Installation

Lighthouse client installation guide.

Create Aliases

echo "alias lighthouse-version-current='/usr/local/bin/lighthouse --version'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-build='~/lighthouse-build.sh'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-version-new='~/.cargo/bin/lighthouse --version'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-deploy='~/lighthouse-deploy.sh'" >> ~/.bashrc

echo "alias lighthouse-beacon-log='journalctl -f -u lighthousebeacon.service -o cat | ccze -A'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-beacon-start='sudo systemctl start lighthousebeacon.service'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-beacon-stop='sudo systemctl stop lighthousebeacon.service'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-beacon-restart='sudo systemctl restart lighthousebeacon.service'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-beacon-status='sudo systemctl status lighthousebeacon.service'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-beacon-config='sudo vim /etc/systemd/system/lighthousebeacon.service'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-beacon-enable='sudo systemctl enable lighthousebeacon.service'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-beacon-disable='sudo systemctl disable lighthousebeacon.service'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-beacon-delete-data='sudo rm -rf /var/lib/lighthouse/beacon; sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/lighthouse/beacon; sudo chown -R lighthousebeacon:lighthousebeacon /var/lib/lighthouse/beacon'" >> ~/.bashrc

source ~/.bashrc

Dependency - Install Rust

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

<1>
<ENTER>

source $HOME/.cargo/env

Make sure protoc is installed otherwise the build will fail.

sudo apt-get install -y protobuf-compiler
protoc --version

Lighthouse - Install

Build the latest version of Lighthouse.

LIGHTHOUSE_VERSION_COMMIT_HASH=        # e.g.441fc16 

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/sigp/lighthouse.git
cd ~/lighthouse
git checkout ${LIGHTHOUSE_VERSION_COMMIT_HASH}
make

Move the compiled Lighthouse build to a new directory.

sudo cp ~/.cargo/bin/lighthouse /usr/local/bin

Check version.

/usr/local/bin/lighthouse --version

Create Lighthouse directory.

sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/lighthouse

Firewall Configuration

Configure the firewall using generic Beacon client UFW settings: UFW Config

Lighthouse BN - Configure Service

Create lighthousebeacon user and set permissions.

sudo useradd --no-create-home --shell /bin/false lighthousebeacon
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/lighthouse/beacon
sudo chown -R lighthousebeacon:lighthousebeacon /var/lib/lighthouse/beacon

Configure Beacon Service Environment Variables.

Configure lighthousebeacon service using the command line flags.

sudo vim /etc/systemd/system/lighthousebeacon.service

lighthousebeacon.service

lighthousebeacon.service

[Unit]
Description=Lighthouse Ethereum Client - Beacon Node
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=lighthousebeacon
Group=lighthousebeacon
Restart=always
RestartSec=5

EnvironmentFile=/etc/default/beacon-variables.env

ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/lighthouse bn \
    --network ${NETWORK} \
    --datadir /var/lib/lighthouse \
    --jwt-secrets="/var/lib/jwtsecret" \
    --execution-endpoints ${BEACON_EXECUTION_ENDPOINTS} \
    --port ${BEACON_P2P_PORT} \
    \
    --http \
    --http-address=${BEACON_HTTP_ADDRESS} \
    --http-port=${BEACON_HTTP_PORT} \
    --http-allow-origin "*" \
    \
    --metrics \
    --metrics-address ${BEACON_METRICS_ADDR} \
    --metrics-port ${BEACON_METRICS_PORT} \
    --metrics-allow-origin "*" \
    --validator-monitor-auto \
    \
    --suggested-fee-recipient ${BEACON_SUGGESTED_FEE_RECIPIENT} \
    --checkpoint-sync-url ${BEACON_CHECKPOINT_SYNC_URL} \
    --builder ${BEACON_BUILDER}

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Lighthouse BN Flags Explained

