# Updating Consensus Client

## :rocket: Automated Updates

:pill:**Install** [**EthPillar**](https://www.coincashew.com/spanish/coins/overview-eth/ethpillar): a simple companion UI for node management!

Update your software with a keystroke.

To update, navigate to

`EthPillar > Consensus Client > Update to latest release`

<figure><img src="https://content.gitbook.com/content/9KF47A90HRvVnkm4oDNF/blobs/sSXIr50eIY3CNOHWtLtC/cl-update.png" alt=""><figcaption><p>EthPillar Update</p></figcaption></figure>

## :fast\_forward: Manual Updates

When a new release is cut, you will want to update to the latest stable release. The following shows you how to update your beacon chain and validator.

{% hint style="warning" %}
Always review the **release notes** before updating. There may be changes requiring your attention.

* [Lighthouse](https://github.com/sigp/lighthouse/releases)
* [Lodestar](https://github.com/ChainSafe/lodestar/releases)
* [Teku](https://github.com/ConsenSys/teku/releases)
* [Nimbus](https://github.com/status-im/nimbus-eth2/releases)
* [Prysm](https://github.com/prysmaticlabs/prysm/releases)
  {% endhint %}

{% hint style="success" %}
:fire: **Pro tip**: Plan your update to overlap with the longest attestation gap. [Learn how here.](https://www.coincashew.com/spanish/coins/overview-eth/guide-or-how-to-setup-a-validator-on-eth2-mainnet/part-ii-maintenance/finding-the-longest-attestation-slot-gap)
{% endhint %}

## Step 1: Select your consensus client.

{% hint style="warning" %}
Staking setups prior to July 2023:

Using **beacon-chain** as the consensus client service name? [V1 update instructions available here.](https://www.coincashew.com/coins/overview-eth/archived-guides/guide-or-how-to-setup-a-validator-on-eth2-mainnet/part-ii-maintenance/updating-your-consensus-client)
{% endhint %}

### Lighthouse

<details>

<summary>Option 1 - Download binaries</summary>

Run the following to automatically download the latest linux release, un-tar and cleanup.

```bash
RELEASE_URL="https://api.github.com/repos/sigp/lighthouse/releases/latest"
BINARIES_URL="$(curl -s $RELEASE_URL | jq -r ".assets[] | select(.name) | .browser_download_url" | grep x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz$)"

echo Downloading URL: $BINARIES_URL

cd $HOME
# Download
wget -O lighthouse.tar.gz $BINARIES_URL
# Untar
tar -xzvf lighthouse.tar.gz -C $HOME
# Cleanup
rm lighthouse.tar.gz
```

Stop the services.

<pre class="language-bash"><code class="lang-bash"><strong>sudo systemctl stop consensus validator
</strong></code></pre>

Remove old binaries, install new binaries and restart the services.

<pre class="language-bash"><code class="lang-bash">sudo rm /usr/local/bin/lighthouse
<strong>sudo mv $HOME/lighthouse /usr/local/bin/lighthouse
</strong><strong>sudo systemctl start consensus validator
</strong></code></pre>

</details>

<details>

<summary>Option 2 - Build from source code</summary>

Build the binaries.

```bash
cd ~/git/lighthouse
git fetch --all && git checkout stable && git pull
make
```

:bulb:**Tip**: Improve some Lighthouse benchmarks by around 20% at the expense of increased compile time? Use `maxperf` profile.

* To compile with maxperf, replace the above `make` command with

```bash
PROFILE=maxperf make
```

In case of compilation errors, run the following sequence.

```bash
rustup update
cargo clean
make
```

Verify lighthouse was built properly by checking the version number.

```
lighthouse --version
```

Stop the services.

<pre class="language-bash"><code class="lang-bash"><strong>sudo systemctl stop consensus validator
</strong></code></pre>

Remove old binaries, install new binaries and restart the services.

<pre class="language-bash"><code class="lang-bash"><strong>sudo rm /usr/local/bin/lighthouse
</strong><strong>sudo cp $HOME/.cargo/bin/lighthouse /usr/local/bin/lighthouse
</strong>sudo systemctl start consensus validator
</code></pre>

</details>

### Lodestar

<details>

<summary>Option 1 - Build from source code</summary>

Pull the latest source and build Lodestar.

```bash
cd ~/git/lodestar
git checkout stable && git pull
yarn install
yarn run build
```

:warning: In case of build errors or missing dependencies, run the following command.

```bash
yarn clean:nm && yarn install
```

Verify Lodestar was installed properly by displaying the version.

```bash
./lodestar --version
```

Sample output of a compatible version.

```
🌟 Lodestar: TypeScript Implementation of the Ethereum Consensus Beacon Chain.
  * Version: v1.8.0/stable/a4b29cf
  * by ChainSafe Systems, 2018-2022
```

Stop the services.

<pre class="language-bash"><code class="lang-bash"><strong>sudo systemctl stop consensus validator
</strong></code></pre>

Remove old binaries, install new binaries and restart the services.

```bash
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/lodestar
sudo cp -a $HOME/git/lodestar /usr/local/bin/lodestar
sudo systemctl start consensus validator
```

</details>

### Teku

<details>

<summary>Option 1 - Download binaries</summary>

Run the following to automatically download the latest linux release, un-tar and cleanup.

```bash
RELEASE_URL="https://api.github.com/repos/ConsenSys/teku/releases/latest"
LATEST_TAG="$(curl -s $RELEASE_URL | jq -r ".tag_name")"
BINARIES_URL="https://artifacts.consensys.net/public/teku/raw/names/teku.tar.gz/versions/${LATEST_TAG}/teku-${LATEST_TAG}.tar.gz"
echo Downloading URL: $BINARIES_URL

cd $HOME
# Download
wget -O teku.tar.gz $BINARIES_URL
# Untar
tar -xzvf teku.tar.gz -C $HOME
# Rename folder
mv teku-* teku
# Cleanup
rm teku.tar.gz
```

Stop the services.

