Solana Mainnet Validator - Quickstart | SLV - The Toolkit for Solana Devs

Introduction

To deploy a Solana mainnet validator, you'll use the SLV command-line tool. This quickstart guide explains how to launch and deploy a mainnet validator hot spare. SLV mainnet validators support keyless operation. No sensitive information is stored within the validator node.

You must have Ubuntu 24.04 LTS clean installed on your server.

Preparing a Baremetal Server

While it is possible to run a Solana node on VPS or virtual machines (VM), achieving optimal performance and stable operation is challenging. Solana officially recommends the use of baremetal servers.

Recommended server specifications are as follows:

Agave recommended specs: 24-core CPU, 256GB RAM or higher
Firedancer recommended specs: 32-core CPU, 512GB RAM or higher

For the best balance of cost and performance, choosing Agave with a 24-core CPU and 384GB RAM is ideal. (This recommendation ensures not merely the minimum to run a validator, but stable operation and reliable returns.) SLV Metal offers this configuration starting at €580 per month.

When you run the slv v init command, you will be asked whether your baremetal server is already set up:

bash
➜ slv v init
? Select Solana Network (testnet) › mainnet
? 🛡️ Do you have a Solana Node Compatible Server? (no)
❯ yes
  no

This tutorial assumes you select yes.

If you have not yet prepared your baremetal server, please refer to the Baremetal Server Setup Guide.

Additionally, you may find these resources helpful:

Deploy Solana Mainnet Jito Validator

This command will prompt you to provide necessary information to deploy.

bash
slv v init

New SLV Deployment is always use unstaked-keypair.json for the identity key. This is the best practice to avoid double voting, and etc.

So Please make sure to set the authorized identity key with slv v set:identity after the deployment. Most of the mainnet case you use slv v switch to change the identity key with no downtime. Please refer to this guide for more information.

Select the Solana Network

Select the Solana Network you want to deploy.

bash
slv v init
? Select Solana Network (mainnet)
  testnet
❯ mainnet

Input Server's Default Username

Most of the time, the default username is ubuntu.

bash
? What's the user for the server? (ubuntu) › ubuntu

Input Server's IP Address

Input the IP address of the server.

bash
? What's the IP address of the server? ›

Set RSA Key for SSH

※ Please set the path to your RSA key. The default path is ~/.ssh/id_rsa. Currently, only the default path is supported.

bash
? What's the path to your RSA key? (~/.ssh/id_rsa) › ~/.ssh/id_rsa
🔍 Checking SSH connection...
✔︎ SSH connection succeeded

Then SLV will check the connection to the server. If the connection is successful, the next step will be prompted.

Select Solana Validator Type

Select the type of Solana validator.

bash
? Select Validator Type (jito)
❯ jito
  firedancer

Set Commission Rate

Set the commission rate for your validator. ※ 1000 equals 10%.

bash
? Enter Commission Bps (1000) › 1000

Set Region

Enter the region where the server is located.

bash
? 🌐 Select Block Engine Region
❯ amsterdam
  frankfurt
  ny
  salt_lake_city
  tokyo

Set Relayer URL

Enter the Relayer URL.

bash
? Enter Relayer URL (http://localhost:11226) › http://localhost:11226

Set Relayer Account

Enter the Relayer Account.

bash
? Enter Relayer Account(Optional) () › xxxxxxxxxxxPubkeyxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Set Staked RPC Identity (Optional)

Enter the Staked RPC Identity. If you don't have a specific setting, press Enter to skip.

bash
? Enter Staked RPC Identity(Optional) () ›

Set Snapshot URL (Optional)

Enter the Snapshot URL. If you don't have a specific setting, press Enter to skip.

bash
? Enter Snapshot URL(Optional) () › http://

Generate or Set the Solana Validator Identity

You can generate a new identity key or set an existing identity key. This example shows how to set an existing identity key.

bash
? Do you want to create a new identity key now? (Y/n) › No
? Please Enter Your Identity Public Key › EjDwu2Czy8eWEYRuNwtjniYks47Du3KNJ6JY9rs3aFSV
⚠️ Please place your identity key in

  ~/.slv/keys/EjDwu2Czy8eWEYRuNwtjniYks47Du3KNJ6JY9rs3aFSV.json
.
.
✔︎ Success
✔ Inventory updated to ~/.slv/inventory.yml
✔ Successfully created solv user on x.x.x.x

Please place your identity key in ~/.slv/keys/<your-pubkey>.json. ※ This key is not copied into the node, but is needed to later change to an authorized identity key.

