How to Setup a Supernova Node

Development How To
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This guide provides a comprehensive approach to deploying various node types for the Supernova extension-chain, a Zenon EVM-compatible blockchain built on Cosmos SDK technology.

A Note on Node Types

  • Standard Node: Maintains a full copy of the blockchain and helps propagate transactions and blocks. Ideal for general participation with moderate hardware requirements.
  • Pillar Node (Validator): Validates transactions and participates in consensus to secure the network. Requires higher resources and commitment.
  • Sentry Node: Acts as a protective layer for validators by filtering network traffic and mitigating attacks. Used by validators to enhance security.
  • Archive Node: Stores the entire blockchain history without pruning. Essential for full historical data access; demands significant storage and resources.
  • Seed Node: Provides initial peer information to new nodes joining the network, facilitating their connection. Requires high uptime and reliable network availability.

System Requirements

Node Type vCPUs RAM Storage Swap Space
Pillar (Validator) Node 4+ 8GB+ 500GB+ 16GB
Sentry (Standard) Node 4 8GB 300GB+ 8GB
Archive Node 4+ 16GB+ 1TB+ 32GB
Seed Node 2 4GB 100GB+ 4GB

Recommended Operating Systems

  • Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
  • Debian (Latest Stable)

Dependencies:

  • curl, wget, jq, ufw, git, make, build-essential

Initial System Configuration

System Update and Dependency Installation

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install build-essential jq ufw git wget -y

Configure System Limits

Edit /etc/security/limits.conf to increase file descriptor limits:

*               soft    nofile          60000
*               hard    nofile          60000

Apply the new limits:

ulimit -n 60000

Firewall Configuration

sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp     # SSH
sudo ufw allow 26656/tcp  # Tendermint P2P
sudo ufw allow 26657/tcp  # Tendermint RPC
sudo ufw allow 1317/tcp   # Cosmos SDK REST API
sudo ufw allow 8545/tcp   # EVM HTTP RPC
sudo ufw allow 8546/tcp   # EVM WS RPC
sudo ufw reload

Swap Space Configuration

Swap space configuration varies by node type:

  • Archive Node: 32GB
  • xChain Pillar Node: 16GB
  • Sentry Node: 8GB
  • Seed Node: 4GB

Example Swap Setup:

# For an 8GB Sentry Node
sudo fallocate -l 8G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile
echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

Node Types and Configuration

1. Sentry (Regular) Node Setup

Binary Installation

# Choose appropriate binary based on system architecture
# For Linux ARM64
wget https://github.com/AliensZone/supernova/releases/download/v0.0.8/supernova_Linux_arm64.tar.gz
tar -xvf supernova_Linux_arm64.tar.gz

# For Linux x86_64
wget https://github.com/AliensZone/supernova/releases/download/v0.0.8/supernova_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz
tar -xvf supernova_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz

Binary Path Configuration

sudo mv bin/supernovad /usr/local/bin/
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/supernovad

Verify installation:

supernovad version

Node Initialization

# Initialize node with a moniker
supernovad init sentry_node --chain-id supernova_73405-1

Configuration Modifications

Edit configuration files in ~/.supernova/config/:

config.toml:

# P2P Configuration
pex = true
persistent_peers = ""  # Will be added when converting to Sentry
seeds = "ced855d1514b84adabe8590acd474487710ca259@167.235.79.123:26656,f5707786778283258b37b5154a520897ab4b75b5@116.203.187.234:26656"
addr_book_strict = false
db_backend = "rocksdb"

app.toml:

# Pruning Configuration
pruning = "default"

# Minimum Gas Prices
minimum-gas-prices = "0stake"

# EVM RPC Configuration
[json-rpc]
address = "0.0.0.0:8545"
ws-address = "0.0.0.0:8546"

Systemd Service Configuration

Create /etc/systemd/system/supernova.service:

[Unit]
Description=Supernova Node Service
After=network.target

[Service]
LimitNOFILE=32768
User=root
Group=root
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/supernovad start
ExecStop=/bin/kill -s SIGTERM $MAINPID
Restart=on-failure
TimeoutStopSec=120s
TimeoutStartSec=30s

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Service Management

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable supernova.service
systemctl start supernova.service

2. Converting to Sentry Node

When converting to a Sentry node for a specific pillar/validator:

config.toml modifications:

pex = true
persistent_peers = "VALIDATOR_NODE_ID@VALIDATOR_IP:26656"
private_peer_ids = "VALIDATOR_NODE_ID"
unconditional_peer_ids = "VALIDATOR_NODE_ID@VALIDATOR_IP:26656"

3. Validator Node Configuration

Additional steps for validator nodes:

  • Generate validator key
    TO BE CONTINUED…

4. Archival Node Configuration

Key differences for archival nodes:

  • Increased storage requirements
  • Different pruning configuration
  • State sync enablement

app.toml modifications:

pruning = "nothing"
snapshot-interval = 15000
snapshot-keep-recent = 2

For additional endpoint configuration please read How to Setup Caddy for RPC and state-sync on Supernova

5. Seed Node Configuration

config.toml modifications:

laddr = "tcp://0.0.0.0:26656"
external_address = "YOUR_PUBLIC_IP:26656"
seed_mode = true

Maintenance and Monitoring

  1. Regular Updates:

Build from source

cd ~/supernova
git pull
make build
sudo cp build/supernovad /usr/local/bin/
systemctl restart supernova.service

Download latest binary

# Choose appropriate binary based on system architecture
# For Linux ARM64
wget https://github.com/AliensZone/supernova/releases/download/v0.0.8/supernova_Linux_arm64.tar.gz
tar -xvf supernova_Linux_arm64.tar.gz

# For Linux x86_64
wget https://github.com/AliensZone/supernova/releases/download/v0.0.8/supernova_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz
tar -xvf supernova_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz

Move binary to default location:

sudo mv bin/supernovad /usr/local/bin/
  1. Log Monitoring
journalctl -u supernova.service -f

Network Connectivity

Seed Nodes

ced855d1514b84adabe8590acd474487710ca259@167.235.79.123:26656
f5707786778283258b37b5154a520897ab4b75b5@116.203.187.234:26656
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thx for this update, much needed

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