Lodestar

Overview

Lodestar is a Typescript implementation of the official Ethereum specification by the ChainSafe.io team. In addition to the beacon chain client, the team is also working on 22 packages and libraries. A complete list can be found here. Finally, the Lodestar team is leading in light client research and development and has received funding from the EF and Moloch DAO for this purpose.

Official Links

Subject	Links
Releases	https://github.com/ChainSafe/lodestar/releases
Documentation	https://chainsafe.github.io/lodestar
Website	https://lodestar.chainsafe.io

1. Initial configuration

Create a service user for the consensus service, create data directory and assign ownership.

sudo adduser --system --no-create-home --group consensus
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/lodestar
sudo chown -R consensus:consensus /var/lib/lodestar

Install dependencies.

sudo apt-get install gcc g++ make git curl ccze -y

2. Install Binaries

• Downloading binaries is often faster and more convenient.

• Building from source code can offer better compatibility and is more aligned with the spirit of FOSS (free open source software).

Option 1 - Download binaries

Run the following to automatically download the latest linux release, un-tar and cleanup.

RELEASE_URL="https://api.github.com/repos/ChainSafe/lodestar/releases/latest"
LATEST_TAG="$(curl -s $RELEASE_URL | jq -r ".tag_name")"
BINARIES_URL="https://github.com/ChainSafe/lodestar/releases/download/${LATEST_TAG}/lodestar-${LATEST_TAG}-linux-amd64.tar.gz"
	
echo Downloading URL: $BINARIES_URL

cd $HOME
# Download
wget -O lodestar.tar.gz $BINARIES_URL
# Untar
tar -xzvf lodestar.tar.gz -C $HOME
# Cleanup
rm lodestar.tar.gz

Install the binaries.

sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/bin/lodestar
sudo mv $HOME/lodestar /usr/local/bin/lodestar

Option 2 - Build from source code

Install yarn.

curl -sS https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian/pubkey.gpg | sudo apt-key add -
echo "deb https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian/ stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yarn.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install yarn -y

Confirm yarn is installed properly.

yarn --version
# Should output version >= 1.22.19

Install nodejs.

#Download and import the Nodesource GPG key
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg
sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/gpgkey/nodesource-repo.gpg.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/nodesource.gpg

#Create deb repository
NODE_MAJOR=20
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/nodesource.gpg] https://deb.nodesource.com/node_$NODE_MAJOR.x nodistro main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nodesource.list

#Run Update and Install
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nodejs -y

Install and build Lodestar.

mkdir -p ~/git
cd ~/git
git clone -b stable https://github.com/chainsafe/lodestar.git
cd lodestar
yarn install
yarn run build

Verify Lodestar was installed properly by displaying the version.

./lodestar --version

Sample output of a compatible version.

🌟 Lodestar: TypeScript Implementation of the Ethereum Consensus Beacon Chain.
  * Version: v1.8.0/stable/a4b29cf
  * by ChainSafe Systems, 2018-2022

Install the binaries.

sudo cp -a $HOME/git/lodestar /usr/local/bin/lodestar

3. Setup and configure systemd

Create a systemd unit file to define your consensus.service configuration.

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

Paste the following configuration into the file.

[Unit]
Description=Lodestar Consensus Layer Client service for Mainnet
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target
Documentation=https://www.nodebridgeafrica.com

[Service]
Type=simple
User=consensus
Group=consensus
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=3
KillSignal=SIGINT
TimeoutStopSec=900
WorkingDirectory=/usr/local/bin/lodestar
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/lodestar/lodestar beacon \
  --dataDir /var/lib/lodestar \
  --network mainnet \
  --rest.port 5052 \
  --port 9000 \
  --targetPeers 100 \
  --metrics.port 8008 \
  --metrics true \
  --checkpointSyncUrl https://beaconstate.info \
  --jwt-secret /secrets/jwtsecret \
  --execution.urls http://127.0.0.1:8551 \
  --suggestedFeeRecipient <0x_CHANGE_THIS_TO_MY_ETH_FEE_RECIPIENT_ADDRESS>

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

• Replace**<0x_CHANGE_THIS_TO_MY_ETH_FEE_RECIPIENT_ADDRESS>** with your own Ethereum address that you control. Tips are sent to this address and are immediately spendable.

• Not staking? If you only want a full node, delete the whole line beginning with

--suggestedFeeRecipient

To exit and save, press Ctrl + X, then Y, then Enter.

Run the following to enable auto-start at boot time.

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable consensus

Finally, start your consensus layer client and check it's status.

sudo systemctl start consensus
sudo systemctl status consensus

Press Ctrl + C to exit the status.

4. Helpful consensus client commands

View Logs

sudo journalctl -fu consensus | ccze

Example of Synced Lodestar Consensus Client Logs

Mar-19 04:09:49.000    info: Synced - slot: 3338 - head: 3355 0x5abb_ac30 - execution: valid(0x1a3c_2ca5) - finalized: 0xfa22_1142:3421 - peers: 25
Mar-19 04:09:52.000    info: Synced - slot: 3339 - head: 3356 0xcd2a_8b32 - execution: valid(0xab34_fa32) - finalized: 0xfa22_1142:3421 - peers: 25
Mar-19 04:09:04.000    info: Synced - slot: 3340 - head: 3357 0xff1a_f12a - execution: valid(0xfaf1_b35f) - finalized: 0xfa22_1142:3421 - peers: 25

Stop

sudo systemctl stop consensus

Start

sudo systemctl start consensus

View Status

sudo systemctl status consensus

Reset Database

Common reasons to reset the database can include:

• To reduce disk space usage

• To recover from a corrupted database due to power outage or hardware failure

• To upgrade to a new storage format

sudo systemctl stop consensus
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/lodestar/chain-db
sudo systemctl restart consensus

With checkpoint sync enabled, time to re-sync the consensus client should take only a minute or two.

Now that your consensus client is configured and started, you have a full node.

Proceed to the next step on setting up your validator client, which turns a full node into a staking node.

If you wanted to setup a full node, not a staking node, stop here! Congrats on running your own full node! 🎉