Surge Validator Node Setup Guide

A guide to setting up and operating a validator node on the Surge Metalayer network.

Overview

To become a validator on the Surge Metalayer, you'll need to complete several steps:

• Setting up the necessary hardware and software
• Installing the chain's binary
• Syncing node with the network
• Creating a validator account
• Staking tokens and becoming an active validator

Hardware Requirements

• CPU: 4+ cores (recommended)
• RAM: 4GB minimum, 8GB recommended
• Storage: 250GB minimum SSD/NVMe (recommended for future growth)
• Network: Stable internet connection with 10Mbps+ bandwidth

Installation Options

Option 1: Remote Installation (Recommended)

Install Surge using the following command:

curl -L https://install.surge.dev/surged.sh | bash

Option 2: Local Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/surgebuild/node-validator
cd node-validator

2. Make the script executable and run:

./surged.sh

The installation script will:

• Install all required software
• Configure the node
• Begin syncing with the network

Checking Sync Status

Monitor your node's synchronization progress:

surged status

Look for the catching_up field in the output - when it shows false, your node has fully synchronized with the network.

Validator Setup

1. Create Validator Account

surged keys add <validator-account-name>

⚠️ Important: Safely store the generated mnemonic phrase - it's required for account recovery.

2. Configure Validator

Create and edit the validator configuration:

# Create config directory if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p ~/.surge/config

# Create and edit validator config
cat > ~/.surge/config/validator.json << 'EOF'
{
  "pubkey": {
    "@type": "/cosmos.crypto.ed25519.PubKey",
    "key": "<your-node-public-key>"
  },
  "amount": "100000000surg",
  "moniker": "<your-validator-name>",
  "identity": "",
  "website": "https://your-website.com",
  "security": "security@your-validator.com",
  "details": "Description of your validator",
  "commission-rate": "0.05",
  "commission-max-rate": "0.20",
  "commission-max-change-rate": "0.01",
  "min-self-delegation": "1"
}
EOF

3. Create Validator

surged tx staking create-validator ~/.surge/config/validator.json \
  --from <validator-account-name> \
  --chain-id surge-alphatestnet-1 \
  --fees 70surg \
  --gas auto \
  --gas-adjustment 1.4 \
  --home ~/.surge \
  --node http://localhost:26657

4. Verify Status

Check if your validator is in the active set:

surged query staking validator $(surged keys show <validator-account-name> --bech val -a)

Managing the Service

After installing the Surge validator using the bash script, you can manage the system service with the following commands:

Checking Logs

To view the logs for the Surge validator, use the following command:

# View the main log file
tail -f /var/log/surge-validator.log

# View the error log file
tail -f /var/log/surge-validator-error.log

Restarting the Service

To restart the Surge validator service, run:

sudo systemctl restart surge-validator

Stopping the Service

To stop the Surge validator service, use:

sudo systemctl stop surge-validator

Starting the Service

If you need to start the service after stopping it, use:

sudo systemctl start surge-validator

Checking Service Status

To check the status of the Surge validator service, you can run:

sudo systemctl status surge-validator

Support

For additional support or questions, please visit our GitHub repository or join our community channels.