Installation

Lighthouse Validator client installation guide.

• Create Aliases

• Lighthouse VC - Configure Service

Create Aliases

echo "alias lighthouse-validator-log='journalctl -f -u lighthousevalidator.service -o cat | ccze -A'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-validator-start='sudo systemctl start lighthousevalidator.service'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-validator-stop='sudo systemctl stop lighthousevalidator.service'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-validator-restart='sudo systemctl restart lighthousevalidator.service'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-validator-status='sudo systemctl status lighthousevalidator.service'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-validator-config='sudo vim /etc/systemd/system/lighthousevalidator.service'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-validator-enable='sudo systemctl enable lighthousevalidator.service'" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "alias lighthouse-validator-disable='sudo systemctl disable lighthousevalidator.service'" >> ~/.bashrc

source ~/.bashrc

Lighthouse VC - Configure Service

Create lighthousevalidator user and set permissions.

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

# <THIS IS NEEDED SO THE VALIDATOR CAN IMPORT THE KEYSTORES>
sudo chmod 700 /var/lib/lighthouse/validators

Configure lighthousevalidator service using the command line flags.

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

/etc/systemd/system/lighthousevalidator.service

/etc/systemd/system/lighthousevalidator.service

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

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

Environment=NETWORK=                    # E.g. mainnet or holesky
Environment=DATADIR=                    # Default: /var/lib/lighthouse
Environment=GRAFFITI=                   # E.g. For the merge!
Environment=METRICS_PORT=               # Default: 5064
Environment=MONITORING_ENDPOINTS=
Environment=SUGGESTED_FEE_RECIPIENT=
Environment=BEACON_NODES=

ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/lighthouse vc \
    --network ${NETWORK} \
    --datadir ${DATADIR} \
    --graffiti ${GRAFFITI} \
    --metrics \
    --metrics-port ${METRICS_PORT} \
    --monitoring-endpoint ${MONITORING_ENDPOINTS} \
    --enable-doppelganger-protection \
    --suggested-fee-recipient ${SUGGESTED_FEE_RECIPIENT} \
    --builder-proposals \
    --beacon-nodes ${BEACON_NODES}

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Lighthouse VC Flags Explained

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

Command Aliases

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

lighthouse-validator-log        # View the lighthousevalidator.service logs

At this point, the lighthousevalidator.service is running with no keystores.

So it will just show a message saying something like No validators present which is fine.