Skip to main content
Validators
Running a Node in Production

Running a Node in Production

This document outlines the process for running a full ZetaChain node. It is intended for those who are familiar with the Linux operating system and the command line interface.

Set Limits on Open Files and Number of Processes​

To better manage the resources of your nodes, we recommend setting some limits on the maximum number of open file descriptors (nofile) and maximum number of processes (nproc).

Edit /etc/security/limits.conf to include or modify the following parameters:

*       soft    nproc   262144
*       hard    nproc   262144
*       soft    nofile  262144
*       hard    nofile  262144

Edit /etc/sysctl.conf to include the following:

fs.file-max=262144

Create "zetachain" User Account​

We recommend running ZetaChain binary files with a user account rather than as root.

useradd -m -s /bin/bash zetachain

Create ZetaChain Directory Structure​

This is needed to store ZetaChain binary and configuration files.

sudo su zetachain
mkdir -p /home/zetachain/.zetacored/bin
mkdir /home/zetachain/.zetacored/config

Create a Systemd Unit File​

We recommend using Systemd to start and stop ZetaChain binary files and view the logs. You can create a Systemd unit file at the following location /etc/systemd/system/zetacored.service:

[Unit]
Description=Zetacored Service
After=multi-user.target
StartLimitIntervalSec=0
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
[Service]
Type=simple
Restart=always
RestartSec=90
User=zetachain
LimitNOFILE=262144
ExecStart=zetacored start --home /home/zetachain/.zetacored/ --log_format json  --log_level info --moniker <YOUR_NODE_NAME_HERE>

Then start the service with systemctl start zetacored.

You can view the logs with journalctl -o cat -f -u zetacored.

CLI​

ZetaChain Core is built with the Cosmos SDK. There is an --help flag that can be used with any subcommand to learn its use and syntax.

zetacored --help

Monitoring​

In a production environment we recommend monitoring the node resources (CPU load, Memory Usage, Disk usage and Disk IO) for any performance degradation.

ZetaChain Core generates a log that can be monitored for errors and used for troubleshooting. If you install Zetacore as a Systemd service using the instructions above you can view this log with journalctl -o cat -f -u zetacored.

Prometheus can be enabled to serve metrics which can be consumed by Prometheus collector(s). Telemetry include Prometheus metrics can be enabled in the app.toml file. See the Cosmos SDK Telemetry Documentation for more information.

See more about your Validator Monitoring here.