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Prototestnet Nodes

The current proto-testnet version of Zilliqa 2.0 allows users to setup a node and join the network.

Zilliqa 2.0 (proto-testnet) node Prerequisites

Hardware requirements

  • CPU:
    • 1 Core / 2 threads or more
  • RAM:
    • 8 GB or more
  • Disk:
    • 100 GB or more

Virtual machines on Cloud Platforms

We are running our Zilliqa 2.0 Nodes on Google Cloud Platform, GCP, GCE VM e2-standard-2 instance with 256 GB SSD (pd-ssd).

If you running on other cloud provider, please do select an instance with similar specs.

Software requirements

  1. Operating System: We build and run on Ubuntu 22.04LTS or above
  2. Docker: 27.0.3+

Port-forwarding

The following TCP ports need to be open to the internet for both inbound and outbound.

NOTE: We don't recommend to run Nodes behind a NAT, if you're doing so and you are facing any traversal issue you might have to debug on your own.

Required

3333/TCP - P2P protocol port: has to be opened on inbound and outbound to public internet.

Optional

4201/TCP - JSONRPC over HTTP: API port, only necessary if you want your API to be accessible via the internet.

Setting Up Your Environment and Building ZQ2 Node

To run a Zilliqa 2.0 node and join the proto-testnet, we provide the z2 utility as part of the zq2 code base.

The z2 join command creates the node startup script and configuration file that you can copy and paste on your Ubuntu VM, configured as per above specs, and run.

Step by step guide

  1. Cargo and Rust: You need to have Cargo and Rust installed on your system. You can install them using rustup. Once rustup is installed, you can update Rust to the latest stable version.
  2. Install the following requirements: 
    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ethereum/ethereum && sudo apt update && \
sudo apt install -y solc build-essential pkg-config libssl-dev cmake \
protobuf-compiler
  3. Pick a directory. You'll need quite a lot of space. Let's call it /my/dir.

  4. Clone zq2 sourcecode into that directory to get /my/dir/zq2.

  5. Build the code using cargo build.

  6. Source the setenv file: 
    source /my/dir/zq2/scripts/setenv
    This will give you access to the z2 tool (in zq2/z2).
  7. Generate the startup script and the configuration file for your node by running: 
    z2 join --chain zq2-prototestnet
  8. Generate the node private key. 
    openssl rand -hex 32 > node-private-key.txt
export PRIVATE_KEY=$(cat node-private-key.txt)
    NOTE: Please save the node key as described above. You may need it in the future to restart the node to generate the BLS public key of the node.

  9. Now it's time to decide how the node will synchronize with the network. There are two methods for setting the synchronization rules for the node.

    • Start the node from the genesis.

    This method initializes the node from the genesis block, ensuring that the node processes the entire blockchain history. However, this process is time-consuming, as the node must download and validate every block from the genesis block to the latest block height. Syncing the node to the latest block may take a considerable amount of time, potentially up to several days to complete fully. If you opt for this method, you can proceed directly to the Start the node section.

    • Start the node from a checkpoint.

    Starting from a checkpoint is a significantly faster option. This method leverages a predefined checkpoint block number, enabling the node to sync with the network in just a few hours, depending on the checkpoint's block height. Before proceeding to start the node section, you'll need to configure the necessary settings to start the node from a checkpoint.
    Detailed instructions for this configuration are available in syncing-from-checkpoints. Once the checkpoint is set up, your node will be ready to start. You can now follow the steps below.

Start the node

  • Start the node without Checkpoint: 

    chmod +x start_node.sh && \
./start_node.sh -k $PRIVATE_KEY

  • Start the node with Checkpoint: 

    chmod +x start_node.sh && \
./start_node.sh -k $PRIVATE_KEY -p <checkpoint_block_num.dat>
    NOTE: The <checkpoint_block_num.dat> file is the one you previously downloaded. Refer to syncing-from-checkpoint

Great! The node should now be syncing with the network. It may take up to 1.5 hours for the node to fully sync. You can check the progress of the node by running the following command, which should return the latest block height after syncing. 

curl --request POST \
  --url http://localhost:4201/ \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{"method":"eth_blockNumber","params":[],"id":1,"jsonrpc":"2.0"}'

For additional details on z2 and the join capability refer to:

Becoming a Validator

Under the consensus mechanism introduced in Zilliqa 2.0, nodes can stake ZIL to secure the network and promote themselves as validator nodes. In return, they receive a share of the block rewards.

While becoming a validator on the Zilliqa 2.0 mainnet will be permissionless, on the current proto-testnet you need to request the minimum required stake of 10 million ZIL in order for you to register as a validator.

To register as a validator on the Jasper proto-testnet, please complete and submit validator join form.

Once you have sufficient $ZILs you can register your node as validator.

Below is a guide on how to register a validator node for Zilliqa 2.0:

https://github.com/Zilliqa/zq2/blob/main/z2/docs/deposit.md