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

/usr/local/bin/lighthouse vc	Starts the validator node
--network	Name of the chain Lighthouse will sync and follow Possible values: mainnet prater gnosis kiln ropsten
--datadir	Used to specify a custom root data directory for lighthouse keys and databases
--graffiti	Specify your custom graffiti to be included in blocks
--monitoring-endpoint	Set to a monitoring service e.g. https://beaconcha.in
--enable-doppelganger-protection	Protects from the chance of two instances of the validator starting on the same system https://lighthouse-book.sigmaprime.io/validator-doppelganger.html Not perfect, and does have a penalty of waiting for 2-3 epochs (approx. 6.4 minutes per epoch) It's a bit annoying to miss a few attestations, and would be very sad to miss a block, but the chance of me being a block proposer during that downtime is very low, and the benefits of not getting slashed are much greater
--metrics	Enable the Prometheus metrics HTTP server Disabled by default
--suggested-fee-recipient	The fallback address provided to the Beacon Node if nothing suitable is found in the validator definitions or fee recipient file

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.