Whether you're baking or just trading XTZ, you want to store your keys securely. This is what a "hardware wallet" like the Ledger Nano S is for. Your private keys never leave the device, and it performs the signing operations. To use a Ledger with Tezos, you need to load Tezos-specific software onto it.
The term "hardware wallet" can refer to several devices that store your private keys in a secure way. The term "wallet" refers to the fact that it stores your "money" -- in the case of Tezos, it stores your tez. Remember, storing your tokens means storing the private keys that control your tokens. But the wallet also has other uses, including an app that helps you securely and easily interact with the network, including creating Tezos transactions and baking blocks.
This repository contains two Ledger applications:
- The "Tezos Baking" application is for baking Tezos: signing new blocks, endorsements, and denunciations. For more information about baking, see Benefits and Risks of Home Baking.
- The "Tezos Wallet" application is for making XTZ transactions, and everything you might want to use the Ledger for on Tezos besides baking.
It is possible to do all of these things without a hardware wallet, but using a hardware wallet provides you better security against key theft.
We recommend you read this entire document to understand the commands available, and which commands are most appropriate to your situation. This will require judgment on how best to meet your needs, and this document will also provide context to help you understand that.
The commands in these instructions have only been tested on Linux. If you use any form of virtualization, e.g. docker or VirtualBox, please consult the documentation of that virtualization system to determine how to access USB from inside the virtualization, as that can be a complicated and difficult process.
Tezos recommends a hardware wallet called the Ledger Nano S. When you first get it and set it up, part of the setup process is generating a keypair. The keypair will be associated with a rather long seed phrase that you must write down and keep securely. We'll discuss that seed phrase more below. You also set a PIN code that allows you to unlock the device so that it will sign messages. You can then install the Tezos app to use the Ledger Nano to interact directly with the Tezos network (see more about this in the app instructions, forthcoming). However, your Ledger will ask for confirmation before it sends your keys to sign transactions or blocks, and you must confirm by physically pushing a button on the device, and that provides some security against an attacker taking control over your keys.
The seed phrase is an encoding of your private key itself and can be used to restore your key. If you lose your Ledger or destroy it somehow, you can buy a new one and set it up with the seed phrase from your old one, hence restoring your tokens.
Consequently, is is extremely important that you keep your seed phrase written down somewhere safe. Losing it can mean you lose control of your account should you, for example, lose your Ledger. Keeping it somewhere a hacker could find it (such as in a file on your internet-connected computer) means your private key can fall into the wrong hands.
You will write it down on paper, along with your PIN, and store it. If you will have a large amount of money, consider putting your paper in a safe or safe deposit box, but at the very least keep it away from places where children, dogs, housekeepers, obnoxious neighbors, could inadvertently destroy it. Additionally, we recommend storing your PIN in a password manager.
Finally, if you will not be baking yourself, consider disconnecting your Ledger and closing your password manager when not in use.
More advanced techniques for those interested in even more layers of security or plausible deniability features should look at the Ledger's documentation on this.
Note that Ledgers with different seeds will appear to tezos-client to be
different Ledgers. Note also that it can change what key is authorized in
the Baking App. When using these features in a Ledger used for baking,
please exit and re-start the Baking App right before baking is supposed to
happen, and manually verify that it displays the key you expect to bake for.
The Wallet App does not require such extra steps, and so these extra protections are more appropriate for keys used for transaction than they are for keys used for baking. If you do use these features, one technique is that your tez be stored in the passphrase-protected and deniable account, and that you delegate them to a baking account. This way, the baking account won't actually store the vast majority of the tez.
To use these apps, you must be sure to have up-to-date firmware on the Ledger. This code was tested with version 1.4.2. Please use the Ledger's tools, including their Chrome app, to do this. Note that you can't talk to the Ledger OS itself while a Ledger app is running.
You need to set udev rules to set the permissions so that your user account
can access the Ledger device. This requires system administration privileges
on your Linux system.
LedgerHQ provides a script for this purpose. Download this script, read it, and run it as root:
$ wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LedgerHQ/udev-rules/master/add_udev_rules.sh
$ chmod +x add_udev_rules.sh
$ sudo ./add_udev_rules.sh
You might have to adjust which group this script uses, and modify the script for that
purpose. We recommend against piping wget into sudo bash without adjusting
the script to your computer's configuration.
