Setting Up Your GenLayer Validator

Running a GenLayer Validator node ensures the security and reliability of the GenLayer network. Below are the requirements for running a GenLayer validator.

Dependencies

LLM Access

Each validator needs access to a Large Language Model (LLM) for executing and evaluating Intelligent Contracts.

It is up to each validator to select the model they want to use.

Possible options:

• Run an open-source model locally on the same machine with a GPU
• Run an open-source model on a different machine
• Connect to a hosted inference provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Heurist, Atoma network etc.)

ZKSync Full Node for the GenLayer Chain

Each validator needs access to a ZKSync Full Node (opens in a new tab) connected to the GenLayer chain. Validators use this node to read the chain state and submit transactions.

One full node can be shared between multiple validators - TBD how many exactly.

System Requirements

Below are the initial recommended system requirements. These guidelines may change as the network grows and evolves.

RAM

• Recommended: 16 GB
• Why:
  • GenLayer's genvm can spawn multiple Sub-VMs for contract calls and non-deterministic blocks.
  • Each Sub-VM can consume up to ~4 GB of RAM for storage.

CPU

• Recommended: Modern multi-core processor with at least 8 cores/16 threads

Architecture

• Recommended: AMD64
• ARM64 is not supported at this time

Storage

• Recommended Disk Space: 128 GB+
• Preferred Type: SSD or NVMe (M.2)

Network

• 100 Mbps connection
• Recommended:: 1 Gbps+

GPU (Optional)

• GPU is Not Required
• If you want to run LLMs locally, you will need to select appropriate hardware (typically a CUDA-compatible GPU with sufficient VRAM for the model you intend to use)

Software

• Operating System - 64-bit Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, etc.)
• docker - for running the WebDriver container

Setup

Download the node software

1. Select the version of the node you want to run by checking the available builds

   You can use this command to list available versions:

   curl "https://storage.googleapis.com/storage/v1/b/gh-af/o?prefix=genlayer-node/bin/amd64" | grep -o '"name": *"[^"]*"' | sed -n 's/.*\/\(v[0-9.]*-[^/]*\)\/.*/\1/p' | sort -u

   You should see a list like this

    v0.1.0-testnet002
    v0.1.0-testnet003
    v0.1.0-testnet004
    v0.1.0-testnet005
    v0.1.0-testnet006
    v0.1.0-testnet007
    v0.1.0-testnet008

   Typically you will want to run the latest version

2. Download the packaged application

   export version=v0.1.0-testnet008 # set your desired version here
   wget https://storage.googleapis.com/gh-af/genlayer-node/bin/amd64/${version}/genlayer-node-linux-amd64-${version}.tar.gz

3. Extract the node software

   tar -xzvf genlayer-node-linux-amd64-${version}.tar.gz

4. Change the directory

   cd genlayer-node-linux-amd64

Configuration

Before you scan start up the node, you need to configure it.

config.yaml

This is the main configuration file of your node. Without it, your node won't start

The file needs to be located at configs/node/config.yaml

You can use the following example configuration.

You do not need to modify most of the predefined values. You do however need to set two values - zksyncurl and zksyncwebsocketurl

rollup:
  zksyncurl: "TODO: Set your GenLayer Chain ZKSync HTTP RPC URL here" # ZKSync RPC URL
  zksyncwebsocketurl: "TODO: Set your GenLayer Chain ZKSync WebSocket RPC URL here" # ZKSync WebSocket URL
consensus:
  contractmanageraddress: "0x07Eda7CdbA3b7aA72B288f8bB8Ae24A8D74e2675" # ConsensusManager Smart Contract Address
  contractmainaddress: "0x1b5366b03EF7ff3A430BaA9C38AC98B26aB33E0f" # ConsensusMain Smart Contract Address
  contractdataaddress: "0xE99401E8d03143518a606060CE762546D69a66fa" # ConsensusData Smart Contract Address
  contractidlenessaddress: "0xe2348B7724B4913932309C1aeD117A66063E0fD4" # ConsensusIdleness Smart Contract Address
datadir: "./data/node" # Cache directory
logging:
  level: "INFO" # Log level
node:
  mode: "validator" # "validator" or "archive"
  rpc:
    port: 9151 # JSON RPC port
    endpoints:
      groups:
        ethereum: true # Enable Ethereum RPC endpoints
        debug: false # Enable debug endpoints
      methods: # Enabled `eth_` methods
        eth_blockNumber: true
        eth_getBlockByNumber: true
        eth_getBlockByHash: true
        eth_sendRawTransaction: false
  ops:
    port: 9153 # Metrics port
    endpoints:
      metrics: true # Enable metrics endpoint
      health: true # Enable health endpoint
  dev: # Configuration for development purposes
    disableSubscription: false # Disable subscription
 
# Advanced configuration
merkleforest:
  maxdepth: 16
  dbpath: "./data/node/merkle/forest/data.db"
  indexdbpath: "./data/node/merkle/index.db"
merkletree:
  maxdepth: 16
  dbpath: "./data/node/merkle/tree/"
genvm:
  presets:
    - name: "preset_1"
      enabled: true
      type: "local"
  instances:
    - name: "genvm_local_1"
      usePreset: "preset_1"
      enabled: true
      type: "local"
      execution:
        timeout: 30s
      executable: "./third_party/genvm/bin/genvm"
      tempDir: "./tmp/genvm/genvm_local_1"

GenVM

You also need to configure the GenVM by connecting it to an LLM of your choice.

You can configure the GenVM in third_party/genvm/share/genvm/default-config.json. The json schema will guide you on how to configure each field.

Default config

{
  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yeagerai/genvm/refs/heads/main/doc/schemas/default-config.json",
  "modules": {
    "llm": {
      "config": {
        "host": "TODO: LLM Provider Host", # e.g "https://sequencer-v2.heurist.xyz"
        "provider": "openai-compatible",
        "model": "TODO: Model ID",
        "key_env_name": "LLM_PROVIDER_KEY"
      }
    },
    "web": {
      "config": {
        "host": "http://127.0.0.1:4444"
      }
    }
  }
}

Set Up The Validator Key

In this step we'll generate your validator key and address.

./bin/genlayernode account new -c $(pwd)/configs/node/config.yaml --setup --password "your secret password" # Remember it! You will need it to unlock your account when running the node

You should see the following output:

Account created:
  New address: 0xA0b12Fd2f3F7e86fEC458D114A5E7a6f571160a8
  Account setup as a validator

./bin/genlayernode account export --password "your node password" --address "your validator address" --passphrase "your backup encryption passphrase" --export "/path/to/your/secure/backup.key"

Running the node

Once you have configured everything, you are ready to start the node.

1. Run the WebDriver container

   docker compose up -d # Starts the WebDriver needed by the GenVM web module

2. Run the node

   export LLM_PROVIDER_KEY='your_llm_provider_api_key' # Set the env var specified in default-config.json
   ./bin/genlayernode run -c $(pwd)/configs/node/config.yaml --password "your secret password" # The same password you used when creating the account