launch-dill-node

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Tutorial for users
  • Requirements
  • Launch a new dill node
  • Add a validator to existing node
  • Some other useful commands
• Frequently Asked Questions
  • What to save for node recovery?
  • How to recover the dill node?

Introduction

launch-dill-node is a collection of scripts for operating the dill node, specifically including launching a new node, adding validators to the launched node, stopping the node, starting the node, viewing the validator's public key, and exiting the validator from chain.

Tutorial for users

Requirements

The dill node can run on two different operating systems.

• Ubuntu LTS 20.04+ with x86-64 CPU("adx" instruction set extension required)
• MacOS with M1/M2 CPU

Launch a new dill node

In a host with no dill node running before, follow below steps to launch a new one.

Step 1: Download and Run the Dill Node Script

Open your terminal and execute the following command to launch a new Dill node:

curl -sO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DillLabs/launch-dill-node/main/dill.sh && chmod +x dill.sh && ./dill.sh

Step 2: Generating Validator Keys

1. Choose a new or existing mnemonic:

Next, you will be prompted to generate your validator keys. You can either create a new mnemonic or use an existing one.

********** Step 2: Generating Validator Keys **********

Validator Keys are generated from a mnemonic
Please choose an option for mnemonic source [1, From a new mnemonic, 2, Use existing mnemonic] [1]:

• Choose 1 to generate a new mnemonic (ensure you save this securely).
• Choose 2 if you already have a mnemonic and wish to use it.

2. Choose the deposit token amount and enter withdrawal address:

Next, you will be asked to select the deposit token amount for staking,

Please choose an option for deposit token amount [1, 3600, 2, 36000] [1]:

• Option 1: 3600 DILL (run a light node with a light validator)
• Option 2: 36000 DILL (run a full node with a full validator)

then need to provide a withdrawal address.

Please enter your withdrawal address: <YOUR_WITHDRAWAL_ADDRESS>

**[Warning] you are setting an Eth1 address as your withdrawal address. Please ensure that you have control over this address.**

Repeat your withdrawal address for confirmation.: <YOUR_WITHDRAWAL_ADDRESS>

**[Warning] you are setting an Eth1 address as your withdrawal address. Please ensure that you have control over this address.**

You will see the following messages after successfully generated the keystore(s) and the deposit(s):

                       _______       __     __     __
                      |       \     (__)   |  |   |  |
                      |   ___  \     __    |  |   |  |
                      |  |   |  |   |  |   |  |   |  |
                      |  |   |  |   |  |   |  |   |  |
                      |  |   |  |   |  |   |  |   |  |
                      |  |___|  |   |  |   |  |   |  |
                      |        /    |  |   |  |   |  |
                      |_______/     |__|   |__|   |__|

Creating your keys.
Creating your keystores:	  [####################################]  1/1
Verifying your keystores:	  [####################################]  1/1
Verifying your deposits:	  [####################################]  1/1

Success!
Your keys can be found at: <YOUR_FOLDER_PATH>/dill/validator_keys

The generated file <YOUR_FOLDER_PATH>/dill/validator_keys/deposit_data-xxxx.json is required for staking later.

Step 3: Import keys and start dill-node

After launching successfully, you should see an output like this:

Checking if the node is up and running...
node running, congratulations 😄

A node with a validator is running now, but to become a validator on the Alps chain, you still need to perform staking. Please refer to the link https://dill.xyz/docs/RunANode/Alps#staking for details.

Add a validator to existing node

• Full node (a full validator is already running by default): you can run multiple full validators or multiple light validators on it.
• Light node (a light validator is already running by default): you can run multiple light validators on it.

Execute the following command to add a validator on the full or light node.

 <YOUR_FOLDER_PATH>/dill/2_add_validator.sh

Step 1: Generating Validator Keys

1. Choose a new or existing mnemonic:

********** Step 1: Generating Validator Keys **********

Validator Keys are generated from a mnemonic
Please choose an option for mnemonic source [1, From a new mnemonic, 2, Use existing mnemonic] [1]:

• Choose 1 to generate a new mnemonic (ensure you save this securely).
• Choose 2 if you already have a mnemonic and wish to use it.

Choosing option 1 is analogous to the process described in 'Launch a new dill node'; But if option 2 is chosen, the index (key number) needs to be entered later.

