.

pocket util generate-chains

RelayChainIDs can be found here.

Setup the Genesis Configuration File

Genesis files can be found here:

The appropriate genesis file should be placed at $HOME/.pocket/config/genesis.json

mkdir -p "$HOME"/.pocket/config
curl -o "$HOME"/.pocket/config/genesis.json https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pokt-network/pocket-network-genesis/master/mainnet/genesis.json

Test your node

Test that your node is configured correctly by simulating a relay.

pocket start --simulateRelay

Then send a curl request to your validator URL http://<your node>:<your pocket rpc port>/v1/client/sim to test if your node responds.

curl -X POST --data '{"relay_network_id":"<relay chain ID from chains.json>","payload":{"data":"{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"method\":\"eth_getBalance\",\"params\":[\"0xe7a24E61b2ec77d3663ec785d1110688d2A32ecc\", \"latest\"],\"id\":1}","method":"POST","path":"","headers":{}}}' <your node URL>:8081/v1/client/sim

200 OK – your transaction has gone through

400 Bad Request – you either have incorrect/missing parameters in the request or bad formatting in the data field

Finally, stop your node. If you don't, you'll be leaving --simulateRelay running, which means anyone will have unfiltered access to your node.

Download the Latest Snapshot

Downloading from the latest snapshot will drastically shorten the time it takes to sync the blockchain. The easiest way is by downloading with wget and extracting the archive as it downloads.

mkdir -p "$HOME"/.pocket/data
wget -qO- https://snapshot.nodes.pokt.network/latest.tar.gz | tar -xz -C "$HOME"/.pocket/data

Other options for downloading the latest snapshot can be found in the pocket-snapshotter repo.

Sync the blockchain

pocket start --seeds=<seeds> --mainnet

See the section on seeds for more details.

Ensure the node is all the way synced before proceeding to the next step.

Stake the Validator

Stake the account to participate in the Network as a Validator. Staking a Validator locks up POKT tokens that can be burned as a security mechanism for bad acting.

pocket nodes stake custodial <address> <amount> <relay_chains> <serviceURI> mainnet 10000 false

Read more about custodial versus non-custodial staking.

You should leave 1 POKT liquid (unstaked) to pay the transaction fees for your node's claim and proof transactions.

All node runners must always maintain a liquid (unstaked) balance of at least 0.02 POKT in order to submit the claim and proof transactions (which each have a transaction fee of 0.01 POKT) that generate their rewards. If a node successfully submits both the claim and proof, they will earn enough POKT to submit the next claims and proofs, and so on. However, if a node falls below a liquid balance of 0.02 POKT, their revenue will be halted.

Claim transactions have 3 sessions, the ClaimSubmissionWindow, to be successfully submitted after the conclusion of the session in which the work was done, otherwise they are lost. If a claim transaction fails, Pocket Core will auto-repeat the transaction once in each new session, until the claim is lost. This means your node will automatically take 3 attempts to submit the claim. There is a claim submission window because the global secret key that determines the required proof leaf is revealed once that window closes. Extending the claim submission window would delay the time at which the corresponding proof can be sent and rewards earned.

If you manage to successfully submit the claim transaction, you then have 120 blocks, the ClaimExpiration period, to submit the corresponding proof transaction, otherwise the pending claim expires. There is a claim expiration date because otherwise the claims would remain in the state and bloat the blockchain.

Bad Behavior Warning: Pre-staking

Pre-staking is the act of a node runner staking on a RelayChainID prior to spinning up the RelayChain node. This behavior has an extremely negative impact on the quality of service for new chains due to apps being matched in sessions with Pocket nodes that don't actually have RelayChain nodes connected to them. If you do this, your node will be challenged and slashed. You should always deploy your RelayChain node and simulate relays before staking your Pocket node for the RelayChainID.

If your stake falls below 15,000 POKT your node will be force-unstake burned. We recommend having a buffer above the 15,000 minimum (e.g. 15,100-16,000) so that minor slashing doesn't result in loss of the entire stake.

🏆 Achievement Unlocked

If you staked your node successfully, you just earned your first trophy. See here to find out how earning more trophies will ultimately earn you a vote in our DAO.

Upgrade Your Node

Release-specific Changes

Each release may have specific modifications you need to make. This is just a general guideline for the steps you'll typically take to upgrade your node. Check the release notes for release-specific details.

1. Shutdown Pocket Core

Stop your Pocket Core instance running by submitting the shutdown command.

pocket stop

Once you shutdown Pocket Core, you will have 4 blocks (60 minutes) to complete the upgrade and start Pocket Core again before your node gets jailed for downtime.

2. Backup Your Blockchain Data

Backing up your blockchain data will ensure a faster resync when you restart your node.

Navigate inside your $HOME/.pocket/ dir and save data/ (the entire directory):

cp -r ~/.pocket/data ~/backup/data

In the event of a corrupted database you can delete the bad data rm -r ~/.pocket/data and replace it with your backup cp -r ~/backup/data ~/.pocket/data.

If you don't have a backup, a temporary backup datadir may be provided alongside a release.

3. Ensure the Latest Golang Version

Check your golang version. The release notes will specify which version it should be.

go version

If you need to upgrade, use this guide.

Alternatively, if you use g, you can just run

sudo apt-get update
g install <version number>

4. Rebuild or Upgrade Your Binary

Source

Navigate into pocket-core directory

cd ~/go/src/github.com/pokt-network/pocket-core

Checkout the latest release

git pull
git checkout tags/<release tag>

Rebuild the binary

go build -o $GOPATH/bin/pocket ./app/cmd/pocket_core/main.go

Homebrew

Pull the latest tap

brew upgrade pokt-network/pocket-core/pocket

Docker

Pull the latest container image

docker pull poktnetwork/pocket-core:RC-0.8.2

5. Upgrade Your config.json

Run the update-configs command, which creates a new config file (DATADIR/config/config.json) and backs up the old config file (DATADIR/config/config.json.bk).

pocket util update-configs

You'll need to manually compare your backup file with the new file to copy over your personal config details.

6. Start Pocket

Start pocket running again.

pocket start

Earn Trophies, Join the DAO

You can earn a vote in the DAO and help shape the future of Pocket Network, including deciding which ecosystem tooling our treasury supports and how we configure important on-chain parameters such as node revenue.

Once you've staked your node successfully, join our Discord and report this in the 🏆trophies channel.

This is your first trophy on the path to earning a vote in the DAO. Learn more on the Node Runners page.

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