Full Node Build

Install pre-requisites

# update the local package list and install any available upgrades
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# install toolchain and ensure accurate time synchronization
sudo apt-get install make build-essential gcc git jq chrony -y

Install Go

Follow the instructions here to install Go.

For an Ubuntu LTS, we can use:

# find location of existing GO (if any)
which go
go version

# remove old GO if existing
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/go

# install updated GO
wget https://golang.org/dl/go1.20.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz
sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.20.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz
rm -rf go1.20.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz

Unless you want to configure in a non standard way, then set these in the .zshrc in the user's home (i.e. ~/) folder.

nano ~/.zshrc

Add the "export Pathing" rules at the bottom, and then save the file:

# add export PATHS below
export GOROOT=/usr/local/go
export GOPATH=$HOME/go
export GOBIN=$GOPATH/bin
export PATH=$PATH:$GOROOT/bin:$GOBIN

After updating your ~/.zshrc you will need to source it:

source ~/.zshrc

Build Daemon from source

# run these commands
git clone https://github.com/ChihuahuaChain/chihuahua.git
cd chihuahua
git fetch --all
git checkout v4.2.3
make install

To confirm that the installation has succeeded, you can run:

chihuahuad version --long

Configure the Node

Initialize Node

The command below will initialize the node, and generate a random 32-bit string for the node moniker. This provides increased privacy from tools like Observatory.

chihuahuad init $(openssl rand -hex 16) --chain-id chihuahua-1

Download Genesis

wget -O ~/.chihuahuad/config/genesis.json https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ChihuahuaChain/chihuahua/main/mainnet/genesis.json
mv genesis.json ~/.chihuahuad/config

This will generate the following files in ~/.chihuahuad/config/

• genesis.json

• node_key.json

• priv_validator_key.json

Set Seeds & Peers

We can add these seeds to our config.toml:

seeds="[e-mail]:1620,[e-mail]:29540"
peers="b140eb36b20f3d201936c4757d5a1dcbf03a42f1@216.238.79.138:26656,19900e1d2b10be9c6672dae7abd1827c8e1aad1e@161.97.96.253:26656,c382a9a0d4c0606d785d2c7c2673a0825f7c53b2@88.99.94.120:26656,a5dfb048e4ed5c3b7d246aea317ab302426b37a1@137.184.250.180:26656,3bad0326026ca4e29c64c8d206c90a968f38edbe@128.199.165.78:26656,89b576c3eb72a4f0c66dc0899bec7c21552ea2a5@23.88.7.73:29538,38547b7b6868f93af1664d9ab0e718949b8853ec@54.184.20.240:30758,a9640eb569620d1f7be018a9e1919b0357a18b8c@38.146.3.160:26656,7e2239a0d4a0176fe4daf7a3fecd15ac663a8eb6@144.91.126.23:26656"
sed -i.bak -e "s/^seeds *=.*/seeds = \"$seeds\"/; s/^persistent_peers *=.*/persistent_peers = \"$peers\"/" ~/.chihuahuad/config/config.toml

Update Node configs

We can use sed to update various node configuration values without having to manually edit each file - which can be a pain.

Replace the values below with your own. These commands will update the following:

• minimum_gas_prices

• pruning configs

• snapshot configs

sed -i -e "s|^minimum-gas-prices *=.*|minimum-gas-prices = \"1uhuahua\"|" $HOME/.chihuahuad/config/app.toml
sed -i -e "s|^pruning *=.*|pruning = \"custom\"|" $HOME/.chihuahuad/config/app.toml
sed -i -e "s|^pruning-keep-recent *=.*|pruning-keep-recent = \"113\"|" $HOME/.chihuahuad/config/app.toml
sed -i -e "s|^pruning-keep-every *=.*|pruning-keep-every = \"0\"|" $HOME/.chihuahuad/config/app.toml
sed -i -e "s|^pruning-interval *=.*|pruning-interval = \"17\"|" $HOME/.chihuahuad/config/app.toml
sed -i -e "s|^snapshot-interval *=.*|snapshot-interval = \"0\"|" $HOME/.chihuahuad/config/app.toml
sed -i -e "s|^snapshot-keep-recent *=.*|snapshot-keep-recent = \"2\"|" $HOME/.chihuahuad/config/app.toml

Updating node ports

We'll use a powerful tool called sed for this process. sed is a stream editor that can perform operations, like substitutions, on a text file.

We will specifically focus on updating the ports to use a standardized prefix for your chain. This ensures consistency and improves overall system organization. It will also allow you to run multiple chains on a single server.

Let's start by understanding what we're updating:

• proxy_app: This is the address used for inter-process communication between the ABCI application and the consensus engine.

• laddr: This is the address that your node listens on for incoming connections.

• pprof_laddr: This is the address for the profiling server to listen on.

• prometheus_listen_addr: This is the address for the Prometheus metrics server to listen on.

• address: These are various addresses that your node may use to listen for different types of connections.

Set Your Chain and Port Prefix

Your chain in this case is Chihuahua. For Chihuahua, we want to set the port prefix as 129. The port prefix will be used to replace the first 2 or 3 digits of the original ports.