Then, SLV will create the solv user with your password.

Generate or Set the Solana Vote Account

You can generate a new vote account key or set an existing vote account key. This example shows how to set an existing vote account key.

bash
? Do you want to create a new vote account key now? (Y/n) › No
? Please Enter Your Vote Account Public Key > <your-vote-account>

Set Your Authority Public Key

Please input your authority public key. This key is used to withdraw rewards from the vote account.

bash
? Please Enter Your Vote Account's Authority Key › <your-authority-pubkey>
✔︎ Validator mainnet config saved to ~/.slv/inventory.mainnet.validators.yml

Set UFW Firewall

The UFW firewall is configured to allow SSH connections only from specific IP addresses. To add to the existing whitelist, select Keep and add more.

bash
🔒 Updating Allowed SSH IPs for mainnet_validators

Current Allowed SSH IPs:
  - x.x.x.x
  - x.x.x.x
? What would you like to do with the current IPs?
❯ Keep and add more
  Replace all
  Keep as is

Next, enter the IP addresses that are allowed to connect to the node.

bash
🔒 Updating Allowed IPs for mainnet_validators

Current Allowed IPs:
  - x.x.x.x
  - x.x.x.x
? What would you like to do with the current IPs?
❯ Keep and add more
  Replace all
  Keep as is

This completes the firewall configuration. To update the whitelist later, run the following command:

bash
slv v update:allowed-ips

~/.slv/versions.yml saves the configuration, including IP and version information.

~/.slv/inventory.mainnet.validators.yml saves the validator node information.

Deploy the Validator

Once you confirm the configuration, the deployment will start.

bash
slv v deploy -n mainnet -p elsoul-spare
Your Mainnet Validators Settings:
┌────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Identity Key   │ elsoul-spare                                 │
├────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Vote Key       │ ELLB9W7ZCwRCV3FzWcCWoyKP6NjZJKArLyGtkqefnHcG │
├────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Authority Key  │ auth                                         │
├────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ IP             │ 185.209.178.39                               │
├────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Validator Type │ jito                                         │
├────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Version        │ 2.1.16                                       │
└────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────────┘
? Do you want to continue? (Y/n) › Yes
.
.
.
Successfully deployed validator on mainnet
⚡️⚡️⚡️ Enhanced Solana RPC Connection API Key ⚡️⚡️⚡️

We're excited to offer a free API key exclusively for the Validators DAO community 🎉
It's our way of supporting the community and empowering you with fast, reliable connections.

To get your Free API key, simply join us through the link below:

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Unlock fast connections and elevate your experience with your very own API key 🚀

It's done! Your Solana Validator is now deployed. It will take some time to catch up with the Solana network.

Debugging & Monitoring

You can debug and monitor the Solana RPC node after deployment.

bash
$ solv m

solv is an alias for agave-validator -l /mnt/ledger. This setting is added to ~/.profile during the RPC node deployment.

Change the Identity Key

After the deployment, you need to change the identity key from the unstaked key to the authorized identity key.

bash
slv v set:identity -n mainnet --pubkey <your-identity-pubkey>

This command will change the identity key to the authorized identity key.

※ For no-downtime migration - Please refer to this guide for more information.

SLV Validator Commands

bash
Usage:   slv validator
Version: 0.8.0

Description:

  Manage Solana Validator Nodes

Options:

  -h, --help  - Show this help.

Commands:

  init                - Initialize a new validator
  deploy              - Deploy Validators
  list                - List validators
  set:identity        - Set Validator Identity
  set:unstaked        - Set Validator Identity to Unstaked Key Stop/Change Identity/Start
  restart             - Stop and Start Validator
  setup:firedancer    - Setup Firedancer Validator - Testnet Only
  setup:relayer       - Setup Jito Relayer - Mainnet Only
  deploy:relayer      - Setup Jito Relayer - Mainnet Only
  update:version      - Update Validator Version
  update:script       - Update Validator Startup Config
  apply               - Apply Ansiible Playbook
  update:allowed-ips  - Update allowed IPs for mainnet validator nodes
  switch              - Switch Validator Identity - No DownTime Migration