Validator Guide

Follow this guide to become a genesis validator on the xion-testnet-2 chain. This guide walks you through creating a gentx file that will be added to the validator chain. A gentx is a special transaction included in the genesis file that accomplishes three things:

1. Registers your validator account as a validator operator account.
2. Self-delegates the specified amount of XION tokens for staking.
3. Links the validator operator account with a node pubkey used to sign blocks.

All validators that wish to be included in the new Xion testnet chain can follow the steps below.

Networks

• New Xion testnet: xion-testnet-2

Prerequisites

• Xion Core Repository
• Go 1.22+

Timeline (Expected)

Share genesis.json and start collecting gen_txs from the validators

• Mon Jan 20 2025 00:00:00 GMT-0500 (EST)
• Mon Jan 20 2025 05:00:00 GMT+0000 (UTC)

Finish collecting gen_txs, build, and share genesis.json

• Mon Jan 27 2025 11:00:00 GMT-0500 (EST)
• Mon Jan 27 2025 16:00:00 GMT+0000 (UTC)

Launch xion-testnet-2 network

• Tue Jan 28 2025 11:00:00 GMT-0500 (EST)
• Tue Jan 28 2025 16:00:00 GMT+0000 (UTC)

Set Up a Validator

Set up a new validator on a new machine by following the steps outlined in Run a Node.

After configuring your general settings, continue to the next section.

GenTx

Complete the following steps on your new validator's machine.

1. Download and install the Xion release v14.1.1:

   # Set environment variable for the xiond binary name
   export XIOND_BINARY=xiond-$(uname -s | awk '{print tolower($0)}')-$(uname -m | sed 's/aarch/amd/')
   
   # Download the binary
   wget https://github.com/burnt-labs/xion/releases/download/v14.1.1/$XIOND_BINARY
   
   # Verify the checksum
   wget https://github.com/burnt-labs/xion/releases/download/v14.1.1/checksum.txt
   grep $XIOND_BINARY checksum.txt | sha256sum -c -
   
   # Move the binary to a directory in your PATH
   sudo mv $XIOND_BINARY /usr/local/bin/xiond

2. Prepare your environment:

   # Download the genesis.json genesis file
   wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/burnt-labs/xion-testnet-2/refs/tags/prelaunch/config/genesis.json
   
   # Move the genesis file to the config location
   mv ./genesis.json ~/.xion/config/genesis.json

3. Execute GenTx:

   MONIKER="<preffered_moniker>"
   xiond genesis gentx <account> 1000000uxion \
       --chain-id="xion-testnet-2" \
       --pubkey=$(xiond comet show-validator) \
       --min-self-delegation=1 \
       --moniker="$MONIKER" \
       --details="Trusted security provider for Xion Network and projects building on Xion." \
       --commission-rate="0.1" \
       --commission-max-rate="0.2" \
       --commission-max-change-rate="0.01" \
       --ip="0.0.0.0"

4. Upload the generated GenTx file to this repository's gentx folder via a Pull Request (PR):

   cp ~/.xion/config/gentx/*.json ./gentx/
   git add ./gentx/*.json
   git commit -m "Add gentx for <your-moniker>"
   git push origin <your-branch>

5. Create a Pull Request to merge your branch into the main repository.

Additional Notes

• Ensure your node is properly configured and running before submitting your GenTx.
• Double-check all the details in your GenTx command to avoid any errors.
• If you encounter any issues, refer to the Xion documentation or reach out to the community for support.