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Join testnet - Manual setup

This page will walk you through the manual installation of the node and joining the network.

Note that it does not include the "Cosmovisor" tool, hence once you install the first genesis binary, you will need to incrementally upgrade your node, as described in upgrades.

Prerequisites​

  1. Verify hardware requirements are met
  2. Install package dependencies
    • Note: You may need to run as sudo
    • Required packages installation
      ### Packages installations
      sudo apt update # In case of permissions error, try running with sudo
      sudo apt install -y unzip logrotate git jq sed wget curl coreutils systemd
      # Create the temp dir for the installation
      temp_folder=$(mktemp -d) && cd $temp_folder
    • Go installation
      ### Configurations
      go_package_url="https://go.dev/dl/go1.20.5.linux-amd64.tar.gz"
      go_package_file_name=${go_package_url##*\/}
      # Download GO
      wget -q $go_package_url
      # Unpack the GO installation file
      sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf $go_package_file_name
      # Environment adjustments
      echo "export PATH=\$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin" >>~/.profile
      echo "export PATH=\$PATH:\$(go env GOPATH)/bin" >>~/.profile
      source ~/.profile
    • Installation verifications
      1. You can verify the installed go version by running: go version
      2. The command go env GOPATH should include $HOME/go If not, then, export GOPATH=$HOME/go
      3. PATH should include $HOME/go/bin To verify PATH, run echo $PATH

1. Set up a local node​

Download app configurations​

  • Download setup configuration Download the configuration files needed for the installation
    # Download the installation setup configuration
    git clone https://github.com/lavanet/lava-config.git
    cd lava-config/testnet-2
    # Read the configuration from the file
    # Note: you can take a look at the config file and verify configurations
    source setup_config/setup_config.sh
  • Set app configurations Copy lavad default config files to config Lava config folder
    echo "Lava config file path: $lava_config_folder"
    mkdir -p $lavad_home_folder
    mkdir -p $lava_config_folder
    cp default_lavad_config_files/* $lava_config_folder

Set the genesis file​

  • Set the genesis JSON file in the configuration folder
    # Copy the genesis.json file to the Lava config folder
    cp genesis_json/genesis.json $lava_config_folder/genesis.json

2. Join the Lava Testnet​

Copy the genesis binary​

  • Set the lavad binary location and copy the genesis binary to it

    # Set and create the lavad binary path
    lavad_binary_path="$HOME/go/bin/"
    mkdir -p $lavad_binary_path
    # Download the genesis binary to the lava path
    wget -O ./lavad "https://github.com/lavanet/lava/releases/download/v0.21.1.2/lavad-v0.21.1.2-linux-amd64"
    chmod +x lavad
    # Lavad should now be accessible from PATH, to verify, try running
    cp lavad /usr/local/bin
    # In case it is not accessible, make sure $lavad_binary_path is part of PATH (you can refer to the "Go installation" section)
    lavad --help # Make sure you can see the lavad binary help printed out

Start running the node using the genesis binary​

  • Create a systemd service to run the Lava node

    # Create systemd unit file with logrotate
    echo "[Unit]
    Description=Lava Node
    After=network-online.target
    [Service]
    User=$USER
    ExecStart=$(which lavad) start --home=$lavad_home_folder --p2p.seeds $seed_node
    Restart=always
    RestartSec=180
    LimitNOFILE=infinity
    LimitNPROC=infinity
    [Install]
    WantedBy=multi-user.target" >lavad.service
    sudo mv lavad.service /lib/systemd/system/lavad.service

Download the latest Lava data snapshot (optional)​

Coming soon

Service start and validation​

  • Configure the lavad service to run on boot, and start it

    # Enable the lavad service so that it will start automatically when the system boots
    sudo systemctl daemon-reload
    sudo systemctl enable lavad.service
    sudo systemctl restart systemd-journald
    sudo systemctl start lavad

  • Check the state of the lavad service

    sudo systemctl status lavad
    # To view the service logs
    sudo journalctl -u lavad -f

3. Upgrades​

Lava blockchain upgrades requires you to update lavad. This guide covers the manual steps for doing so, assuming you do not use Cosmovisor.

How to know there's an upgrade?​

Once you have joined the Lava testnet, and your node has started syncing, you may have noticed an error message such as:

panic: UPGRADE "XYZ" NEEDED at height: 12345

This message specifies that it was agreed to upgrade to a new version at a certain height of the network. Note: When using a cosmovisor setup, the upgrade is being taken care of automatically for you.

This situation requires a different binary (lavad) to work with, the process is as specified below:

  1. You have joined the network using the genesis binary
  2. The node has started to sync
  3. An error of a needed upgrade 👈 You are here
  4. Manually upgrade the node to work with the new binary
  5. Node continues to sync with the new binary

Upgrades list history​

Below, you can find tracking of the required upgrade for block height. Versions are tracked in Lava git (build from source or use the release page).

Version nameBlock height
v0.21.1.2340778
v0.22.0396595
v0.23.5435889

Steps for upgrading your node​

  1. Set up the configurations required for the process
# Upgrade configurations
temp_folder=$(mktemp -d) && cd $temp_folder
required_upgrade_name="v0.21.1.2" # CHANGE THIS
upgrade_binary_url="https://github.com/lavanet/lava/releases/download/$required_upgrade_name/lavad-$required_upgrade_name-linux-amd64"
  1. Kill all current lavad processes
source ~/.profile
# If using lavad as a service, run
sudo systemctl stop lavad
  1. Download the binary and replace the current lavad
# Download the binary and replace it with the current one
wget "$upgrade_binary_url" -q -O $temp_folder/lavad
chmod +x $temp_folder/lavad

# Replace the current lava binary with the upgraded binary
sudo cp $temp_folder/lavad $(which lavad)
  1. Run the lava node
# Re-start the stopped lavad service
sudo systemctl start lavad
  1. Verify the node continues to sync from the latest block height
# Check if the node is currently in the process of catching up
lavad status | jq .SyncInfo.catching_up
# Check the lavad process logs
sudo journalctl -u lavad -f

Welcome to Lava Testnet 🌋​

Joined Testnet? Be a validator!

You are now running a Node in the Lava network 🎉🥳!

Congrats, happy to have you here 😻 Celebrate it with us on Discord.

When you're ready, start putting the node to use as a validator:

🧑‍⚖️
Power as a Validator
Validate blocks, secure the network, earn rewards