Subsequently, unplug your ledger, and plug it in again for the changes to take effect.
For NixOS, you can set the udev rules by adding the following to the NixOS
configuration file typically located at /etc/nixos/configuration.nix:
{
services.udev.extraRules = ''
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2581", ATTRS{idProduct}=="1b7c", MODE="0660", GROUP="users"
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2581", ATTRS{idProduct}=="2b7c", MODE="0660", GROUP="users"
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2581", ATTRS{idProduct}=="3b7c", MODE="0660", GROUP="users"
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2581", ATTRS{idProduct}=="4b7c", MODE="0660", GROUP="users"
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2581", ATTRS{idProduct}=="1807", MODE="0660", GROUP="users"
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2581", ATTRS{idProduct}=="1808", MODE="0660", GROUP="users"
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2c97", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0000", MODE="0660", GROUP="users"
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2c97", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0001", MODE="0660", GROUP="users"
'';
}Depending on your system's settings, you may wish to replace users with
another group. Everyone in that group will get permissions for accessing the
ledger.
Once you have added this, run sudo nixos-rebuild switch to activate the
configuration, and unplug your Ledger and plug it in again for the changes to
take effect.
If you are using the Nix package manager, you can skip this section and the next one; go directly to Tezos baking platform for simpler Nix-based installation. Then return to this document and continue reading at Using the Ledger apps.
The easiest way to obtain the Tezos Ledger apps is to download the .hex files
from the releases
page. After doing so, skip ahead to Installing the apps onto your Ledger device.
If you want to compile the applications yourself, keep reading this section.
The first thing you'll need to do is clone this repository:
$ git clone git@github.com:obsidiansystems/ledger-app-tezos.git
You will need to have the
BOLOS SDK
to use the Makefile, which can be cloned from Ledger's
nanos-secure-sdk git repository.
You will also need to download two compilers for use with the SDK.
Note that these are specialized compilers to cross-compile for the ARM-based
platform of the Ledger; please don't use the versions of clang and gcc that
come with your system.
All of the environment setup can be accomplished with the following commands.
Obtain the BOLOS SDK and the compilers it needs:
$ git clone https://github.com/LedgerHQ/nanos-secure-sdk
$ wget -O clang.tar.xz http://releases.llvm.org/4.0.0/clang+llvm-4.0.0-x86_64-linux-gnu-ubuntu-16.10.tar.xz
$ wget -O gcc.tar.bz2 https://launchpadlibrarian.net/251687888/gcc-arm-none-eabi-5_3-2016q1-20160330-linux.tar.bz2
Unzip the compilers and move them to appropriately-named directories:
$ mkdir bolos_env
$ tar -xJf clang.tar.xz --directory bolos_env
$ mv bolos_env/clang+llvm-4.0.0-x86_64-linux-gnu-ubuntu-16.10 bolos_env/clang-arm-fropi
$ tar -xjf gcc.tar.bz2 --directory bolos_env
Set environment variables:
$ export BOLOS_SDK=$PWD/nanos-secure-sdk
$ export BOLOS_ENV=$PWD/bolos_env
To build the Tezos Wallet app:
$ env BAKING_APP= make
$ mv bin/app.hex wallet.hex
If this results in an error message that includes this line (possibly repeatedly):
#include <bits/libc-header-start.h>
you may need to run:
$ sudo apt-get install libc6-dev gcc-multilib g++-multilib
and then re-run the make command.
Note that if you build both apps, you need to run make clean before building
the second one. So, to build both apps run:
$ env BAKING_APP= make
$ mv bin/app.hex wallet.hex
$ make clean
$ env BAKING_APP=Y make
$ mv bin/app.hex baking.hex
To build just the Tezos Baking App:
$ env BAKING_APP=Y make
$ mv bin/app.hex baking.hex
Ledger's primary interface for loading an app onto a Ledger device is a Chrome app called Ledger Manager. However, it only supports a limited set of officially-supported apps like Bitcoin and Ethereum, and Tezos is not yet among these. So you will need to use a command-line tool called the BOLOS Python Loader.