/usr/local/bin/lighthouse bn	Starts the Beacon node.
--network	Name of the chain Lighthouse will sync and follow (e.g. mainnet or goerli).
--datadir	Used to specify a custom root data directory for lighthouse keys and databases.
--port	The TCP/UDP port to listen on for peer discovery.
--http	Enable the RESTful HTTP API server. Disabled by default.
--http-address	Specify the listening address of the server.
--http-port	Specify the listening port of the server.
--metrics	Enable the Prometheus metrics HTTP server. Disabled by default.
--validator-monitor-auto	When the --validator-monitor-auto flag is supplied, any validator which uses the beacon_committee_subscriptions API endpoint will be enrolled for additional monitoring. All active validators will use this endpoint each epoch, so you can expect it to detect all local and active validators within several minutes after start up. https://lighthouse-book.sigmaprime.io/validator-monitoring.html#automatic
--monitoring-endpoint (Not curreclty used)	Enables the monitoring service for sending system metrics to a remote endpoint. This can be used to monitor your setup on certain services (e.g. https://beaconcha.in/user/settings#app). This flag sets the endpoint where the beacon node metrics will be sent. Note: This will send information to a remote server which may identify and associate your validators, IP address, and other personal information. Always use a HTTPS connection and never provide an untrusted URL.
--execution-endpoints	One or more comma-delimited server endpoints for HTTP JSON-RPC connection. If multiple endpoints are given the endpoints are used as fallback in the given order.
--jwt-secrets	The JWT secret is automatically generated when Geth is first run and added to /var/lib/goethereum/ This is same location that is pointed to in both the Geth and Lighthouse configuration so that they use the same JWT secret and can talk to each other.
--suggested-fee-recipient	This address receives transaction fees collected from any blocks produced by this node. The --suggested-fee-recipient can be provided to the Beacon Node to act as a default value when the validator client does not transmit a suggested_fee_recipient to the Beacon Node
--checkpoint-sync-url	Used to fast sync the chain rather than starting at genesis. https://lighthouse-book.sigmaprime.io/checkpoint-sync.html#automatic-checkpoint-sync Only needed for the initial sync, I can remove it after.
--builder	Used to query the provided URL during block production for a block payload with stubbed-out transactions. If this request fails, Lighthouse will fall back to the local execution engine and produce a block using transactions gathered and verified locally.
--reconstruct-historic-states	Used to reconstruct the history of the beacon chain when checkpoint sync was used. Allows access to all historical data. https://lighthouse-book.sigmaprime.io/checkpoint-sync.html#reconstructing-states
--purge-db	Add this flag to delete the existing database.

Start the service and check it's working as expected.

Command Aliases

daemon-reload     # Reload any changes made to the lighthousebeacon.service
lighthouse-beacon-enable     # Enable the lighthousebeacon.service
lighthouse-beacon-start      # Start the lighthousebeacon.service
lighthouse-beacon-status     # View the status of the lighthousebeacon.service

lighthouse-beacon-log        # View the lighthousebeacon.service logs

Lighthouse - Update Scripts

Create Lighthouse build script.

vim ~/lighthouse-build.sh

~/lighthouse-build.sh

#!/bin/bash
set -e
cd ~/lighthouse

read -p "Enter the commit hash you want to checkout: " commit_hash

git fetch
git checkout $commit_hash

echo
echo "********************"
echo "Making Lighthouse..."
echo "********************"
make

Create Lighthouse deploy script.

vim ~/lighthouse-deploy.sh

~/lighthouse-deploy.sh

#!/bin/bash
# set -e     # This isn't working correctly, so comment out for now

while true; do
    read -p "Are you sure you want to deploy Lighthouse? (Y/N) " yn
    case $yn in
        [Yy]* ) break;;
        [Nn]* ) exit;;
        * ) echo "Please answer Y or N.";;
    esac
done

# Check if the services exist before checking their status
if systemctl list-units --full -all | grep -Fq lighthousebeacon.service; then
    beacon_status=$(sudo systemctl is-active lighthousebeacon.service)
else
    beacon_status="not_installed"
fi

if systemctl list-units --full -all | grep -Fq lighthousevalidator.service; then
    validator_status=$(sudo systemctl is-active lighthousevalidator.service)
else
    validator_status="not_installed"
fi

echo "**********************"

if [ "$beacon_status" = "active" ]; then
    echo "Stopping Lighthouse Beacon..."
    sudo systemctl stop lighthousebeacon.service
elif [ "$beacon_status" = "not_installed" ]; then
    echo "Warning: Lighthouse Beacon service is not installed."
fi

if [ "$validator_status" = "active" ]; then
    echo "Stopping Lighthouse Validator..."
    sudo systemctl stop lighthousevalidator.service
elif [ "$validator_status" = "not_installed" ]; then
    echo "Warning: Lighthouse Validator service is not installed."
fi

echo "Replacing previous version..."

# Check if the file exists before trying to remove it
if [ -f /usr/local/bin/lighthouse ]; then
    sudo rm /usr/local/bin/lighthouse
fi

# Check if the source file exists before copying
if [ -f ~/.cargo/bin/lighthouse ]; then
    sudo cp ~/.cargo/bin/lighthouse /usr/local/bin
else
    echo "Error: Source file does not exist. Installation aborted."
    exit 1
fi

if [ "$beacon_status" = "active" ]; then
    echo "Restarting Lighthouse Beacon..."
    sudo systemctl start lighthousebeacon.service
fi

if [ "$validator_status" = "active" ]; then
    echo "Restarting Lighthouse Validator..."
    sudo systemctl start lighthousevalidator.service
fi

Make all scripts executable.

chmod u+x ~/lighthouse-build.sh
chmod u+x ~/lighthouse-deploy.sh