Solo Staking¶

Warning

DISCLAIMER: Ethereum is an experimental technology. Running the Ethereum on ARM image as a Consensus Layer validator node can lead you to ETH loss. This is a risky operation and you alone are responsible for your actions using the Ethereum software included in this image or following the instructions of this guide.

We strongly recommend to try first a Consensus Layer testnet and get familiarized with the process before staking real ETH.

REMEMBER: Staking is NOT necessary for running a full Ethereum node. For this, you just need a synced Execution Client running along with a synced Consensus Layer Beacon Chain.

Ethereum staking is the process of participating in the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism of the Ethereum network by locking up 32 ETH in the validator deposit contract. Staking serves as a way to secure the network, validate transactions, and create new blocks on the Ethereum blockchain, while also rewarding participants for their contributions.

Staking Workflow¶

The staking process follows these steps:

🔑 Generate Keys - Use ethstaker-deposit-cli to create validator keys
💰 Deposit 32 ETH - Submit deposit via Ethereum Launchpad
📥 Import Keys - Import keys to your validator client
▶️ Start Validator - Enable and monitor validator service

In order to stake you need to set up a Validator Client that will propose blocks and do attestations according to the Consensus Layer specification (proposing a block would be the equivalent to “mine” a block in the former Proof of Work Ethereum chain).

The validator client is included in all Consensus Layer clients along with the Beacon Chain clients.

Warning

There is a chance of losing your ETH if your validator does something wrong (this is called being slashed), so be extremely careful and always follow the protocol specification.

And never (EVER) run the same validator keys in two different nodes at the same time. You will be slashed.

Staking Requirements¶

In order to stake and run a validator you will need:

32 ETH

A synced Ethereum Execution Layer client

A synced Ethereum Consensus Layer client consisting of: A Beacon Chain instance and a Validator instance (with one or more validator keys)

Before making the 32 ETH deposit you need to create 2 key pairs and a Json file with the necessary information to interact with the mainnet staking contract through a transaction.

The community provides a tool (ethstaker-deposit-cli) to create the keys and the deposit information (which among others contains your validator(s) public key(s)). This tool is already installed in your Ethereum on ARM node. If you are running an older image please, run:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ethstaker-deposit-cli

Warning

Important: Tool Update

The original staking-deposit-cli from the Ethereum Foundation has been deprecated. The official repository now recommends using ethstaker-deposit-cli, which is an actively maintained fork by the ETHStaker community.

See: ethstaker-deposit-cli

Additionally, the Ethereum Foundation developed a web Launchpad to walk you through the staking process. Here you can upload the Deposit Json file and make the 32 ETH transaction with your wallet or a web3 wallet (such as Metamask or Wallet Connect).

Validator setup¶

Note

Remember that you need 32 ETH for each validator you want to run.

The validator setup is client agnostic so it will be valid for all Consensus Layer clients.

Note

At this point, you should have an Execution Layer + Consensus Layer clients combo in sync (both clients running along one 1 on 1).

The first step is to visit the EF Launchpad website to start the process:

https://launchpad.ethereum.org

Click “Become a validator”
Read carefully and accept all warnings.
You can skip the Execution Client selection as all clients are already installed and configured. click “Continue”
Same for the Consensus Clients. Click “Continue”
In the next screen, select the number of validators you want to run. Remember that you need 32 ETH for each one.

6. Ethereum on ARM provides the ethstaker-deposit-cli tool to generate the keys and set the withdrawal address (where the staked ETH will be deposited periodically). so, in your terminal and under the ethereum account, run (assuming 1 validator):

cd && deposit new-mnemonic --num_validators 1 --execution_address YOUR_ETH_ADDRESS --chain mainnet

7. You will see a warning about the withdrawal address. Please, make sure you have control over the address you are setting. Otherwise you won’t be able to withdraw your ETH and the staked ETH.

Choose your mnemonic language and type a password for keeping your keys safe.

Warning

Now, Make sure you wrote down the mnemonic in a safe place. Without it you will NOT be able to withdraw your ETH in the future.

Again, please, make sure your mnemonic is safe!!!

Write down your mnemonic password, press any key and type it again as requested.

Now you have 2 JSON files under the validator_keys directory:

A deposit data file for making the 32 ETH transaction to the mainnet (which contains your validator public key as well).

A keystore file with your validator keys that will be used by your Consensus Layer client.

9. Back to the Launchpad website, check “I am keeping my keys safe and have written down my mnemonic phrase” and click “Continue”.

Warning

Again, make sure you have both an Execution Layer client + a Consensus Layer client synced, running along and properly configured.

10. It is time to send the 32 ETH deposit to the Ethereum mainnet contract. You need the deposit file (located in your Board). You can, either copy and paste the file content and save it as a new JSON file in your desktop computer or copy the file from the board to your desktop through SSH.

Connected through SSH to your ARM board, type:

cat validator_keys/deposit_data-$FILE-ID.json (replace $FILE-ID with yours)

Copy the content (the text in square brackets), go back to your desktop, paste it into your favourite editor and save it as a json file.

