native

Native binaries

This document describes:

• prerequisites for Mezo Validator Kit,
• how Mezo Validator Kit for native binaries works,
• deployment process for the validator.

Prerequisites

Native binaries installation is tested on the following operating systems:

• Ubuntu 24 LTS and higher (x86_64 arch)
• Debian 13 Trixie and higher (x86_64 arch)

Important

If you are planning to install on older system versions or other distributions, it's not guaranteed it will work.

Before setup, make sure:

• You have v-kit.sh and the right *.env file on your machine.
• You can run the setup script as root or using sudo.

Setup

Important

The following instruction uses mainnet environment as an example. For testnet, follow the same steps but use testnet.env (from the testnet.env.example template) as your configuration file and point it using the --envfile flag while running the v-kit.sh script.

1. Prepare environment file

Copy the mainnet.env.example and create your own file mainnet.env.

For the validator to be successfully deployed, it's necessary to fill the environment file.

1. Edit the following variables in mainnet.env:

• MEZOD_MONIKER - a human-readable name for the validator (Example: my-lovely-validator)
• MEZOD_KEYRING_NAME - a human-readable name for the mezod keyring (Example: my-lovely-keyring)
• MEZOD_KEYRING_PASSWORD - password for the keyring (to generate best possible password, you can use openssl rand -hex 32 command)
• MEZOD_KEYRING_MNEMONIC - mnemonic for keyring (the best option is to generate it using v-kit.sh)
• MEZOD_ETHEREUM_SIDECAR_SERVER_ETHEREUM_NODE_ADDRESS - address for the Ethereum node (required for the sidecar to run). The URL must be WebSocket, i.e. start with wss:// (recommended) or ws://.
• MEZOD_PUBLIC_IP - public IP address of the validator
• MEZOD_DOWNLOAD_LINK - link to a public repository hosting a tar.gz file with mezo binary
• MEZOD_PORT_P2P - the port for the P2P connection. Default is 26656
• CONNECT_VERSION - version for the connect sidecar
• CONNECT_DOWNLOAD_SCRIPT - link (or path) for the connect download script

Note

You can use your custom connect installation script (example for that is install_skip.sh). This one is customized to set a connect version to be installed (default installation script always installs binary with latest tag on it).

2. Prepare installation script to run

Before running v-kit.sh, make sure it can be executed by your shell:

chmod +x v-kit.sh

3. Generate keyring mnemonic

./v-kit.sh mnemonic

Output mnemonic of this command should be written to the environment file as MEZOD_KEYRING_MNEMONIC variable.

Sample output:

------------------------------------------------
Reading configuration from environment files
------------------------------------------------

Generating mnemonic...
Save it into your environment file under the variable MEZOD_KEYRING_MNEMONIC

---BEGIN MNEMONIC---
mention maid fashion vibrant nuclear humble welcome screen saddle beauty mango half actress bicycle thank crime shrug pizza car palace silk save credit man
---END MNEMONIC---

Removing temporary mezod binary...

In this case, you should copy mention maid fashion vibrant nuclear humble welcome screen saddle beauty mango half actress bicycle thank crime shrug pizza car palace silk save credit man to the environment file as instructed previously.

4. Run the script (setup validator)

Before running: acknowledge your options

Deployment script has the following options:

Usage: ./v-kit.sh

        [stop <opt>]
                stop chosen mezo service (opts: mezo|ethereum-sidecar|connect-sidecar)

        [start <opt>]
                start chosen mezo service (opts: mezo|ethereum-sidecar|connect-sidecar)

        [restart <opt>]
                restart chosen mezo service (opts: mezo|ethereum-sidecar|connect-sidecar)

        [logs <opt>]
                show logs for  chosen mezo service (opts: mezo|ethereum-sidecar|connect-sidecar)

        [mnemonic]
                generate keyring mnemonic (this is required to run validator kit!)

        [-b/--backup]
                backup mezo home dir to /var/mezod-backups

        [-c/--cleanup]
                clean up the installation
                WARNING: this option removes whole Mezo directory (/var/mezod) INCLUDING PRIVATE KEYS

        [--health]
                check health of mezo systemd services

        [-s/--show-variables]
                output variables read from env files

        [-v/--validator-info]
                show validator info

        [-e/--envfile <arg>]
                set file with environment variables for setup script

        [-h/--help]
                show this prompt

To run full validator setup, run:

with sudo:

sudo ./v-kit.sh

or as root:

./v-kit.sh

Important

If you are using an environment file other than mainnet.env make sure to set --envfile flag.

./v-kit.sh --envfile <your_custom_envfile>

Other options

Backup mezo home directory

Backup creates a new folder using the name of mezo home dir suffixed by -backups (example: /var/mezod-backups when home dir is /var/mezod). After that it zips the whole home dir to the created folder.

./v-kit.sh -b

./v-kit.sh --backup

Clean up the mezo installation

Warning

This option removes whole Mezo directory (/var/mezod) INCLUDING PRIVATE KEYS. It's highly recommended to backup the home dir before cleanup.

./v-kit.sh -c

./v-kit.sh --cleanup

Check health of mezo systemd services

./v-kit.sh --health

Verbose printing with variables

This option views all env variables read by the script and activates shell flag that prints all executed commands and their results (set -x).

./v-kit.sh -s

./v-kit.sh --show-variables

Start/Stop/Status/Logs

You can perform basic administrative actions using the script:

./v-kit.sh <start/stop/status/logs> <service>

Example:

./v-kit.sh logs mezo