Techne Bronze Speedrun (Launchpad)

Requirements

Obol Techne Bronze Credentials require node operators to run 50 testnet validator keys as a distributed validator cluster for 3 weeks, where Obol will fund the testnet ETH required to activate the validator keys.

Hardware (Holesky)

• CPU: 4 cores

• RAM: 16GB

• SSD: 350GB

• OS: Ubuntu 24.04

Install dependencies

Install Docker.

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh

sudo groupadd docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Exit and re-login.

exit

Generate your Obol ENR

cd

# Use docker to create an ENR. Backup the file `.charon/charon-enr-private-key`.
docker run --rm -v "$(pwd):/opt/charon" -u $(id -u):$(id -g) obolnetwork/charon:v1.1.0 create enr

You should expect to see a console output like this:

Created ENR private key: .charon/charon-enr-private-key
enr:-JG4QGQpV4qYe32QFUAbY1UyGNtNcrVMip83cvJRhw1brMslPeyELIz3q6dsZ7GblVaCjL_8FKQhF6Syg-O_kIWztimGAYHY5EvPgmlkgnY0gmlwhH8AAAGJc2VjcDI1NmsxoQKzMe_GFPpSqtnYl-mJr8uZAUtmkqccsAx7ojGmFy-FY4N0Y3CCDhqDdWRwgg4u

Save the ENR public key in a text file on your laptop. You will need to use this in the next section.

The ENR public key is denoted as enr:-JG4QGQpV4qYe32QFUAbY1UyGNtNcrVMip83cvJRhw1brMslPeyELIz3q6dsZ7GblVaCjL_8FKQhF6Syg-O_kIWztimGAYHY5EvPgmlkgnY0gmlwhH8AAAGJc2VjcDI1NmsxoQKzMe_GFPpSqtnYl-mJr8uZAUtmkqccsAx7ojGmFy-FY4N0Y3CCDhqDdWRwgg4u in the example output above.

Restarting from scratch

If you want to redo the whole process, remove the existing charon-distributed-validator-node folder before re-running the set of commands above.

cd
sudo rm -r .charon

Register your ENRs

Appoint a cluster leader among your cluster.

The cluster leader will collect the wallet addresses of all members and configure the parameters of your cluster on the Obol Launchpad.

1. Select Create a cluster with a group >> read, click through, & sign the disclaimers with your wallet

2. Choose your cluster name and size (4, 7, or 10)

3. Input the wallet address of each operator

4. Set validators field to 50 (i.e., generate 50 validator keys)

5. Select SPLIT ONLY REWARDS under Withdrawal Configuration.

   1. Set the Principal Recipient to 0x17E6F6270A101dc7687Cc9899889819EeAF8253f because we want Obol to fund our testnet validators.

   2. Input the wallet addresses and the percentage split of each operator

6. Deploy 'Split Rewards' Contract (1 transaction) >> Confirm and sign (3 transactions)

Copy the group invite link and share it with your other cluster members.

They will need to accept the cluster configuration, input their respective ENR Public Keys , and then sign a message (2 transactions) with their respective wallet addresses set during the cluster creation step.

DKG Ceremony

Once all members have accepted the cluster configuration, everyone can now proceed to the distributed key generation (DKG) phase.

Each cluster member copies the DKG command generated for them and runs it on their own machine.

Once the DKG ceremony is completed, back up the .charon folder containing the following important files:

• charon-enr-private-key

• cluster-lock.json

• cluster-definition.yml

• validator_keys/

• deposit-data.json

Then, set the following permissions.

sudo chmod +x ~/.charon
sudo chmod 666 ~/.charon
sudo chmod 644 ~/.charon/charon-enr-private-key

Set up ETH Docker

Each cluster member needs to spin up a "vanilla" validator node.

Changes to note:

• Set the Reward Address to your cluster's Splitter contract.

Edit the configuration file

Edit the .env file in the eth-docker folder.

cd 
nano ~/eth-docker/.env

• Append :lido-obol.yml in the COMPOSE_FILE line.

Example:

• Change the CL_NODE line to http://charon:3600 (from http://consensus:5052)

Example:

CTRL+O, ENTER, CTRL+X to save and exit.

Start your Obol-enabled validator node

Migrate .charon contents into ETHDocker.

cd
sudo cp -r .charon/* eth-docker/.eth
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER eth-docker/.eth/validator_keys

Start ETH Docker.

ethd up

After all your services running via Docker "warmed up" for ~5 minutes, import your validator key shards.

ethd keys import

Monitoring Charon

Print Obol's Charon logs.

ethd logs charon -f --tail 20

Other monitoring commands under "View Logs" section of the overall ETH Docker page.

Grafana Dashboards

Open up a browser webpage and enter the following URL.

http://<VM_external_IP>:3000

• Enter "admin" for both the username and password.

• Navigate to Dashboards. The 2 most common dashboards when running Obol DVTs are Charon Log Dashboard and Charon Overview

Register your cluster for funding

Cluster leader to fill up the Obol Techne Credentials registration form here.

Copy and paste the cluster-lock.json and deposit-data.json files from your node to a text editor your laptop so that you can upload them easily onto the form.

sudo cat ~/.charon/cluster-lock.json

sudo cat ~/.charon/deposit-data.json

Securing your device

Firewall Rules

sudo ufw default deny incoming
sudo ufw default allow outgoing
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp # for SSH
sudo ufw allow 30303 # for the EL
sudo ufw allow 9000 # for the CL
sudo ufw allow 3000 # for the native Grafana
sudo ufw enable

Other Security SOPs

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