Validator Node

Substrate

Validators participate in consensus and block production.

Note: You need sufficient stake and nomination to become an active validator.

Validator Setup Process:

1. Generate Session Keys Locally (Recommended):

   Important: The Xorion network requires three session keys in this specific order:

   • BABE (Sr25519) - for block authoring

   • GRANDPA (Ed25519) - for finality gadget

   • Authority Discovery (Sr25519) - for peer discovery

# Generate keys locally in the required order
# 1. BABE key (Sr25519)
./target/release/xorion-node key generate --scheme Sr25519 --keystore-path ./validator-keystore --key-type babe

# 2. GRANDPA key (Ed25519)
./target/release/xorion-node key generate --scheme Ed25519 --keystore-path ./validator-keystore --key-type gran

# 3. Authority Discovery key (Sr25519)
./target/release/xorion-node key generate --scheme Sr25519 --keystore-path ./validator-keystore --key-type audi

Alternative: Generate via RPC:

curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"id":1, "jsonrpc":"2.0", "method": "author_rotateKeys", "params":[]}' \
     http://localhost:9944

Note: When using RPC generation, the returned hex string contains all three keys concatenated in the correct order (BABE, GRANDPA, and the Authority Discovery).

1. Generate Node Key

./target/release/xorion-node key generate-node-key --file node-key

Use the generated node-key file and validator-keystore to start the validator node.

./target/release/xorion-node \
  --chain xorion-spec.json \
  --base-path ./xorion-validator \
  --validator \
  --name "YourValidatorName" \
  --blocks-pruning 10000 \
  --state-pruning 10000 \
  --node-key-file ./node-key \
  --keystore-path ./validator-keystore \
  --public-addr /ip4/YOUR_PUBLIC_IP/tcp/30334

1. Bond Your Tokens:

• Go to Network > Staking > Account Actions

• Click "+ Stash" to start the bonding process

• Choose your Stash account (holds the funds to be bonded)

• Select your Controller account (can be the same as stash or different)

• Choose Reward destination:

  • Stash account (increase amount at stake): Rewards compound automatically

  • Controller account: Rewards go to the controller, not staked automatically

  • Specified payment account: Send rewards to any account you choose

• Enter the amount to bond (leave some for transaction fees)

• Submit the bonding transaction

1. Set Session Keys:

• After bonding, you'll see options to either "Session Key" or "Nominate"

• Click "Session Key"

• Enter the session keys (the hex string from step 1)

• Submit the transaction and wait for confirmation

1. Start Validating:

• Once session keys are set correctly, the "Validate" option will appear

• Click "Validate"

• Set your validator preferences:

  • Reward commission: Percentage you keep from nominator rewards (0-100%)

  • Blocked nominators: Option to block specific nominators

• Submit the validated transaction

• Your validator will be active in the next era if you have enough stake

Important Notes:

• Your bonded funds will be locked for the unbonding period (typically 28 days)

• You need a minimum stake to be in the active validator set

• Session keys should be kept secure and backed up safely

Security Setup For Validators:

# Validator node (private, no RPC)
./target/release/xorion-node \
  --chain xorion-spec.json \
  --base-path ./xorion-validator \
  --validator \
  --name "YourValidatorName" \
  --node-key-file ./node-key \
  --keystore-path ./validator-keystore \ 
  --reserved-only \
  --reserved-nodes /ip4/SENTRY_IP/tcp/30333/p2p/SENTRY_PEER_ID

For more information, visit the Xorion Network Connection Guide.