Install libusb and libudev, with the relevant headers. On Debian-based
distros, including Ubuntu, the packages with the headers are suffixed with
-dev. Other distros will have their own conventions. So, for example, on
Ubuntu, you can do this with:
$ sudo apt-get install libusb-1.0.0-dev libudev-dev # Ubuntu example
Then, install pip3. You must install pip3 for this and not pip. On Ubuntu:
$ sudo apt-get install python3-pip # Ubuntu example
Now, on any operating system, install virtualenv using pip3. It is important
to use pip3 and not pip for this, as this module requires python3 support.
$ sudo pip3 install virtualenv # Any OS
Then create a Python virtual environment (abbreviated virtualenv). You could call it anything, but we shall call it "ledger". This will create a directory called "ledger" containing the virtualenv:
$ virtualenv ledger # Any OS
Then, you must enter the virtualenv. If you do not successfully enter the virtualenv,
future commands will fail. You can tell you have entered the virtualenv when your prompt is
prefixed with (ledger).
$ source ledger/bin/activate
Your terminal session -- and only that terminal session -- will now be in the
virtual env. To have a new terminal session enter the virtualenv, run the above
source command only in the same directory in the new terminal session.
Within the virtualenv environment -- making sure that (ledger) is showing up
before your prompt -- use pip to install the ledgerblue
Python package.
This will install the Ledger Python packages into the virtualenv; they will be
available only in a shell where the virtualenv has been activated.
$ pip install ledgerblue
If you have to use sudo or pip3 here, that is an indication that you have
not correctly set up virtualenv. It will still work in such a situation, but
please research other material on troubleshooting virtualenv setup.
Next you'll use the installation script to install the app on your Ledger Nano S.
The Ledger must be in the following state:
- Plugged into your computer
- Unlocked (enter your PIN)
- On the home screen (do not have any app open)
- Not asleep (you should not see vires in numeris is scrolling across the screen)
If you are already in an app or the Ledger is asleep, your installation process will fail.
We recommend staying at your computer and keeping an eye on the Ledger's screen as you continue. You may want to read the rest of these instructions before you begin installing, as you will need to confirm and verify a few things during the process.
Still within the virtualenv, run the ./install.sh command. This script is in
the root directory of this very repo, which means that in order to have it, you
must clone this repo and cd into the resulting directory:
$ git clone git@github.com:obsidiansystems/ledger-app-tezos.git
$ cd ledger-app-tezos/
This ./install.sh script takes two parameters, the first of which is
the name of the application you are installing, and the second is the
path to the app.hex file. (Up to date app.hex files can be found in
the releases for this repo, and can be unpacked in the same directory that
contains ./install.sh):
-
If you are installing the baking app, we recommend using the name "Tezos Baking".
$ ./install.sh "Tezos Baking" baking.hex -
If you are installing the transaction app, we recommend using the name "Tezos Wallet".
$ ./install.sh "Tezos Wallet" wallet.hex
The first thing that should come up in your terminal is a message that looks like this:
Generated random root public key : <long string of digits and letters>
Look at your Ledger screen and verify that the digits of that key match the digits you can see on your Ledger screen. What you see on your Ledger screen should be just the beginning and ending few characters of the longer string that printed in your terminal.
You will need to push confirmation buttons on your Ledger Nano a few times during the installation process and re-enter your PIN code near the end of the process. You should finally see the Tezos logo appear on the screen.
If you see the "Generated random root public key" message and then something that looks like this:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/lib/python3.6/runpy.py", line 193, in _run_module_as_main
<...more file names...>
OSError: open failed
the most likely cause is that your udev rules are not set up correctly, or you
did not unplug your Ledger between setting up the rules and attempting to
install. Please confirm the correctness of your udev rules.
To load a new version of the Tezos application onto the Ledger in the future, you can run the command again, and it will automatically remove any previously-loaded version.
If you'd like to remove your app, you can do this. In the virtualenv described in the last sections, run this command:
$ python \
-m ledgerblue.deleteApp \
--targetId 0x31100003 \
--appName "Tezos"
Replace the appName parameter "Tezos" with whatever app name you used when you
loaded the app onto the device.
Then follow the prompts on the Ledger screen.
You should now have two apps, Tezos Baking and Tezos Wallet. The Tezos Baking app should display also a 0 on the screen, which is the highest block
level baked so far (0 in case of no blocks). The Tezos Wallet app will just
display Tezos.
For the remainder of this document, we assume you have a Tezos node running and
tezos-client installed. Also, Docker has some issues working with the ledger,
so unless you're willing to troubleshoot them, we don't recommend it.
