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Full Node Walkthrough

🧑‍🔬 detailed step-by-step instructions to get you up and running with a Full Node on Pocket Network ✅

This is an in-depth walkthrough

See the Full Node Cheat Sheet if you want to just copy-pasta a few commands.

Table of Contents ​

Introduction - why run a Full Node?​

This guide will guide through, step-by-step, through running a Full Node for Pocket Network.

Running a Full Node is the first step toward becoming a Validator, Supplier, or Gateway.

The instructions outlined here use Cosmovisor to enable automatic binary upgrades.

Pre-Requisites & Requirements​

  1. Linux-based System: Preferably Debian-based distributions.
  2. Root or Sudo Access: Administrative privileges are required.
  3. Dedicated Server or Virtual Machine: Any provider is acceptable.

Instructions​

1. Install Dependencies​

Update your package list and install necessary dependencies:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y curl tar wget jq

2. Create a New User​

Create a dedicated user to run poktrolld:

sudo adduser poktroll

Set a password when prompted, and add the user to the sudo group:

sudo usermod -aG sudo poktroll

And switch to the poktroll user:

sudo su - poktroll

3. Set Up Environment Variables for Cosmovisor​

Create a .poktrollrc file and set the following environment variables:

touch ~/.poktrollrc

echo "export DAEMON_NAME=poktrolld" >> ~/.poktrollrc
echo "export DAEMON_HOME=\$HOME/.poktroll" >> ~/.poktrollrc
echo "export DAEMON_RESTART_AFTER_UPGRADE=true" >> ~/.poktrollrc
echo "export DAEMON_ALLOW_DOWNLOAD_BINARIES=true" >> ~/.poktrollrc
echo "export UNSAFE_SKIP_BACKUP=false" >> ~/.poktrollrc

echo "source ~/.poktrollrc" >> ~/.profile
source ~/.profile

4. Install Cosmovisor​

Option 1: You can follow the official Cosmovisor installation instructions here.

Option 2: You can simply copy-paste the following commands to download and install Cosmovisor:

mkdir -p $HOME/.local/bin
COSMOVISOR_VERSION="v1.6.0"

ARCH=$(uname -m)
if [ "$ARCH" = "x86_64" ]; then
    ARCH="amd64"
elif [ "$ARCH" = "aarch64" ]; then
    ARCH="arm64"
fi

curl -L "https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/releases/download/cosmovisor%2F${COSMOVISOR_VERSION}/cosmovisor-${COSMOVISOR_VERSION}-linux-${ARCH}.tar.gz" | tar -zxvf - -C $HOME/.local/bin

echo 'export PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.profile
source ~/.profile

5. Install poktrolld​

Follow the instructions in the poktrolld Installation Guide page to install poktrolld.

Create a symlink of the binary so Comosvisor knows where to find it:

mkdir -p $HOME/.poktroll/cosmovisor/genesis/bin
ln -sf $(which poktrolld) $HOME/.poktroll/cosmovisor/genesis/bin/poktrolld

6. Retrieve the latest genesis file​

Follow the instructions below to download the latest genesis file.

# Select network (testnet-alpha, testnet-beta, or mainnet)
NETWORK="testnet-beta" # Change this to your desired network

# Create config directory if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p $HOME/.poktroll/config

# Download genesis file
GENESIS_URL="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pokt-network/pocket-network-genesis/master/shannon/${NETWORK}/genesis.json"
curl -s -o $HOME/.poktroll/config/genesis.json "$GENESIS_URL"

7. Network Configuration​

note

You may see a message saying genesis.json file already exists.

This is expected since we downloaded the genesis file in one of the steps above.

The initialization will still complete successfully and set up the required configuration files.

Run the following commands to configure your network environment appropriately:

# Extract chain-id from existing genesis
CHAIN_ID=$(jq -r '.chain_id' < $HOME/.poktroll/config/genesis.json)

# Initialize the node
poktrolld init "YourNodeMoniker_REPLACE_ME" --chain-id="$CHAIN_ID" --home=$HOME/.poktroll

# Set the seeds
SEEDS_URL="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pokt-network/pocket-network-genesis/master/shannon/${NETWORK}/seeds"
SEEDS=$(curl -s "$SEEDS_URL")
sed -i -e "s|^seeds *=.*|seeds = \"$SEEDS\"|" $HOME/.poktroll/config/config.toml

# Set External Address
EXTERNAL_IP=$(curl -s https://api.ipify.org)
sed -i -e "s|^external_address *=.*|external_address = \"${EXTERNAL_IP}:26656\"|" $HOME/.poktroll/config/config.toml

8. Set Up systemd Service​

Create a systemd service file to manage the node:

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/cosmovisor.service > /dev/null <<EOF
[Unit]
Description=Cosmovisor daemon for poktrolld
After=network-online.target

[Service]
User=poktroll
ExecStart=/home/poktroll/.local/bin/cosmovisor run start --home=/home/poktroll/.poktroll
Restart=always
RestartSec=3
LimitNOFILE=infinity
LimitNPROC=infinity
Environment="DAEMON_NAME=poktrolld"
Environment="DAEMON_HOME=/home/poktroll/.poktroll"
Environment="DAEMON_RESTART_AFTER_UPGRADE=true"
Environment="DAEMON_ALLOW_DOWNLOAD_BINARIES=true"
Environment="UNSAFE_SKIP_BACKUP=true"

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

Enable and start the service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable cosmovisor.service
sudo systemctl start cosmovisor.service

9. Configure your Firewall​

To ensure your node can properly participate in the P2P network, you need to make port 26656 accessible from the internet.

This may involve one or more of the following:

  1. Configuring your firewall for UFW:

    sudo ufw allow 26656/tcp

  2. Configuring your firewall for iptables:

    sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 26656 -j ACCEPT

  3. Cloud Provider Settings: If running on a cloud provider (AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.), ensure you configure the security groups or firewall rules to allow inbound traffic on port 26656.

  4. Router Configuration: If running behind a router, configure port forwarding for port 26656 to your node's internal IP address.

  5. Verify your port is accessible using a tool like netcat or telnet from another machine:

    nc -vz {EXTERNAL_IP} 26656