Run a Validator#

This guide covers setting up an Ethwei testnet validator on a Hetzner VPS. The same steps work on any Linux VPS.

Recommended hardware (testnet)#

Component	Minimum
CPU	4 vCPU (x86-64)
RAM	8 GB
Storage	100 GB NVMe SSD
Network	1 Gbps, unrestricted bandwidth
OS	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

A Hetzner CX32 or CPX31 covers this comfortably for testnet.

1. Provision the VPS#

Create a Hetzner project, spin up a server with Ubuntu 22.04, and SSH in:

ssh root@<your-server-ip>

Create a non-root user:

adduser ethwei
usermod -aG sudo ethwei
su - ethwei

2. Install dependencies#

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y git curl jq build-essential

Install Go (check go.dev/dl for the latest version):

wget https://go.dev/dl/go1.23.4.linux-amd64.tar.gz
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/go
sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.23.4.linux-amd64.tar.gz
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin:$HOME/go/bin' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
go version

3. Build the chain binary#

git clone https://github.com/ethwei/ethwei-chain
cd ethwei-chain
make install
ethweid version

4. Initialize the node#

ethweid init <your-moniker> --chain-id ethwei-testnet-1

Download the genesis file:

curl -s https://rpc-testnet.ethwei.com/genesis | \
  jq '.result.genesis' > ~/.ethwei/config/genesis.json

5. Configure peers and seeds#

Edit ~/.ethwei/config/config.toml:

[p2p]
seeds = ""          # fill in once published
persistent_peers = ""   # fill in once published

Check the Network Info page for current seed / peer addresses.

6. Set minimum gas price#

Edit ~/.ethwei/config/app.toml:

minimum-gas-prices = "0.025WEI"

7. Create a systemd service#

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/ethweid.service > /dev/null <<EOF
[Unit]
Description=Ethwei Node
After=network-online.target

[Service]
User=ethwei
ExecStart=$(which ethweid) start
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=3
LimitNOFILE=65535

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable ethweid
sudo systemctl start ethweid

Check logs:

journalctl -u ethweid -f

Wait for the node to sync fully before creating the validator.

8. Create your validator key#

ethweid keys add validator

Save the mnemonic somewhere safe. Fund your address with testnet ETE before continuing.

9. Create the validator#

Once the node is synced:

ethweid tx staking create-validator \
  --amount=1000000WEI \
  --pubkey=$(ethweid tendermint show-validator) \
  --moniker="<your-moniker>" \
  --chain-id=ethwei-testnet-1 \
  --commission-rate="0.10" \
  --commission-max-rate="0.20" \
  --commission-max-change-rate="0.01" \
  --min-self-delegation="1" \
  --gas="auto" \
  --gas-adjustment=1.5 \
  --fees="5000WEI" \
  --from=validator \
  --node=https://rpc-testnet.ethwei.com:443

Verify your validator appears on the explorer.

Maintenance#

Check validator status#

ethweid query staking validator $(ethweid keys show validator --bech val -a)

Check sync status#

ethweid status | jq '.SyncInfo'

Update the binary#

cd ethwei-chain && git pull && make install
sudo systemctl restart ethweid

Slashing: Validators that miss too many blocks or double-sign will be slashed and jailed. Keep your node online and never run duplicate signers from the same key.