Quickstart Guide

This page contains step-by-step instructions for launching a Canto validator node.

Once you've set up your node, join the Canto Network Validator Announcements channel on Telegram to stay up-to-date with chain upgrades and other governance proposals.

Hardware Requirements

Minimum: 16GB RAM, 100GB NVME SSD, 3.2 GHz x 4 CPU

Recommended: 32GB RAM, 500GB NVME SSD, 4.2 GHz x 6 CPU

Operating System: Linux (x86_64 or amd64) e.g. Ubuntu or Arch Linux

1. Install Dependencies

Install dependencies (Ubuntu):

# Synchronize package index
sudo apt-get update

# Install packages
sudo snap install go --classic
sudo apt-get install git
sudo apt-get install gcc
sudo apt-get install make

2. Install cantod

Clone the official repo and install the current binary:

git clone https://github.com/Canto-Network/Canto.git
cd Canto
git checkout v7.0.0
make install
sudo mv $HOME/go/bin/cantod /usr/bin/

Generate and store keys:

cantod keys add <key_name>

To recover keys from an existing mnemonic, use the --recover flag.

3. Initialize Validator

Initialize the node and download the genesis file:

cantod init <MONIKER> --chain-id canto_7700-1
cd ~/.cantod/config
rm genesis.json
wget https://github.com/Canto-Network/Canto/raw/genesis/Networks/Mainnet/genesis.json

Replace <moniker> with whatever you'd like to name your validator.

4. Edit Config

# Add seed peer to config.toml
sed -i 's/seeds = ""/seeds = "[email protected]:15556"/g' $HOME/.cantod/config/config.toml

# Set minimum gas price in app.toml
sed -i 's/minimum-gas-prices = "0acanto"/minimum-gas-prices = "0.0001acanto"/g' $HOME/.cantod/config/app.toml

5. Create systemd Service

Create the systemd service file:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/cantod.service

Copy and paste the following configuration and save:

[Unit]
Description=Canto Node
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=root
WorkingDirectory=/root/
ExecStart=/usr/bin/cantod start --trace --log_level info --json-rpc.api eth,txpool,personal,net,debug,web3 --api.enable
Restart=on-failure
StartLimitInterval=0
RestartSec=3
LimitNOFILE=65535
LimitMEMLOCK=209715200

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

If using a non-root user, set the User and WorkingDirectory parameters accordingly, e.g.:

User=alice
WorkingDirectory=/home/alice/

6. Start Node

# Reload service files
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

# Create the symlink
sudo systemctl enable cantod.service

# Start the node
sudo systemctl start cantod

# Show logs
journalctl -u cantod -f

You should then get several lines of log files, which may include an INVALIDARGUMENT error causing the service to exit. This is expected; Ctrl + C out and follow the next steps.

7. Sync Node

Unless you wish to run an archive node, you should sync your node to the current block using manual snapshots or state-sync snapshots.

To use state-sync:

# Set vars
SNAP_RPC="https://canto-rpc.polkachu.com:443"
LATEST_HEIGHT=$(curl -s $SNAP_RPC/block | jq -r .result.block.header.height)
BLOCK_HEIGHT=$((LATEST_HEIGHT - 2000))
TRUST_HASH=$(curl -s "$SNAP_RPC/block?height=$BLOCK_HEIGHT" | jq -r .result.block_id.hash)
echo $LATEST_HEIGHT $BLOCK_HEIGHT $TRUST_HASH

# Stop node
sudo systemctl stop cantod

# Reset cantod
cantod tendermint unsafe-reset-all --home $CANTO_HOME --keep-addr-book

# Add state-sync settings
sed -i -E "s|^(enable[[:space:]]+=[[:space:]]+).*$|\1true| ; \
s|^(rpc_servers[[:space:]]+=[[:space:]]+).*$|\1\"$SNAP_RPC,$SNAP_RPC\"| ; \
s|^(trust_height[[:space:]]+=[[:space:]]+).*$|\1$BLOCK_HEIGHT| ; \
s|^(trust_hash[[:space:]]+=[[:space:]]+).*$|\1\"$TRUST_HASH\"|" $HOME/.cantod/config/config.toml

# Restart
sudo systemctl start cantod

8. Create Validator Transaction

Modify the following items below, removing the <>

• <KEY_NAME> should be the same as <key_name> when you followed the steps above in creating or restoring your key.

• <VALIDATOR_NAME> is whatever you'd like to name your node

• <DESCRIPTION> is whatever you'd like in the description field for your node

• <SECURITY_CONTACT_EMAIL> is the email you want to use in the event of a security incident

• <YOUR_WEBSITE> the website you want associated with your node

• <TOKEN_DELEGATION> is the amount of tokens staked by your node (minimum 1acanto)

cantod tx staking create-validator \
--from <KEY_NAME> \
--chain-id canto_7700-1 \
--moniker="<VALIDATOR_NAME>" \
--commission-max-change-rate=0.01 \
--commission-max-rate=1.0 \
--commission-rate=0.05 \
--details="<DESCRIPTION>" \
--security-contact="<SECURITY_CONTACT_EMAIL>" \
--website="<YOUR_WEBSITE>" \
--pubkey $(cantod tendermint show-validator) \
--min-self-delegation="1" \
--amount <TOKEN_DELEGATION>acanto \
--fees 30000000000000000acanto \
--gas 300000

Your validator wallet must contain a non-zero amount of native CANTO in order to send the validator transaction. To get some, follow these steps:

1. Run cantod debug addr $(cantod keys show <key_name> -a) to see your validator's Bech32 and 0x addresses.

2. Send funds from a Canto EVM wallet to the 0x address shown

3. Alternatively, ask a validator who already has native CANTO to send funds to the Bech32 Acc address.

9. Update Binary

Once your validating node is up-and-running, join the Canto Network Validator Announcements channel on Telegram to stay up-to-date with chain upgrades and other governance proposals.

In case of a binary upgrade, you will need to re-fetch the Canto repository and install the new binary before restarting your node:

git pull

git checkout v7.0.0
make install

# Don't forget to move the installed binary to your path
sudo mv $HOME/go/bin/cantod /usr/bin/

# Restart
sudo systemctl stop cantod.service
sudo systemctl start cantod.service