How to run a Gnosis Chain node

System Requirements

Follow the Prerequisites:

• For an archive node of Gnosis Chain mainnet: 1.7TB

• For a full node: 530GB

DO NOT USE HDD: Hard Disk Drives (HDD) are not recommended for running Erigon, as it may cause the node to stay N blocks behind the chain tip and lead to performance issues.

USE SSD or NVMe: Solid State Drives (SSD) or Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) drives are recommended for optimal performance. These storage devices provide faster read/write speeds and can handle the demanding requirements of an Erigon node.

Install Erigon​

For MacOS and Linux, run the following commands to build the latest Erigon version from source:

git clone --branch v2.60.10 --single-branch https://github.com/ledgerwatch/erigon.git
cd erigon
make erigon

This should create the binary at ./build/bin/erigon.

If you are using Windows follow first the dedicated installation guide or use Docker.

Start Erigon​

If you want to be able to send transactions with your wallet and access the Ethereum network directly, and contribute to the network decentralization it is advised to run Erigon with Caplin, the internal Consensus Layer (CL).

Alternatively you can also run Lighthouse or any other Consensus Layer client alongside with Erigon. This will also allow you to access the Ethereum blockchain directly and give you the possibility to stake your GNO and produce blocks.

Erigon with Caplin

The command to start a Gnosis Chain archive node is:

./build/bin/erigon --chain=gnosis --internalcl

The flag --internalcl trigger Erigon to run with Caplin, the embedded Consensus Layer.

Erigon with Lighthouse

Start Erigon

./build/bin/erigon --chain=gnosis

Install Lighthouse, another popular client that can be used with Erigon for block building. Follow the instructions until the chapter Build Lighthouse, skipping the make instruction.

Build from Source - Lighthouse Book

Lighthouse installation instructions

Now compile Lighthouse in order to run Gnosis Chain using the feature flags :

cd lighthouse
env FEATURES=gnosis make

Because Erigon needs a target head in order to sync, Lighthouse must be synced before Erigon may synchronize. The fastest way to synchronize Lighthouse is to use one of the many public checkpoint synchronization endpoints:

• https://checkpoint.gnosischain.com for Gnosis Chain

• https://checkpoint.chiadochain.net for Chiado Testnet

In order to communicate with Erigon the execution endpoint <erigon address>:8551 must be specified, where <erigon address> is either //localhost or the IP address of the device running Erigon.

Lighthouse must point to the JWT secret automatically created by Erigon in the datadir directory (in the below example the default data directory is used).

Below is an example of Lighthouse running Gnosis Chain:

lighthouse \
--network gnosis beacon_node \
--datadir=data \
--http \
--execution-endpoint http://localhost:8551 \
--execution-jwt /home/admin/.local/share/erigon/jwt.hex \
--checkpoint-sync-url "https://checkpoint.gnosischain.com"

Below is an example of Lighthouse running Chiado testnet:

lighthouse \
--network chiado \
--datadir=data \
--http \
--execution-endpoint http://localhost:8551 \
--execution-jwt /home/admin/.local/share/erigon/jwt.hex \
--checkpoint-sync-url "https://checkpoint.chiadochain.net"

Basic Configuration​

• If you want to store Erigon files in a non-default location, add flag --datadir=<your_data_dir>

  • Default data directory is /home/admin/.local/share/erigon.

• --prune=hrtc to run a full node with latest 90'000 blocks instead of an archive node. If you change your mind remember to delete the --datadir folder content.

• For Gnosis Chain use --chain=gnosis, for Chiado testnet use --chain=chiado.

• --http.addr="0.0.0.0" --http.api=eth,web3,net,debug,trace,txpool to use RPC and e.g. be able to connect your wallet.

• To increase download speed add --torrent.download.rate=512mb (default is 16mb)

To stop the Erigon node you can use the CTRL+C command. Additional flags can be added to configure the node with several options.

Block Production (PoS Validator) is not supported/tested for Gnosis Chain (In Progress)