To understand what we will be going over in this documentation. We will first go over the basic concepts.
Full Node:
A full node, also known as a network node or validating node, is a type of cryptocurrency node that maintains a complete copy of the blockchain ledger.
It independently validates and verifies all transactions and blocks according to the consensus rules of the network.
Full nodes contribute to the decentralization and security of the network by independently checking the validity of transactions.
Getting Started
Basic checklist or skills you as an individual will need to run the Read Only Node
Admin Skillset:
Being patient and reading the documentation or guide fully
Knowledge on how to SSH into a server
Knowledge on how to grant yourself elevated rights (Superuser), by using sudo -i
Knowledge of using installing and using screen or tmux on Ubuntu
Adding the X1 TestNet RPC into Metamask by going to https://explorer.x1-testnet.xen.network/. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click "Add X1 Blockchain ᵀᴹ Testnet". Follow the prompts to add X1 into your Metamask and switch over to the X1 Blockchain
Optional, but recommended, create a new wallet address in Metamask to be used as your X1 Wallet
Visiting Jack Levin's (X1's Founder) tweet and signing up as a validator also including the wallet you created above
Join the telegram group X1 Validator Knowledge - Will have to receive an invitation from Jack
Between being in the Telegram group and filling out the form. You should have received 100k test XN (REMEMBER THIS IS THE SAME WALLET YOU CREATED ABOVE)
Hardware Recommendation:
Local Server or Dedicated host DO NOT USE A VPS
100% uptime High Speed Broadband Connection
8 Core CPU (When X1 Verification Votes are enabled, 16 would be the new minimum)
64 GB of RAM
2 TB NVME Storage Drive
DO NOT USE A VPS
Installing the Validator Node
Log into your Server via SSH, or if this is a Local Machine, open Terminal
Elevate your rights to Superuser by typing sudo -i
Hit enter
Type in your password
Hit enter
Run tmux or alternatively can use screen (I personally prefer tmux). This will allow you to close the node out after you are done setting it up and will continue to run in the background
Run the below code snippet line by line. After each line, hit enter to have the command accepted. Note lines starting with # are explanations and don't need to be pasted in
# elevate user account to Superuser
sudo -i
# update and upgrade any packages on your system that were outstanding
apt update && apt upgrade
# install dependencies (ex: ubuntu)
apt install -y golang wget git make
# clone and build the X1 binary
git clone --branch x1 https://github.com/FairCrypto/go-x1
# navigate to the folder where you installed the above
cd go-x1
make x1
# build your Testnet Validator
cp build/x1 /usr/local/bin
Configuring the Validator Account - Part 1
# Account creation
x1 validator newCreate a password you can remember!!!
Whilst remembering your password, make a note of your public key and the path
Short video of the commands done up until now
Configuring the Validator Account - Part 2
Go to the SFC Contract on the Explorer
Connect your wallet by clicking "Connect Wallet" ensure it's the same wallet you created above. And the same wallet address you gave to Jack to receive the test XN
Enter the same Validator Public Key you made note of above on #4 "createValidator" in the pubkey(bytes) field
Enter the amount of test XN you received above from Jack in the "value(XN)" field.
Click write and confirm like normal in MetaMask
Validate you are registered by going to the Staking page on X1 Testnet site
Look for your wallet address under the "Address" column and Remember you Validator ID under the ID column - You'll need that shortly
Starting you Validator Node
After you installed the Validator Node on your server. Next you will need to go through a few more steps to be up and running.
To start your validator there is a format you need to follow. Also lets pretend for this example my Validator ID is 123 and my Public Key was 0x321. This is the format you need to follow to start your validator.
Back in your terminal enter
./build/x1 --testnet --validator.id 123 --validator.pubkey 0x321 --xenblocks-endpoint ws://xenblocks.io:6668 --gcmode full --syncmode snapHit enter
There is a startup period of about 30 minutes until the Validator is fully running. Take a break and come back. You can tell if it's running or booting up by seeing the reply on the terminal "New event paused" or something very close to that. When it is up and running you will see it replying "New Blocks" etc without any pause.
Also you can go back to X1 explorer, click on your address and you should see yourself as Yes for both active and Online under your validator detail
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