Set up and configure MEV-boost

Install and configure MEV-boost

Build from source

Install dependencies - Make, Git

sudo apt install make git

Install dependencies - Go (download page here) - and make sure the latest version (1.22.0) is output at the end of this command batch.

curl -LO https://go.dev/dl/go1.22.0.linux-amd64.tar.gz
echo "f6c8a87aa03b92c4b0bf3d558e28ea03006eb29db78917daec5cfb6ec1046265 go1.22.0.linux-amd64.tar.gz" sha256sum --check
sudo tar xvf go1.22.0.linux-amd64.tar.gz -C /usr/local
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin
echo "export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin"
go version

Download latest version of MEV-boost.

cd
git clone https://github.com/flashbots/mev-boost.git
cd mev-boost
git checkout tags/v1.7-alpha1

Build the executable file.

make build

Copy the executable file to the /usr/local/bin folder.

sudo cp mev-boost /usr/local/bin

Using binaries

Download latest version of MEV-boost here and run the checksum verification process to ensure that the downloaded file has not been tampered with. The checksums can be found in the checksums.txt file - open it up and copy the linux_amd64 version to use below.

cd 
curl -LO https://github.com/flashbots/mev-boost/releases/download/v1.8/mev-boost_1.8_linux_amd64.tar.gz
echo "18b8af03787a0a57557ab8f8c483fe5143d81208b28f813fd93ad256ad52e5db mev-boost_1.8_linux_amd64.tar.gz" | sha256sum --check

Each downloadable file comes with it's own checksum. Replace the actual checksum and URL of the download link in the code block above.

Make sure to choose the amd64 version. Right click on the linked text and select "copy link address" to get the URL of the download link to curl.

Expected output: Verify output of the checksum verification

mev-boost_1.8_linux_amd64.tar.gz: Ok

If checksum is verified, extract the files and move them into the (/usr/local/bin) directory for neatness and best practice. Then, clean up the duplicated copies.

tar xvf mev-boost_1.8_linux_amd64.tar.gz
sudo cp mev-boost /usr/local/bin
rm mev-boost* LICENSE README.md

Create an account (mevboost) without server access for MEV Boost to run as a background service. This restricts potential attackers to only the MEV Boost service in the unlikely event that they manage to infiltrate via a compromised client update.

sudo useradd --no-create-home --shell /bin/false mevboost

Create a systemd configuration file for the tekubeacon service to run in the background.

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

Paste the configuration parameters below into the file:

[Unit]
Description=mev-boost (Holesky)
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=mevboost
Group=mevboost
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/mev-boost \
    -holesky \
    -min-bid 0.07 \
    -relay-check \
    -relay <https://example.com> \
    -relay <https://example.com> \
    -relay <https://example.com> \
    -relay <https://example.com> 

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Once you're done, save with Ctrl+O and Enter, then exit with Ctrl+X. Understand and review your configuration summary (flags) below, and amend if needed.

MEV Boost configuration summary:

1. -holesky: Run the MEV-boost service on the Holesky testnet

2. -min-bid: Set the threshold to accept blocks from relays if they bid above a chosen value, otherwise propose a locally-built block. This sacrifices a small ~0.1% APR in exchange for much better censorship resistance, allowing you to use OFAC-compliant relays guilt-free! More information here
3. -relay-check: check relay status on startup and on the status API call

4. -relay: A chosen relay URL. Choose your preferred ones here - https://github.com/eth-educators/ethstaker-guides/blob/main/MEV-relay-list.md

Start the MEV Boost service

Reload the systemd daemon to register the changes made, start MEV Boost, and check its status to make sure its running.

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl start mevboost
sudo systemctl status mevboost.service

Expected output: The output should say MEV Boost is “active (running)”. Press CTRL-C to exit and MEV Boost will continue to run.

sudo systemctl status mevboost.service

Use the following command to check the logs for any warnings or errors:

sudo journalctl -fu mevboost -o cat | ccze -A

Expected output:

Make sure you see the method=POST path=/eth/v1/builder/validators status=200 lines in the logs and not method=GET

mev-boost-1  | time="2024-11-15T05:56:56.094Z" level=info msg="http: POST /eth/v1/builder/validators 200" duration=0.072986 method=POST path=/eth/v1/builder/validators status=200 version=v1.8.1
mev-boost-1  | time="2024-11-15T05:56:59.122Z" level=info msg="http: POST /eth/v1/builder/validators 200" duration=0.074820 method=POST path=/eth/v1/builder/validators status=200 version=v1.8.1
mev-boost-1  | time="2024-11-15T05:56:59.184Z" level=info msg="http: POST /eth/v1/builder/validators 200" duration=0.097007 method=POST path=/eth/v1/builder/validators status=200 version=v1.8.1
mev-boost-1  | time="2024-11-15T05:57:11.122Z" level=info msg="http: POST /eth/v1/builder/validators 200" duration=0.075100 method=POST path=/eth/v1/builder/validators status=200 version=v1.8.1
mev-boost-1  | time="2024-11-15T05:57:11.188Z" level=info msg="http: POST /eth/v1/builder/validators 200" duration=0.100271 method=POST path=/eth/v1/builder/validators status=200 version=v1.8.1

Press CTRL-C to exit.

If the MEV Boost service is running smoothly, we can now enable it to fire up automatically when rebooting the system.

sudo systemctl enable mevboost.service