Currently there are two other ways to do this:
- If you have the Nix package manager, use the Tezos baking platform.
- Build tezos from the tezos repo with these instructions.
Depending on how you build it, you might need to prefix ./ to your commands, and the names
of some of the binaries might be different.
We can call the network at large "Tezos." Tezos consists of a bunch of nodes, one of which is yours. Your node can be thought of as your gateway to the wider network.
You can't do anything with the Ledger without using tezos-client. Tezos-client
is the program you use to access information about the network,
which you ultimately get through your node. See the
command documentation
for the full array of features that tezos-client supports.
In summary:
- Tezos is the network
- We connect to the network through a node
- We access that node through tezos-client
- We store our client's keys on the ledger
Note that tezos-client will not only not support certain commands unless the node is installed,
but the error messages for those commands will not even indicate that those commands are possible.
If a command documented here gives an Unrecognized command error, make sure you have a node
running.
Every Ledger generates public and private keys for ed25519, secp256k1, or
P-256 encryption systems based on a seed (represented by and encoded in
the words associated with that Ledger) and a BIP32 ("hierarchical deterministic
wallet") path.
The same seed and BIP32 path will always result in the same key for the same systems. This means that, to keep your Bitcoin app from knowing your Tezos keys, and vice versa, different BIP32 paths have to be used for the same Ledger. This also means that, in order to sync two ledgers, you can set them to the same seed, represented as 24 or some other number of natural language words (English by default).
All Tezos BIP32 paths begin with 44'/1729' (the ' indicates it is
"hardened"). Which Ledger is intended to be used, as well as choice of
encryption system, is indicated by a root key hash, the Tezos-specific base58
encoding of the hash of the public key at 44'/1729' on that Ledger. Because
all Tezos paths start with this, in tezos-client commands it is implied.
This section must be done regardless of whether you're going to be baking or only using the Tezos Wallet application.
Please run, with a Tezos app (either Tezos Baking or Tezos Wallet will do) open on your Ledger:
$ tezos-client list connected ledgers
The output of this command includes six Tezos addresses derived from the secret stored on the device, via different signing curves and BIP32 paths.
Found a valid Tezos application running on Ledger Nano S at [0001:0014:00].
To add the root key of this ledger, use one of
tezos-client import secret key ledger_<...>_ed ledger://tz1Rctvczeh7WK91NfT9LUSrYJFceyhJKUQN # Ed25519 signature
tezos-client import secret key ledger_<...>_secp ledger://tz2EhYFRUhY4YiinHYxb7PncETZXP9BfRSPj # Secp256k1 signature
tezos-client import secret key ledger_<...>_p2 ledger://tz3RZ5JvhuSAg3i4qBSaoCKqXwmqhswqeNgF # P-256 signature
Each of these tz* is a valid Tezos address.
To use a derived address, add a hardened BIP32 path suffix at the end of the URI.
For instance, to use keys at BIP32 path m/44'/1729'/0'/0', use one of
tezos-client import secret key ledger_<...>_ed_0_0 "ledger://tz1Rctvczeh7WK91NfT9LUSrYJFceyhJKUQN/0'/0'"
tezos-client import secret key ledger_<...>_secp_0_0 "ledger://tz2EhYFRUhY4YiinHYxb7PncETZXP9BfRSPj/0'/0'"
tezos-client import secret key ledger_<...>_p2_0_0 "ledger://tz3RZ5JvhuSAg3i4qBSaoCKqXwmqhswqeNgF/0'/0'"
In this case, your Tezos address will be a derived tz*.
It will be displayed when you do the import, or using command `show ledger path`.
The first three are addressed constructed directly from the root key for each
encryption system (ed25519, secp256k1, or P-256). The second three show you
examples of how to append a BIP32 path to the root key to construct a new
address.
The Ledger does not currently support non-hardened path components. All
components of all paths must be hardened, which is indicated by following them
with a ' character. This character may need to be escaped from the shell
through backslashes \ or double-quotes ".
You'll need to choose one of the six commands starting with tezos-client import secret key ... to run.
ed25519is the standard recommended curve- If you know you're always going to use only one key, use a root key; you can only have one root account per ledger per signing curve. If you might want to leave open the possibility of using your Ledger for multiple keys, use a BIP32 path. We recommend the latter.