Pull the file from your desktop through SSH, copy the file:

scp ethereum@$YOUR_BOARD_IP:/home/ethereum/validator_keys/deposit_data-$FILE_ID.json /tmp

Replace the variables ($YOUR_BOARD_IP and $FILE_ID) with your data. This command will copy the file to your desktop computer /tmp directory.

11. Now, back to the Launchpad website, upload the deposit_data file and select Metamask, click continue and check all warnings. Click “Continue” and click “Initiate the Transaction”. Confirm the transaction in Metamask and wait for the confirmation (a notification will pop up shortly).

The Beacon Chain (which is connected to the Execution Layer client) will detect this deposit and the Validator will be enabled.

12. Go back to your chosen validator client, import the keys located in the validator_keys directory and start the service (check the specific client documentation above for further instructions).

Congrats!, you just started your validator activation process.

Running Validator Client¶

Once the Beacon Chain is synchronized and we have our keys and deposit created, we need to start the Validator Client. Choose the tab for the client you are using:

Lighthouse

Import the previously generated validator keys:

lighthouse account validator import --directory=/home/ethereum/validator_keys

Enter your password when prompted. Then set the fee recipient address:

sudo sed -i 's/changeme/0x1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345678/' /etc/ethereum/lighthouse-validator.conf

Replace 0x1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345678 with your actual Ethereum address.

Start the validator service:

sudo systemctl start lighthouse-validator

The Lighthouse Validator is now started.

Prysm

Import the validator keys:

validator accounts import --keys-dir=/home/ethereum/validator_keys

Accept the default wallet path and enter a password for your wallet, then enter the password you defined earlier.

Set the fee recipient address:

sudo sed -i 's/changeme/0x1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345678/' /etc/ethereum/prysm-validator.conf

Replace 0x1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345678 with your actual Ethereum address.

Set up your password file and start the validator:

echo "$YOUR_PASSWORD" > /home/ethereum/validator_keys/prysm-password.txt
sudo systemctl start prysm-validator

The Prysm validator is now enabled.

Nimbus

Import your validator keys:

nimbus_beacon_node deposits import /home/ethereum/validator_keys --data-dir=/home/ethereum/.nimbus-validator --log-file=/home/ethereum/.nimbus-validator/nimbus.log

Enter the password you defined earlier.

Set the fee recipient address:

sudo sed -i 's/changeme/0x1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345678/' /etc/ethereum/nimbus-validator.conf

Replace 0x1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345678 with your actual Ethereum address.

Start the Nimbus Validator:

sudo systemctl start nimbus-validator

Teku

Create a password file for each validator keystore using the helper script:

setup_validator_passwords

This will prompt you for your keystore password and create a .txt file for each keystore with correct permissions. If your keystore files are not stored in /home/ethereum/validator_keys you will be ask for a custom path.

Remember that this password is the one that you used to create the keystore files with the deposit cli or the wagyu gui tool.

You should now have matching files like:

keystore-m_12381_3600_0_0_0-1661710189.json
keystore-m_12381_3600_0_0_0-1661710189.txt

Set the fee recipient address, for instance:

sudo sed -i 's/changeme/0x1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345678/' /etc/ethereum/teku-validator.conf

Replace 0x1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345678 with your actual Ethereum address.

Start the Teku Validator:

sudo systemctl start teku-validator

The Teku Validator is now enabled.

Lodestar

Import the validator keys:

lodestar validator import --importKeystores /home/ethereum/validator_keys --dataDir /home/ethereum/.lodestar

Enter the password you defined earlier.

Set the fee recipient address:

sudo sed -i 's/changeme/0x1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345678/' /etc/ethereum/lodestar-validator.conf

Replace 0x1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345678 with your actual Ethereum address.

Start the Lodestar Validator service:

sudo systemctl start lodestar-validator

Grandine

Warning

Make sure you are NOT running the grandine-beacon service before starting grandine-validator

Set the fee recipient address:

sudo sed -i 's/changeme/0x1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345678/' /etc/ethereum/grandine-validator.conf

Replace 0x1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345678 with your actual Ethereum address.

Set up your password file and start the validator:

echo "$YOUR_PASSWORD" > /home/ethereum/validator_keys/grandine-password.txt
sudo systemctl start grandine-validator

The Grandine validator is now enabled. Wait for the Beacon Chain to sync and check the logs for further info.

Vouch

Vouch is a multi-node validator client written in Go.

Systemd Services	Home Directory	Config Files	Ports
vouch	/home/ethereum/.vouch	/etc/ethereum/vouch.yml	None

Edit the configuration file to add your Beacon Node endpoints:

sudo nano /etc/ethereum/vouch.yml

Add your beacon node endpoints in the beacon-node-address list.

Import the validator keys:

/usr/local/bin/vouch account import --base-dir=/home/ethereum/.vouch --keys-dir=/home/ethereum/validator_keys

Enter the password you defined earlier.

Set the fee recipient in the config file:

sudo nano /etc/ethereum/vouch.yml

Set the fee-recipient field:

fee-recipient: "0x1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345678"

Replace with your actual Ethereum address.

Start the Vouch service:

sudo systemctl start vouch

The Vouch validator is now enabled. Check the logs for further info.