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Run a New Validator Node

Prepare and Run

To run a new validator node (refer to this page for node types) the specific command-line arguments you should set are the following:

NameDescriptionValue
--validatorEnable validator mode.
The node will be started with the authority role and actively participate in any consensus task that it can (e.g. depending on availability of local keys).
No value must be provided.

Since a validator node needs proper keys for block authoring and chain selection, you can generate them using the zkv-node command key (refer to this section for further details).

Generate a secret phrase with:

target/production/zkv-node key generate

then take note of the Secret phrase: contained in the response and proceed with key insertion:

target/production/zkv-node key insert --key-type babe --chain test --base-path /home/your_user/validator_node_data --scheme sr25519
target/production/zkv-node key insert --key-type gran --chain test --base-path /home/your_user/validator_node_data --scheme ed25519
target/production/zkv-node key insert --key-type imon --chain test --base-path /home/your_user/validator_node_data --scheme sr25519

providing the secret phrase as input when prompted for (URI:).

You can then start with:

target/production/zkv-node --name MyZkVerifyValidatorNode --base-path /home/your_user/validator_node_data --chain test --port 30353 --validator
note

You can change the values of the above args based on your needs.

You can check from the logs printed out in the console that your validator node is up and running (e.g. it keeps updating the chain tip, it is connected to other peers, it authors new blocks, etc.).

Refer to this section for the next steps you need to take after starting your validator node.