If you use a BIP32 path, be sure to write it down. You need the full address to use your tez. This means that if you lose all your devices and need to set everything up again, you will need three things:
- The mnemonic phrase
- Which signing curve you chose
- The BIP32 path, if you used one
The tezos-client import secret key operation copies only the public key; it
says "import secret key" to indicate that the Ledger's secret key will be
considered available for signing from them on, but it does not leave the Ledger.
This sends a BIP32 path to the Ledger. You then need to click a button on the Ledger device, and the Ledger then sends the public key back to the computer.
After you perform this step, if you run the list known addresses command, you
should see the key you chose in the list:
$ tezos-client list known addresses
ledger_<...>_ed_0_0: tz1ccbGmKKwucwfCr846deZxGeDhiaTykGgK (ledger sk known)
We recommend reading as much as possible about BIP32 to ensure you fully understand this.
This application and the Tezos Baking Application constitute complementary apps for different use cases -- which could be on paired Ledgers and therefore use the same key, or which could also be used in different scenarios for different accounts. Baking is rejected by this app.
The "provide address" command on the Tezos Wallet application shows the address the first time the command is run for any given session. Subsequently, it provides the address without prompting. To display addresses again, exit the Wallet Application and restart it. This is again provided for testing/initial set up purposes.
The sign command for the Wallet Application prompts every time for transactions and other "unsafe" operations, with the generic prompt saying "Sign?" We hope to eventually display more transaction details along with this. When block headers and endorsements are sent to the Ledger, they are rejected silently as if the user rejected them.
On zeronet, you will need to use the Tezos Faucet to obtain some tez. Tell them you're not a robot, then click "Get alphanet tz." It works on zeronet (even though the URL says alphanet).
Run the following command, where <your-name> is some alias you want to use for
this wallet, and tz1<...>.json is the name of the file you just downloaded
from the faucet.
$ tezos-client activate account <your-name> with ~/downloads/tz1<...>.json
Node is bootstrapped, ready for injecting operations.
Operation successfully injected in the node.
Operation hash is 'onxJStKxK1oMPgGskkzc2gDBDyKeQ7CbBYTrcK4TMMySvKZq6vF'.
Waiting for the operation to be included...
Operation found in block: BMRjW94ge499sCPAMUTvrp3ku2UjWy9kB2LsjtuJhL1bkcQ85Ny (pass: 2, offset: 0)
This sequence of operations was run:
Genesis account activation:
Account: tz1Vntj2aVpqcQEeHq2CEmNrSGw8finvbFcX
Balance updates:
tz1Vntj2aVpqcQEeHq2CEmNrSGw8finvbFcX ... +ꜩ66835.212314
Account <your-name> (tz1Vntj2aVpqcQEeHq2CEmNrSGw8finvbFcX) activated with ꜩ66835.212314.
You can then check your account balance like this:
$ tezos-client get balance for <your-name>
66835.212314 ꜩ
Now transfer the balance to the account whose key resides on your Ledger:
$ tezos-client transfer 66000 from chris-martin2 to ledger_<...>_ed_0_0
In general, to send tez, you'll need to:
- Have a node running
- Open the Tezos Wallet app on your Ledger
- Know the alias of your account or its public key hash
- Know the public key hash of the account you are sending tez to
The command you run has the form:
tezos-client transfer QTY from SRC to DST
QTYis the amount of tez. It's best to not include commas and to include 6 decimal points (ie. 1000000.000000). If you'd prefer to include commas, you can:1,000,000.000,000.SRCis the source, or where the money is coming from. This should be your alias or public key has.DSTis the destination, or where the money is going. You should use the public key hash, as your computer likely doesn't know any aliases for that account.
Some options which you can consider:
--fee <amount>- The fee defaults to 0.05 tez. If you'd like to select another amount, either because you think that's too high or the network is crowded and a higher fee is needed to ensure it goes through, you can include this with the amount of fee you want to pay (ie.--fee 0.05for the default).-Dor--dry-run- Use this if you just want to display what would happen and not actually do the transaction.-Gor--gas-limit- This sets the gas limit of the transaction instead.
There are other options which you can read up about more in the docs, but these are the main ones you'd potentially want to use when just sending tez to someone.
If you want to delegate tez controlled by a Ledger account to another account to bake, that requires the Wallet App. This is distinct from registering the Ledger account itself to bake, which is also called "delegation," and which is covered in the section on the baking app below.
