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Validators
Setup
Overview Configure companion processes Create and backup accounts Launch companion processes Register broadcaster proxy Stake AXL tokens Health check Manual setup
Support External Chains
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Operations
Rotating mnemonics Monitoring
Troubleshoot
Start-up issues Missed too many blocks Unjail your validator Leave the network
Resources
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Learn more about Axelar
Crosschain Message Flow axlUSDC Registering external chains for validators Security Overview Interchain Transaction Duration CLI
Introduction Reference Send UST to an EVM chain Redeem UST from an EVM chain Send AXL to an EVM chain Redeem AXL from an EVM chain

Manual setup

Prerequisites

  • Ubuntu (tested on 18.04 and 20.04)
  • sudo apt-get install wget liblz4-tool aria2 jq -y

Get Binaries

Check the appropriate version for the network accordingly:

AXELARD_RELEASE=v0.34.1
TOFND_RELEASE=v0.10.1

AXELARD_RELEASE=v0.34.1
TOFND_RELEASE=v0.10.1

# verify correct versions
echo $AXELARD_RELEASE $TOFND_RELEASE

# create a temp dir for binaries
cd $HOME
mkdir binaries && cd binaries


# get axelard, tofnd binaries and rename
wget https://github.com/axelarnetwork/axelar-core/releases/download/$AXELARD_RELEASE/axelard-linux-amd64-$AXELARD_RELEASE
wget https://github.com/axelarnetwork/tofnd/releases/download/$TOFND_RELEASE/tofnd-linux-amd64-$TOFND_RELEASE
mv axelard-linux-amd64-$AXELARD_RELEASE axelard
mv tofnd-linux-amd64-$TOFND_RELEASE tofnd

# make binaries executable
chmod +x *

# move to usr bin
sudo mv * /usr/bin/

# get out of binaries directory
cd $HOME

# check versions
axelard version
tofnd --help

Generate keys

To create new keys

axelard keys add broadcaster
axelard keys add validator
tofnd -m create

To recover exsiting keys

axelard keys add broadcaster --recover
axelard keys add validator --recover
tofnd -m import
# type your desired keyring password and enter mnemonics when prompted

Your tofnd secret mnemonic is in a file do cat $HOME/.tofnd/export to check. Save this mnemonic somewhere safe and delete the file by rm $HOME/.tofnd/export.

Set environment variables

echo export CHAIN_ID=axelar-dojo-1 >> $HOME/.profile

echo export CHAIN_ID=axelar-testnet-lisbon-3 >> $HOME/.profile

echo export MONIKER=PUT_YOUR_MONIKER_HERE >> $HOME/.profile
VALIDATOR_OPERATOR_ADDRESS=`axelard keys show validator --bech val --output json | jq -r .address`
BROADCASTER_ADDRESS=`axelard keys show broadcaster --output json | jq -r .address`
echo export VALIDATOR_OPERATOR_ADDRESS=$VALIDATOR_OPERATOR_ADDRESS >> $HOME/.profile
echo export BROADCASTER_ADDRESS=$BROADCASTER_ADDRESS >> $HOME/.profile
⚠️

Protect your keyring password: The following instructions instruct you to store your keyring plaintext password in a file on disk. This instruction is safe only if you can prevent unauthorized access to the file. Use your discretion---substitute your own preferred method for securing your keyring password.

Choose a secret {KEYRING_PASSWORD} and add the following line to $HOME/.profile:

# it's recommended to manually edit the file and add it
echo export KEYRING_PASSWORD=PUT_YOUR_KEYRING_PASSWORD_HERE >> $HOME/.profile

Apply your changes

source $HOME/.profile

Configuration setup

Initialize your Axelar node, fetch configuration, genesis, seeds.

axelard init $MONIKER --chain-id $CHAIN_ID
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/axelarnetwork/axelarate-community/main/configuration/config.toml -O $HOME/.axelar/config/config.toml
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/axelarnetwork/axelarate-community/main/configuration/app.toml -O $HOME/.axelar/config/app.toml
wget https://axelar-mainnet.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/genesis.json -O $HOME/.axelar/config/genesis.json
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/axelarnetwork/axelarate-community/main/resources/mainnet/seeds.toml -O $HOME/.axelar/config/seeds.toml

# set external ip to your config.json file
sed -i.bak 's/external_address = \"\"/external_address = \"'"$(curl -4 ifconfig.co)"':26656\"/g' $HOME/.axelar/config/config.toml

axelard init $MONIKER --chain-id $CHAIN_ID
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/axelarnetwork/axelarate-community/main/configuration/config.toml -O $HOME/.axelar/config/config.toml
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/axelarnetwork/axelarate-community/main/configuration/app.toml -O $HOME/.axelar/config/app.toml
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/axelarnetwork/axelarate-community/main/resources/testnet/genesis.json -O $HOME/.axelar/config/genesis.json
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/axelarnetwork/axelarate-community/main/resources/testnet/seeds.toml -O $HOME/.axelar/config/seeds.toml

# set external ip to your config.json file
sed -i.bak 's/external_address = \"\"/external_address = \"'"$(curl -4 ifconfig.co)"':26656\"/g' $HOME/.axelar/config/config.toml

