Run a Layer Validator

Follow the steps to become a Layer testnet validator.

• You will need a node that's fully synced and an account that has a balance (loya).

Validator Setup

1. Open up a new terminal window on your node machine and check if your address has funds:

./layerd query bank balance YOUR_ACCOUNT_NAME loya

This outputs something like:

balance:
  amount: "0"
  denom: loya

If you need testnet TRB, send us a message in the public Discord (#testing-layer channel)! Note: You will need to bridge the funds once they are received on Sepolia.

1. Retrieve Your Validator Public Key With your layer folder as the active directory, use the command:

./layerd comet show-validator

This returns your validator pubkey. Should look like this:

{"@type":"/cosmos.crypto.ed25519.PubKey","key":"FX9cKNl+QmxtLcL926P5yJqZw7YyuSX3HQAZboz3TjM="}

Copy the pubkey to your clipboard for step 4.

1. Edit the Validator Configuration File

Create (or edit) the validator.json file:

nano validator.json

• When creating your validator, be sure that you are NOT choosing an "amount" that is larger than your balance of test-net TRB.

• Keep a balance of loya available for paying gas fees if you're going to be running the data reporter.

• TRB has 6 decimals: 1 loya is 0.000001 TRB

Edit or add the following code:

{
    "pubkey": {"@type":"/cosmos.crypto.ed25519.PubKey","key":"c+EuycPpudgiyVl6guYG9oyPSImHHJz1z0Pg4ODKveo="},
    "amount": "69666420loya",
    "moniker": "yourmoniker",
    "identity": "optional identity signature (ex. UPort or Keybase)",
    "website": "validator's (optional) website",
    "security": "validator's (optional) security contact email",
    "details": "validator's (optional) details",
    "commission-rate": "0.1",
    "commission-max-rate": "0.2",
    "commission-max-change-rate": "0.01",
    "min-self-delegation": "1"
}

• Edit "pubkey" to match yours from step 4.

• Edit "amount" to be the amount of testnet TRB that you would like to stake with 6 decimals and the "loya" denom. (For example: if you want to stake 99 TRB use "amount": "99000000loya")

• Edit "moniker" with a name you choose for your validator node.

• Edit identity, website, security, and details with your identifying information. (optional)

• Edit commission-rate, commission-max-rate, commission-max-change-rate, and min-self-delegation if desired. (these can be changed later using the edit-validator command).

Note: TRB tokens are used for gas on the layer network. As a validator / reporter you will need to make transactions to send tokens, become a reporter, unjail, etc. When choosing the amount to stake, it is important to reserve some TRB for gas.

1. Create Your Validator: A few things need to happen (in order) to successfully start a layer validator. You should have two terminal windows open: a command window and a node window.

Staking on layer is limited to 5% of the total staked tokens per 12 hours. You can check the current amount that's allowed to stake here.

Run the following command to create-validator:

./layerd tx staking create-validator ./validator.json --chain-id layertest-4 --from YOUR_ACCOUNT_NAME --fees 5loya --yes

1. Restart your node, adding the --key-name flag. Head back to the terminal where you're running your node and use ctrl^c to stop it. Then use the command:

./layerd start --price-daemon-enabled=false --home ~/.layer --key-name YOUR_ACCOUNT_NAME

You should see the log quickly catch up. Are you a validator now?

1. Verify Your Validator Creation Ensure your validator was created successfully using the command replacing your_validator_address:

./layerd query staking validator YOUR_ACCOUNT_NAME

If status: 3,you are staked and validating!

If status is 1, It means that you are not bonded. This can happen If you accidentally made your "amount" in step 4 too small. Check that you are staking at least 1 TRB (1000000loya). If status is 2, It means that your validator is jailed. If this happens, check if the node process is running on your host machine.

You can unjail with steps shown in the next section.