How to set up a full node

Pre-requisite

Linux (Ubuntu Server 22.04.3 recommended)
8-cpu (ARM or x86_64), 64 GB RAM, 500 GB SSD NVME Storage

Install Full Node

Install a full node to participate in the network. The following steps will guide you through the process of setting up a full node. Refer or use the script at https://github.com/dydxprotocol/v4-chain/blob/main/protocol/scripts/create_full_node.sh (opens in a new tab) for a more automated process.

Step 1: Update System and Install Dependencies

sudo apt-get -y update
sudo apt-get install -y curl jq lz4

Step 2: Install Go

Install Go and set the environment variables. This allows cosmovisor to be installed. amd64 architecture is used in this example.

wget https://golang.org/dl/go1.22.2.linux-amd64.tar.gz
sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.22.2.linux-amd64.tar.gz
rm go1.22.2.linux-amd64.tar.gz
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin:$HOME/go/bin' >> $HOME/.bashrc
eval "$(cat $HOME/.bashrc | tail -n +10)"

Step 3: Install Cosmovisor

Cosmovisor is a process manager for Cosmos SDK-based blockchains. It allows for the automatic updating of the binary without downtime. The following command installs Cosmovisor.

go install cosmossdk.io/tools/cosmovisor/cmd/cosmovisor@v1.5.0

Step 4: Download dydxprotocold Binaries and Initialize Node

From https://github.com/dydxprotocol/v4-chain/releases/ (opens in a new tab) | Look for the protocol assets.
For example, as of 04/26/2024, this was the correct binary to use:
Download, extract, and rename the binary to dydxprotocold. Move it to a directory in your $PATH. Now, initialize the dydx home directory (create the directory first if it doesn’t exist).

CHAIN_ID=dydx-mainnet-1
NODE_NAME=mydydxfullnode
dydxprotocold init --chain-id=$CHAIN_ID $NODE_NAME
 
by default, the dydx home directory is created in $HOME/.dydxprotocol

Step 5: Create Cosmovisor Directories and Move Binaries

mkdir -p $HOME/.dydxprotocol/cosmovisor/genesis/bin
mkdir -p $HOME/.dydxprotocol/cosmovisor/upgrades
mv dydxprotocold $HOME/.dydxprotocol/cosmovisor/genesis/bin/

Step 6: Get Genesis and Update Config

curl https://dydx-rpc.lavenderfive.com/genesis | python3 -c 'import json,sys;print(json.dumps(json.load(sys.stdin)["result"]["genesis"], indent=2))' > $WORKDIR/config/genesis.json
 
# For a more updated list of seed nodes, visit https://docs.dydx.exchange/network/resources#seed-nodes
SEED_NODES=("ade4d8bc8cbe014af6ebdf3cb7b1e9ad36f412c0@seeds.polkachu.com:23856", 
"65b740ee326c9260c30af1f044e9cda63c73f7c1@seeds.kingnodes.net:23856", 
"f04a77b92d0d86725cdb2d6b7a7eb0eda8c27089@dydx-mainnet-seed.bwarelabs.com:36656",
"20e1000e88125698264454a884812746c2eb4807@seeds.lavenderfive.com:23856",
"c2c2fcb5e6e4755e06b83b499aff93e97282f8e8@tenderseed.ccvalidators.com:26401",
"a9cae4047d5c34772442322b10ef5600d8e54900@dydx-mainnet-seednode.allthatnode.com:26656",
"802607c6db8148b0c68c8a9ec1a86fd3ba606af6@64.227.38.88:26656",
"ebc272824924ea1a27ea3183dd0b9ba713494f83@dydx-mainnet-seed.autostake.com:27366"
)
 
sed -i 's/seeds = ""/seeds = "'"${SEED_NODES[*]}"'"/' $HOME/.dydxprotocol/config/config.toml

Step 7: Create Service to Start Full Node

We will create a systemd service to start the full node. This will allow the full node to start automatically on boot.

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/dydxprotocold.service > /dev/null << EOF
[Unit]
Description=osmosis node service
After=network-online.target
 
[Service]
User=$USER
ExecStart=/$HOME/go/bin/cosmovisor run start --non-validating-full-node=true
WorkingDirectory=$HOME/.dydxprotocol
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
LimitNOFILE=4096
Environment="DAEMON_HOME=$HOME/.dydxprotocol"
Environment="DAEMON_NAME=dydxprotocold"
Environment="DAEMON_ALLOW_DOWNLOAD_BINARIES=false"
Environment="DAEMON_RESTART_AFTER_UPGRADE=true"
Environment="UNSAFE_SKIP_BACKUP=true"
 
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF
 
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable dydxprotocold

Step 8: Get Snapshot

Note: the example values below align with the deployment by DYDX token holders. For alternatives, please visit the Network Resources page.

From https://bwarelabs.com/snapshots/dydx (opens in a new tab)
Download and extract (using lz4 -dc < snapshotfile.tar.lz4 | tar xf -) the snapshot contents in the dydxprotocol home directory (make sure you are in this directory before running the tar command). In this example, the home directory is $HOME/.dydxprotocol
(Alternatives): If the above is not available, there are these alternatives:

Step 9: Start Service

sudo systemctl start dydxprotocold

Check logs for the service to ensure it is running

sudo journalctl -u dydxprotocold -f

The full node is now syncing. To determine whether the full node is caught up with the chain head, please check the applicable block explorer to determine when it reaches the current block – an example block explorer is shown on https://www.mintscan.io/dydx (opens in a new tab)

Things you can do with the full node

GET CURRENT BLOCK: You can get the current block with this program https://github.com/chiwalfrm/dydxexamples/blob/main/v4block_subscribe.py (opens in a new tab)

Run it with the full node IP address and port 26657:

python3 v4block_subscribe.py ws://<IPADDRESS>:26657

Where <IPADDRESS> is the IP address of your full node. Full node usage example

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