Sync From Snapshot

axelard tendermint unsafe-reset-all
URL=\`curl -L https://quicksync.io/axelar.json | jq -r '.[] |select(.file=="axelar-dojo-1-pruned")|.url'\`
echo $URL
cd $HOME/.axelar/
wget -O - $URL | lz4 -d | tar -xvf -
cd $HOME

axelard tendermint unsafe-reset-all
URL=\`curl -L https://quicksync.io/axelar.json | jq -r '.[] |select(.file=="axelartestnet-lisbon-3-pruned")|.url'\`
echo $URL
cd $HOME/.axelar/
wget -O - $URL | lz4 -d | tar -xvf -
cd $HOME

Create services

Use systemctl to set up services for axelard, tofnd, vald.

axelard

sudo tee <<EOF >/dev/null /etc/systemd/system/axelard.service
[Unit]
Description=Axelard Cosmos daemon
After=network-online.target

[Service]
User=$USER
ExecStart=/usr/bin/axelard start
Restart=always
RestartSec=3
LimitNOFILE=4096

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

cat /etc/systemd/system/axelard.service
sudo systemctl enable axelard

tofnd

sudo tee <<EOF >/dev/null /etc/systemd/system/tofnd.service
[Unit]
Description=Tofnd daemon
After=network-online.target

[Service]
User=$USER
ExecStart=/usr/bin/sh -c 'echo $KEYRING_PASSWORD | tofnd -m existing -d $HOME/.tofnd'
Restart=always
RestartSec=3
LimitNOFILE=4096

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

cat /etc/systemd/system/tofnd.service
sudo systemctl enable tofnd

vald

sudo tee <<EOF >/dev/null /etc/systemd/system/vald.service
[Unit]
Description=Vald daemon
After=network-online.target
[Service]
User=$USER
ExecStart=/usr/bin/sh -c 'echo $KEYRING_PASSWORD | /usr/bin/axelard vald-start --validator-addr $VALIDATOR_OPERATOR_ADDRESS --log_level debug --chain-id $CHAIN_ID --from broadcaster'
Restart=always
RestartSec=3
LimitNOFILE=4096

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

cat /etc/systemd/system/vald.service
sudo systemctl enable vald

Start all services

Order of operations:

  1. axelard: ensure it’s fully synced before proceeding
  2. tofnd: required for vald
  3. vald
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart axelard
sudo systemctl restart tofnd
sudo systemctl restart vald

Check logs

# change log settings to persistent if not already
sed -i 's/#Storage=auto/Storage=persistent/g' /etc/systemd/journald.conf
sudo systemctl restart systemd-journald

journalctl -u axelard.service -f -n 100
journalctl -u tofnd.service -f -n 100
journalctl -u vald.service -f -n 100

Register broadcaster proxy

📝

Note: Fund your validator and broadcaster accounts before proceeding.

axelard tx snapshot register-proxy $BROADCASTER_ADDRESS --from validator --chain-id $CHAIN_ID

Create validator

# set temporary variables for create-validator command
IDENTITY="YOUR_KEYBASE_IDENTITY" # optional
AMOUNT=PUT_AMOUNT_OF_TOKEN_YOU_WANT_TO_DELEGATE
DENOM=uaxl

axelard tx staking create-validator --yes \
 --amount $AMOUNT$DENOM \
 --moniker $MONIKER \
 --commission-rate="0.10" \
 --commission-max-rate="0.20" \
 --commission-max-change-rate="0.01" \
 --min-self-delegation="1" \
 --pubkey="$(axelard tendermint show-validator)" \
 --from validator \
 -b block \
 --identity=$IDENTITY \
 --chain-id $CHAIN_ID

Register external chains

See Support external chains.

Upgrade Process

cd $HOME
cd binaries
# put the tag/version that we are upgrading to
# set versions: the below is an example and the numbers should be replaced
# AXELARD_RELEASE=v0.17.1
# TOFND_RELEASE=v0.10.1

AXELARD_RELEASE=<GIVE_VERSION>
TOFND_RELEASE=<GIVE_VERSION>  # if we are upgrading tofnd too

echo $AXELARD_RELEASE $TOFND_RELEASE

# get axelard, tofnd binaries and rename
wget https://github.com/axelarnetwork/axelar-core/releases/download/$AXELARD_RELEASE/axelard-linux-amd64-$AXELARD_RELEASE
# if we are upgrading tofnd too
wget https://github.com/axelarnetwork/tofnd/releases/download/$TOFND_RELEASE/tofnd-linux-amd64-$TOFND_RELEASE


mv axelard-linux-amd64-$AXELARD_RELEASE axelard # if we are upgrading tofnd too
mv tofnd-linux-amd64-$TOFND_RELEASE tofnd

# make binaries executable
chmod +x *

# move to usr bin
sudo mv * /usr/bin/


# check versions
axelard version
echo $AXELARD_RELEASE
# axelard version and echo $RELEASE should have same tag/version


# check versions
tofnd --help
echo $TOFND_RELEASE
# tofnd version and echo $TOFND_RELEASE should have same tag/version

# restart services
sudo systemctl restart axelard
sudo systemctl restart tofnd # if we are upgrading tofnd too
sudo systemctl restart vald

# check logs
journalctl -u axelard.service -f -n 100
journalctl -u tofnd.service -f -n 100
journalctl -u vald.service -f -n 1000
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