To delegate tez controlled by a Ledger to someone else, you must first originate an account. Please read more about this in the Tezos document, How to bake on the alphanet, to understand why this is necessary and the semantics of delegation.
To originate an account, the command is:
$ tezos-client originate account <NEW> for <MGR> transferring <QTY> from <SRC> --delegatable
NEWis the alias you will now give to the originated account. Only originted accounts can be delegated, and even then only if originated with this--delegatableflag.MGRis the name of the key you will use to manage the account. If you want to manage it with a Ledger, it should be an existing imported key from the Ledger.QTYis the initial amount of tez to give to the originated account.SRCis the account where you'll be getting the tez from.
Subsequently, every transaction made with <NEW> will require the Ledger mentioned in <MGR>
to sign it. This is done with the wallet application, and includes setting a delegate with:
$ tezos-client set delegate for <NEW> to <DELEGATE>
Originated accounts have names beginning with KT1 rather than tz1, tz2 or tz3.
The Tezos Baking Application supports 3 operations:
- Authorize/get public key
- Reset high water mark
- Sign
It will only sign block headers and endorsements, as the purpose of the baking app is that it cannot be co-opted to perform other types of operations (like transferring XTZ). If a Ledger is running with the Tezos Baking Application, it is the expectation of its owner that no transactions will need to be signed with it. To sign transactions with that Ledger, you will need to switch it to using the Tezos Wallet application, or have the Tezos Wallet application installed on a paired Ledger. Therefore, if you have a larger stake and bake frequently, we recommend the paired Ledger approach. If, however, you bake infrequently and can afford to have your baker offline temporarily, then switching to the Tezos Wallet application on the same Ledger should suffice.
$ tezos-baker-alpha run with local node ~/.tezos-node ledger_<...>_ed_0_0
Alternatively, it might be called tezos-alpha-baker.
This won't actually be able bake successfully yet until you run the rest of
these setup steps. This will run indefinitely, so you might want to do it in
a dedicated terminal or in a tmux or screen session.
You will also want to start the endorser and accuser daemons:
$ tezos-endorser-alpha run ledger_<...>_ed_0_0
$ tezos-accuser-alpha run
Alternatively, they might might be called tezos-alpha-endorser and tezos-alpha-accuser.
Again, each of these will run indefinitely, and each should be in its own terminal
tmux, or screen window.
You need to run a specific command to authorize a key for baking. Once a key is authorized for baking, the user will not have to approve this command again. If a key is not authorized for baking, signing endorsements and block headers with that key will be rejected. This authorization data is persisted across runs of the application. Only one key can be authorized for baking per Ledger at a time.
In order to authorize a public key for baking, you can do either of the following:
-
Use the APDU for authorizing a public key.
The command for this is as follows:
$ tezos-client authorize ledger to bake for <SIGNATURE>This only authorizes the key for baking on the Ledger, but does not inform the blockchain of your intention to bake. This might be necessary if you re-install the app, or if you have a different paired Ledger that you are using to bake for the first time.
-
Have the baking app sign a self-delegation. This is explained in the next section.
In order to bake from the ledger account you need to register the key as a delegate. This is formally done by delegating the account to itself. As a non-originated account, an account directly stored on the Ledger can only delegate to itself.
Open the Tezos Baking Application on the Ledger, and then run this:
$ tezos-client register key ledger_<...>_ed_0_0 as delegate
This command is intended to inform the blockchain itself of your intention to bake with this key. It can be signed with either the Wallet App or the Baking App, but if you sign it with the Baking App, it also implies to the Ledger that you want to authorize that key for baking on the Ledger as well.
Authorizing a key for baking on a specific Ledger and authorizing it for
baking in general on the blockchain are two distinct authorizations. This
command will do both of them if signed with the appropriate baking app,
whereas the authorize ledger command in the previous section will
only do it for the in question, which is appropriate if it is already
authorized to bake on the blockchain.
The register key command is equivalent to:
$ tezos-client set delegate for ledger_<...>_ed_0_0 to ledger_<...>_ed_0_0
The Baking App only signs self-delegations; the Wallet App is needed to sign delegations of originated accounts controlled by a Ledger. The Baking App also only signs delegations with fees less than 0.05 ꜩ; to sign those with more, you must use the Wallet App to authorize baking for the blockchain, and the command in the previous section to authorize baking for the Ledger, which is always available as an alternative to signing this with the Baking App.