# Set the prefix 
export PREFIX=129

Update config.toml

Next, we will update the config.toml file. For 5-digit ports, the first 3 digits will be replaced. Here is how to calculate the new port values and update the config.toml file:

PROXY_APP_PORT=$(echo 26658 | awk -v prefix=$PREFIX '{print prefix substr($0,4)}')
LADDR_PORT1=$(echo 26657 | awk -v prefix=$PREFIX '{print prefix substr($0,4)}')
LADDR_PORT2=$(echo 26656 | awk -v prefix=$PREFIX '{print prefix substr($0,4)}')
PPROF_LADDR_PORT=$(echo 26660 | awk -v prefix=$PREFIX '{print prefix substr($0,4)}')
PROMETHEUS_LISTEN_PORT=$(echo 26660 | awk -v prefix=$PREFIX '{print prefix substr($0,4)}')

sed -i.bak -e "\
s%^proxy_app = \"tcp://127.0.0.1:26658\"%proxy_app = \"tcp://127.0.0.1:$PROXY_APP_PORT\"%; \
s%^laddr = \"tcp://127.0.0.1:26657\"%laddr = \"tcp://0.0.0.0:$LADDR_PORT1\"%; \
s%^pprof_laddr = \"localhost:6060\"%pprof_laddr = \"localhost:$PPROF_LADDR_PORT\"%; \
s%^laddr = \"tcp://0.0.0.0:26656\"%laddr = \"tcp://0.0.0.0:$LADDR_PORT2\"%; \
s%^prometheus_listen_addr = \":26660\"%prometheus_listen_addr = \":$PROMETHEUS_LISTEN_PORT\"%" \
$HOME/.chihuahuad/config/config.toml

Update app.toml

For 4-digit ports, the first 2 digits will be replaced. Here is how to calculate the new port values and update the app.toml file:

ADDRESS_PORT1=$(echo 1317 | awk -v prefix=$PREFIX '{print prefix substr($0,3)}')
ADDRESS_PORT2=$(echo 8080 | awk -v prefix=$PREFIX '{print prefix substr($0,3)}')
ADDRESS_PORT3=$(echo 9090 | awk -v prefix=$PREFIX '{print prefix substr($0,3)}')
ADDRESS_PORT4=$(echo 9091 | awk -v prefix=$PREFIX '{print prefix substr($0,3)}')

sed -i.bak -e "\
s%^address = \"tcp://0.0.0.0:1317\"%address = \"tcp://0.0.0.0:$ADDRESS_PORT1\"%; \
s%^address = \":8080\"%address = \":$ADDRESS_PORT2\"%; \
s%^address = \"0.0.0.0:9090\"%address = \"0.0.0.0:$ADDRESS_PORT3\"%; \
s%^address = \"0.0.0.0:9091\"%address = \"0.0.0.0:$ADDRESS_PORT4\"%" \
$HOME/.chihuahuad/config/app.toml

Create (or restore) a local key pair

Either create a new key pair or restore an existing wallet for your validator:

# Create new keypair
chihuahuad keys add YOURKEY

# Restore existing juno wallet with mnemonic seed phrase.
# You will be prompted to enter mnemonic seed.
chihuahuad keys add YOURKEY --recover

# Query the keystore for your public address
chihuahuad keys show YOURKEY -a

After creating a new key, the key information and seed phrase will be shown. It is essential to write this seed phrase down and keep it in a safe place. The seed phrase is the only way to restore your keys.

Setup cosmovisor

Follow the Setup Cosmovisor instructions to setup cosmovisor and start the node.

Get snapshot

Stop Node and reset chain

#Stop Node
sudo systemctl stop cosmovisor

# On some tendermint chains
chihuahuad unsafe-reset-all

# On other tendermint chains
chihuahuad tendermint unsafe-reset-all --home $HOME/.chihuahuad --keep-addr-book

Download Snapshot

curl -o - -L https://snapshots.polkachu.com/snapshots/chihuahua/chihuahua_8206793.tar.lz4 | lz4 -c -d - | tar -x -C $HOME/.chihuahuad

Restart Node

sudo systemctl start cosmovisor &&  journalctl -u cosmovisor -f

Upgrade to a validator

Do not attempt to upgrade your node to a validator until the node is fully in sync as per the previous step.

To upgrade the node to a validator, you will need to submit a create-validator transaction:

chihuahuad tx staking create-validator \
  --amount 1000000uhuahua \
  --commission-max-change-rate "0.1" \
  --commission-max-rate "0.20" \
  --commission-rate "0.05" \
  --min-self-delegation "1" \
  --details "Your details here" \
  --pubkey=$(chihuahuad tendermint show-validator) \
  --moniker $MONIKER_NAME \
  --chain-id chihuahua-1 \
  --gas-prices "1uhuahua" \
  --node http://<YOURIP>:<YOURPORT> \
  --from <KEYNAME>

The above transaction is just an example. There are many more flags that can be set to customize your validator, such as your validator website, or keybase.io id, etc. To see a full list:

chihuahuad tx staking create-validator --help

Backup critical files

There are certain files that you need to back up to be able to restore your validator if, for some reason, it damaged or lost in some way. Please make a secure backup of the following files located in ~/.chihuahuad/config/:

• priv_validator_key.json

• node_key.json

It is recommended that you encrypt and backup of these files.