# Validator Operator Complete guide for running a Validator on NCN Network. *** ## Overview Validators participate in the consensus mechanism by: * Validating preprocessing requests * Validating completion results * Signing consensus messages * Maintaining network integrity **Earnings**: Share of \~5% validator fee per inference *** ## Requirements ### Hardware | Resource | Minimum | Recommended | | -------- | --------------------- | ----------- | | CPU | 2 cores | 4 cores | | RAM | 4 GB | 8 GB | | Storage | 50 GB SSD | 100 GB SSD | | Network | 100 Mbps, low latency | 1 Gbps | ### Capital * Minimum stake (configurable, check network) * Gas for registration transactions ### Network * Stable, low-latency connection * P2P port (8828) accessible *** ## Setup ### 1. Install Dependencies ```bash # Update system sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y # Install build tools sudo apt install -y build-essential pkg-config libssl-dev git # Install Rust curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh source $HOME/.cargo/env ``` ### 2. Build Registry Node ```bash # Clone repository git clone https://github.com/neurochainai/ncn-network-v2-rs.git cd ncn-network-v2-rs # Build release cargo build --release -p p2p_registry_node # Copy binary sudo cp target/release/p2p_registry_node /usr/local/bin/ ``` ### 3. Generate Validator Key ```bash # Generate new wallet for validation cast wallet new # Output: # Address: 0x... # Private Key: 0x... # IMPORTANT: Save this key securely! ``` ### 4. Stake Tokens (On-Chain) ```bash # Approve tokens for staking cast send $TOKEN_ADDRESS \ "approve(address,uint256)" \ $VALIDATOR_REGISTRY_ADDRESS \ $STAKE_AMOUNT \ --private-key $YOUR_KEY \ --rpc-url $RPC_URL # Register as validator cast send $VALIDATOR_REGISTRY_ADDRESS \ "registerValidator(uint256)" \ $STAKE_AMOUNT \ --private-key $YOUR_KEY \ --rpc-url $RPC_URL ``` ### 5. Configure Validator Create `/etc/ncn/validator.env`: ```bash # Validator Identity VALIDATOR_PRIVATE_KEY=0x... VALIDATOR_ADDRESS=0x... # Network Addresses GRPC_LISTEN_ADDR=0.0.0.0:50050 P2P_LISTEN_ADDR=/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/8828 # Bootstrap Nodes (get from network) BOOTSTRAP_NODES=/ip4/x.x.x.x/tcp/8828/p2p/12D3KooW... # Blockchain Configuration FORKNET_RPC_URL=https://testnet-rpc-1.forknet.io CHAIN_ID=828 VALIDATOR_REGISTRY_CONTRACT=0x4F11D4cBE08A5aBa052C368C8477412af63a56f3 # Sync Settings VALIDATOR_SYNC_ENABLED=true VALIDATOR_SYNC_INTERVAL=60 # Consensus Settings MIN_VALIDATORS_FOR_CONSENSUS=3 # Logging RUST_LOG=info ``` ### 6. Create Systemd Service Create `/etc/systemd/system/ncn-validator.service`: ```ini [Unit] Description=NCN Validator (P2P Registry) Node After=network.target [Service] Type=simple User=ncn EnvironmentFile=/etc/ncn/validator.env ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/p2p_registry_node \ --grpc-listen-addr ${GRPC_LISTEN_ADDR} \ --p2p-listen-addr ${P2P_LISTEN_ADDR} Restart=always RestartSec=10 [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target ``` ### 7. Start Validator ```bash # Create service user sudo useradd -r -s /bin/false ncn # Set permissions sudo mkdir -p /etc/ncn sudo chown ncn:ncn /etc/ncn/validator.env sudo chmod 600 /etc/ncn/validator.env # Create data directory sudo mkdir -p /opt/ncn/data sudo chown ncn:ncn /opt/ncn/data # Enable and start sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable ncn-validator sudo systemctl start ncn-validator # Check status sudo systemctl status ncn-validator ``` *** ## Validator Registration Flow ``` 1. Generate validator wallet │ ▼ 2. Acquire NCN tokens (testnet faucet or purchase) │ ▼ 3. Approve tokens for registry contract │ ▼ 4. Call registerValidator() with stake amount │ ▼ 5. Start validator node with same private key │ ▼ 6. Node syncs with network and joins validator pool │ ▼ 7. Start receiving validation requests ``` *** ## Operations ### Monitor Validator ```bash # View logs sudo journalctl -u ncn-validator -f # Check peer connections grep "peer" /var/log/ncn/validator.log # Check validation activity grep "validation" /var/log/ncn/validator.log ``` ### Check Validator Status ```bash # On-chain status cast call $VALIDATOR_REGISTRY_CONTRACT \ "getValidatorInfo(address)" \ $VALIDATOR_ADDRESS \ --rpc-url $RPC_URL # Check if active cast call $VALIDATOR_REGISTRY_CONTRACT \ "isActiveValidator(address)" \ $VALIDATOR_ADDRESS \ --rpc-url $RPC_URL ``` ### View Reputation ```bash # Check reputation score cast call $VALIDATOR_REGISTRY_CONTRACT \ "getValidatorReputation(address)" \ $VALIDATOR_ADDRESS \ --rpc-url $RPC_URL ``` *** ## Earnings ### Fee Distribution For each validated inference: * **5%** total goes to validators * Split among participating validators * More validations = more earnings ### Track Earnings ```bash # Check wallet balance cast balance $VALIDATOR_ADDRESS --rpc-url $RPC_URL # View validation count (from logs) grep "validation successful" /var/log/ncn/validator.log | wc -l ``` *** ## Reputation System ### How Reputation Works | Action | Impact | | --------------------- | ---------- | | Successful validation | +1 point | | Failed validation | -2 points | | Timeout (no response) | -5 points | | Slashing event | -20 points | ### Maintain High Reputation 1. **Stay Online**: Maximize uptime 2. **Fast Response**: Low-latency connection 3. **Honest Behavior**: Never sign invalid results 4. **Regular Updates**: Keep software current ### Check Reputation ```bash # Minimum reputation required MIN_REPUTATION=20 # Your reputation cast call $VALIDATOR_REGISTRY_CONTRACT \ "getValidatorReputation(address)" \ $VALIDATOR_ADDRESS \ --rpc-url $RPC_URL ``` *** ## Avoiding Slashing ### Slashable Offenses | Offense | Penalty | | ------------------------ | ---------- | | Invalid signature | 50% stake | | Approving invalid result | 30% stake | | Collusion | 100% stake | | Prolonged downtime | 10% stake | ### Best Practices 1. **Secure Key**: Protect validator private key 2. **Monitor Health**: Set up alerting 3. **Redundancy**: Consider backup infrastructure 4. **Stay Updated**: Apply security patches *** ## Network Participation ### Bootstrap Nodes Connect to existing validators: ```bash # In validator.env BOOTSTRAP_NODES=/ip4/192.168.1.100/tcp/8828/p2p/12D3KooWA... ``` ### Peer Discovery The P2P network uses Kademlia DHT: * Automatic peer discovery * Distributed state replication * Fault-tolerant messaging ### Check Peers ```bash # In logs grep "Connected to peer" /var/log/ncn/validator.log # Expected: 5-10+ peers for healthy network ``` *** ## Maintenance ### Update Validator ```bash # Stop service sudo systemctl stop ncn-validator # Pull updates cd ncn-network-v2-rs git pull # Rebuild cargo build --release -p p2p_registry_node # Update binary sudo cp target/release/p2p_registry_node /usr/local/bin/ # Restart sudo systemctl start ncn-validator ``` ### Add/Withdraw Stake ```bash # Add more stake cast send $VALIDATOR_REGISTRY_CONTRACT \ "addStake(uint256)" \ $ADDITIONAL_AMOUNT \ --private-key $YOUR_KEY \ --rpc-url $RPC_URL # Withdraw (may have cooldown) cast send $VALIDATOR_REGISTRY_CONTRACT \ "withdrawStake(uint256)" \ $WITHDRAW_AMOUNT \ --private-key $YOUR_KEY \ --rpc-url $RPC_URL ``` ### Unregister Validator ```bash # Unregister and withdraw all stake cast send $VALIDATOR_REGISTRY_CONTRACT \ "unregisterValidator()" \ --private-key $YOUR_KEY \ --rpc-url $RPC_URL ``` *** ## Troubleshooting ### "No peers found" * Check bootstrap nodes are correct * Verify P2P port (8828) is open * Check network connectivity ### "Consensus failed" * Not enough validators online * Check minimum validators setting * Verify network health ### "Slashed" * Review logs for violation * May need to add more stake * Contact community for appeal *** ## Security Best Practices 1. **Secure Validator Key** * Use HSM for production * Never share private key 2. **Firewall** * Only expose necessary ports (8828, 50050) * Use fail2ban for brute force protection 3. **Monitoring** * Alert on reputation drops * Monitor for slashing events 4. **Redundancy** * Consider backup node * Document recovery procedures *** ## Next Steps * [Monitoring](/nc/neurochainai-guides/operators/monitoring.md) - Set up monitoring * [Troubleshooting](/nc/neurochainai-guides/troubleshooting/troubleshooting.md) - Common issues * [Security](/nc/neurochainai-guides/security/security.md) - Security documentation --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.neurochain.ai/nc/neurochainai-guides/operators/validator-operator.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.