Validator Creation

Includes additional common commands

Validator Creation on Testnet

To create a validator on the testnet, execute the following command:

elysd tx staking create-validator \
  --amount=1000000uelys \
  --pubkey=$(elysd tendermint show-validator) \
  --moniker="choose a moniker" \
  --chain-id=elystestnet-1 \
  --commission-rate="0.05" \
  --commission-max-rate="0.50" \
  --commission-max-change-rate="0.01" \
  --min-self-delegation="1000000" \
  --gas="auto" \
  --fees="0.1elys" \
  --from=<key_name>

Note: comission-max-rate is a permanent parameter and cannot be changed in a future validator edit. The example above shows a maximum validator comission of 50%

Commission Parameters

When specifying commission parameters, the commission-max-change-rate is utilized to calculate the percentage point change over the commission rate. For instance, going from 1% to 2% represents a 100% rate increase, but only a 1 percentage point increase.

Definition of Min-self-delegation

min-self-delegation refers to a positive integer value that denotes the minimum level of self-delegated voting power that must always be maintained by the validator. For instance, a min-self-delegation of 1000000 signifies that the validator will never have a self-delegation value lower than 1 ELYS.

Validator Set Confirmation

Third-party explorers can be used to verify if a node has been included in the validator set.

Editing Validator Description

Validators can edit their public description to enable delegators to identify their validator and determine which validators to delegate their stake to. It is essential to provide input for every flag below when executing the command. If a flag is excluded, the field will default to empty (--moniker defaults to the machine name) if the field has never been set, or remain the same if it has been set in the past.

The <key_name> specifies the validator being edited. If certain flags are not included, remember that the --from flag must be included to identify the validator to update.

The --identity flag can be utilized to verify the identity of validators with systems like Keybase or UPort. When using Keybase, the --identity flag should be populated with a 16-digit string generated from a keybase.io account. This is a secure method of verifying the validator's identity across multiple online networks. The Keybase API can retrieve the Keybase avatar, allowing validators to add a logo to their validator profile.

elysd tx staking edit-validator \
 --new-moniker="choose a moniker" \
 --website="https://elys.network" \
 --details="To infinity and beyond!" \
 --chain-id=<chain_id> \
 --gas="auto" \
 --fees=0.1elys \
 --from=<key_name> \
 --commission-rate="0.10"
```

### Commission-Rate Value Constraints

Note that the `commission-rate` value must satisfy the following invariants:

- It must fall between 0 and the validator's `commission-max-rate`.
- It must not exceed the validator's `commission-max-change-rate`, which denotes the maximum percentage point change rate allowed per day. In other words, a validator can only change its commission once per day and within the `commission-max-change-rate` limits.

## Validator Description Viewing

Use the following command to view the validator's information:

```bash
elysd query staking validator <account_cosmos>

Validator Signing Information Tracking

To track a validator's past signatures, use the signing-info command as shown below:

elysd query slashing signing-info <validator-pubkey> --chain-id=<chain_id>

Unjailing a Validator

If a validator is "jailed" for downtime, an unjail transaction must be submitted from the operator account to enable the receipt of block proposer rewards again (dependent on the zone fee distribution). Execute the command as follows:

elysd tx slashing unjail --from=<key_name> --chain-id=<chain_id>

Validator Confirmation

Your validator is deemed active if the following command returns a result:

elysd query tendermint-validator-set | grep "$(elysd tendermint show-address)"

You should be able to locate your validator in one of Elys explorers by looking for the bech32 encoded address in the ~/.elysd/config/priv_validator.json file.

Note that to be included in the validator set, the total voting power must exceed that of the 100th validator.

Graceful Halting of Validator

When undertaking routine maintenance or preparing for an upcoming coordinated upgrade, it may be beneficial to systematically and gracefully halt the validator. This can be accomplished in two ways:

Setting the halt-height to the desired height at which the node will shut down. Passing the --halt-height flag to elysd.

The node will gracefully shut down at the specified height after committing the block, exiting with a zero exit code.