2. Choose the deposit token amount and enter withdrawal address:

Please choose an option for deposit token amount [1, 3600, 2, 36000] [1]:

• Option 1: 3600 DILL (add a light validator)
• Option 2: 36000 DILL (add a full validator)

then need to provide a withdrawal address.

Please enter your withdrawal address: <YOUR_WITHDRAWAL_ADDRESS>

**[Warning] you are setting an Eth1 address as your withdrawal address. Please ensure that you have control over this address.**

Repeat your withdrawal address for confirmation.: <YOUR_WITHDRAWAL_ADDRESS>

**[Warning] you are setting an Eth1 address as your withdrawal address. Please ensure that you have control over this address.**

If 'Use existing mnemonic' was chosen earlier, there will be the following input options.

3. Enter the index (key number) you wish to start generating more keys from:

Enter the index (key number) you wish to start generating more keys from. For example, if you've generated 4 keys in the past, you'd enter 4 here. [0]: <YOUR_INDEX>

If no additional validators have been added, except the one automatically created when launching the dill node, enter 1 here.

If n additional validators have been added using "Add a validator to existing node", enter n + 1 here.

Then the keystore(s) and the deposit(s) will be generated.

Please remember to save the mnemonic and index, as both are necessary to generate the correct validator key, which is needed to recover or migrate the dill node.

Step 2: Import keys

After importing keys successfully, you should see an output like this:

INFO accounts: Imported accounts [<YOUT_PUBLIC_KEY>], view all of them by running `accounts list`

Then the dill node will automatically detect the newly imported validator keys and run the validator.

Next, you still need to stake with the newly generated ./validator_keys/deposit_data-xxxx.json file. Please refer to the link https://dill.xyz/docs/RunANode/Alps#staking for details.

Some other useful commands

In the dill directory, there are also some useful scripts that will be used in daily operations.

• Check if the dill node is running healthily

./health_check.sh -v

• View the public key of the validators

./show_pubkey.sh

• Stop the dill node

./stop_dill_node.sh

• Start the dill node

./start_dill_node.sh

• Exit the validator(s) Use the Exit script to signal your intentions to permanently stop your duties as a validator.

./exit_validator.sh

Frequently Asked Questions

What to save for node recovery?

In case of unexpected events like data loss or machine damage, the node must be recovered on the original or a new machine. For security, ensure you save the following items in advance:

• Single Validator: Save the mnemonic and the deposit token amount. (Important: Losing these means losing access to your validator!)
• Multiple Validators: Save all mnemonics, the indices (key numbers) of validator keys, and the deposit token amounts. (Important: Ensure all details are backed up securely!)

How to recover the dill node?

Then whole recovery steps are as below:

1. Move the existing dill directory and terminate the process:

[ -d dill ] && mv dill dill-$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S)
ps aux | grep -i dill | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}' | xargs -r kill

2. Launch a new dill node

Rerun this script

curl -sO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DillLabs/launch-dill-node/main/dill.sh && chmod +x dill.sh && ./dill.sh

Choose [2, Use existing mnemonic]

Validator Keys are generated from a mnemonic
Please choose an option for mnemonic source [1, From a new mnemonic, 2, Use existing mnemonic] [1]:2

Choose the same option for deposit token amount as when launching the original node.

Please choose an option for deposit token amount [1, 3600, 2, 36000] [1]:

3. Add validator(s) to the new node (if multiple validators existed)

If multiple validators were running on the original dill node, in addition to the default validator when launching a new node, the remaining validators need to be added one by one to the new node.

Run the below script, and complete

 <YOUR_FOLDER_PATH>/dill/2_add_validator.sh

• Choose existing mnemonic

********** Step 1: Generating Validator Keys **********

Validator Keys are generated from a mnemonic
Please choose an option for mnemonic source [1, From a new mnemonic, 2, Use existing mnemonic] [1]:2

• Choose the deposit token amount and enter withdrawal address

The option for deposit token amount entered here needs to be the same as the one chosen when adding the same validator on the original node.

Please choose an option for deposit token amount [1, 3600, 2, 36000] [1]:

Then provide a withdrawal address, which can be the same or different from the one used previously.

• Enter the index (key number) you wish to start generating more keys from:

The index (key number) needs to be the same as you set on the original dill node.

Enter the index (key number) you wish to start generating more keys from. For example, if you've generated 4 keys in the past, you'd enter 4 here. [0]: <YOUR_INDEX>