The sign operation is for signing block headers and endorsements.
Block headers must have monotonically strictly increasing levels; that is, each block must have a higher level than all previous blocks signed with the Ledger. This is intended to prevent double baking at the Ledger level, as a security measure against potential vulnerabilities where the computer might be tricked into double baking. This feature will hopefully be a redundant precaution, but it's implemented at the Ledger level because the point of the Ledger is to not trust the computer. The current High Water Mark (HWM) -- the highest level to have been baked so far -- is displayed on the Ledger screen, and is also persisted between runs of the device.
The sign operation will be sent to the Ledger by the baking daemon when configured to bake with a Ledger key. The Ledger uses the first byte of the information to be signed -- the magic number -- to tell whether it is a block header (which is verified with the High Water Mark), an endorsement (which is not), or some other operation (which it will reject, unless it is a self-delegation).
With the exception of self-delegations, as long as the key is configured and the high water mark constraint is followed, there is no user prompting required for signing. The baking app will only ever sign without prompting or reject an attempt at signing; this operation is designed to be used unsupervised.
As mentioned, the only exception to this is self-delegation. This will prompt and display the public key hash of the account. This will authorize the key for baking on the ledger. This is independent of what the signed self-delegation will then do on the blockchain. If you are baking on a new ledger, or have reinstalled the app, you might have to sign a self-delegation to authorize the key on the ledger, even if you are already registered for baking on the block-chain. This will also have to be done if you have previously signed this with the wallet app.
There is some possibility that the HWM will need to be reset. This could be due to the computer somehow being tricked into sending a block with a high level to the Ledger (either due to an attack or a bug on the computer side), or because the owner of the Ledger wants to move from the real Tezos network to a test network, or to a different test network. This can be accomplished with the reset command.
This is intended as a testing/debug tool and as a possible recovery from attempted attacks or bugs, not as a day to day command. It requires an explicit confirmation from the user, and there is no specific utility to send this command. To send it manually, you can use the following command line:
tezos-client set ledger high water mark for "ledger://<tz...>/" to <HWM>
<HWM> indicates the new high water mark to reset to. If you are joining a new
test network, 0 is a fitting number, as then all blocks will be allowed again.
You can also set it to the most recently baked level on that test net.
If you are not physically present at your computer, but are curious what the Ledger's high water mark is, you can run:
tezos-client get ledger high water mark for "ledger://<tz...>/
When you want to upgrade to a new version, whether you built it yourself from source
or whether it's a new release of the app.hex files, use the same commands as you did
to originally install it. As the keys are generated from the Ledger's seeds and the
derivation paths, you will have the same keys with every version of this Ledger app,
so there is no need to re-import the keys with tezos-client.
If you've already been baking on an old version of the Baking App, the new version will not remember which key you are baking with nor the High Water Mark. You will have to re-run this command to remind the Ledger what key you intend to authorize for baking:
$ tezos-client authorize ledger to bake for <SIGNATURE>
You can also set the High Water Mark to the level of the most recently baked block with:
tezos-client set ledger high water mark for "ledger://<tz...>/" to <HWM>
This will require the correct URL for the Ledger acquired from:
tezos-client list connected ledgers
$ client/bin/tezos-client list connected ledgers
Fatal error: Header.check: unexpected seq num
This means you do not have the Tezos app open on your Ledger.
$ tezos-client list connected ledgers
No device found.
Make sure a Ledger Nano S is connected and in the Tezos Wallet app.
In addition to the possibilities listed in the error message, this could also mean that your udev rules are not set up correctly.
If you see an Unrecognized command error, it might be because there is no node for tezos-client
to connect to. Please ensure that you are running a node. ps aux | grep tezos-node should display
the process information for the current node. If it displays nothing, or just displays a grep
command, then there is no node running on your machine.
If the Ledger app crashes when you load it, there are two primary causes:
- Quitting the
tezos-clientprocess before the Ledger responds. Even if you meant to cancel the operation in question, cancel it from the Ledger before pressing Ctrl-C, otherwise you might have to restart the Ledger. - Out of date firmware: If the Ledger app doesn't work at all, make sure you are running firmware version 1.4.2.