<pre class="language-bash"><code class="lang-bash"><strong>sudo systemctl stop consensus
</strong>
<strong># If running Standalone Teku Validator
</strong><strong>sudo systemctl stop validator
</strong></code></pre>

Remove old binaries, install new binaries and restart the services.

```bash
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/teku
sudo mv $HOME/teku /usr/local/bin/teku
sudo systemctl start consensus

# If running Standalone Teku Validator
sudo systemctl start validator
```

</details>

<details>

<summary>Option 2 - Build from source code</summary>

Fetch the latest tags and build the binaries.

```bash
cd ~/git/teku
# Get new tags
git fetch --tags
RELEASETAG=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/ConsenSys/teku/releases/latest | jq -r .tag_name)
git checkout tags/$RELEASETAG
./gradlew distTar installDist
```

Verify Teku was built properly by displaying the version.

```shell
cd $HOME/git/teku/build/install/teku/bin
./teku --version
```

Stop the services.

<pre class="language-bash"><code class="lang-bash"><strong>sudo systemctl stop consensus
</strong>
# If running Standalone Teku Validator
sudo systemctl stop validator
</code></pre>

Remove old binaries, install new binaries and restart the services.

```bash
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/teku
sudo cp -a $HOME/git/teku/build/install/teku /usr/local/bin/teku
sudo systemctl start consensus

# If running Standalone Teku Validator
sudo systemctl start validator
```

</details>

### Nimbus

<details>

<summary>Option 1 - Download binaries</summary>

Run the following to automatically download the latest linux release, un-tar and cleanup.

```bash
RELEASE_URL="https://api.github.com/repos/status-im/nimbus-eth2/releases/latest"
BINARIES_URL="$(curl -s $RELEASE_URL | jq -r ".assets[] | select(.name) | .browser_download_url" | grep _Linux_amd64.*.tar.gz$)"

echo Downloading URL: $BINARIES_URL

cd $HOME
# Download
wget -O nimbus.tar.gz $BINARIES_URL
# Untar
tar -xzvf nimbus.tar.gz -C $HOME
# Rename folder
mv nimbus-eth2_Linux_amd64_* nimbus
# Cleanup
rm nimbus.tar.gz
```

Stop the services.

<pre class="language-bash"><code class="lang-bash"><strong>sudo systemctl stop consensus
</strong><strong># If running standalone Nimbus Validator
</strong><strong>sudo systemctl stop validator
</strong></code></pre>

Remove old binaries, install new binaries, cleanup and restart the services.

```bash
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/nimbus_beacon_node
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/nimbus_validator_client
sudo mv nimbus/build/nimbus_beacon_node /usr/local/bin
sudo mv nimbus/build/nimbus_validator_client /usr/local/bin
rm -r nimbus
sudo systemctl start consensus
# If running standalone Nimbus Validator
sudo systemctl start validator
```

Reminder: In combined CL+VC Nimbus configuration, there will be no validator systemctl service.

</details>

<details>

<summary>Option 2 - Build from source code</summary>

Pull the latest source code and build the binary.

<pre class="language-bash"><code class="lang-bash">cd ~/git/nimbus-eth2
git checkout stable &#x26;&#x26; git pull
make -j$(nproc) update
<strong>make -j$(nproc) nimbus_beacon_node
</strong>make -j$(nproc) nimbus_validator_client
</code></pre>

Verify Nimbus was built properly by displaying the version.

```bash
cd $HOME/git/nimbus-eth2/build
./nimbus_beacon_node --version
```

Stop the services.

```bash
sudo systemctl stop consensus
# If running standalone Nimbus Validator
sudo systemctl stop validator
```

Remove old binaries, install new binaries and restart the services.

```bash
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/nimbus_beacon_node
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/nimbus_validator_client
sudo cp $HOME/git/nimbus-eth2/build/nimbus_beacon_node /usr/local/bin
sudo cp $HOME/git/nimbus-eth2/build/nimbus_validator_client /usr/local/bin
sudo systemctl start consensus
# If running standalone Nimbus Validator
sudo systemctl start validator
```

Reminder: In combined CL+VC Nimbus configuration, there will be no validator systemctl service.

</details>

### Prysm

<details>

<summary>Option 1 - Download binaries</summary>

Run the following to automatically download the latest binaries.

```bash
cd $HOME
prysm_version=$(curl -f -s https://prysmaticlabs.com/releases/latest)
file_beacon=beacon-chain-${prysm_version}-linux-amd64
file_validator=validator-${prysm_version}-linux-amd64
curl -f -L "https://prysmaticlabs.com/releases/${file_beacon}" -o beacon-chain
curl -f -L "https://prysmaticlabs.com/releases/${file_validator}" -o validator
chmod +x beacon-chain validator
```

Stop the services.

<pre class="language-bash"><code class="lang-bash"><strong>sudo systemctl stop consensus validator
</strong></code></pre>

Remove old binaries, install new binaries and restart the services.

```bash
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/beacon-chain
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/validator
sudo mv beacon-chain validator /usr/local/bin
sudo systemctl start consensus validator
```

</details>

<details>

<summary>Option 2 - Build from source code</summary>

Pull the latest source code and build the binaries.

```bash
cd $HOME/git/prysm
git fetch --tags
RELEASETAG=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/prysmaticlabs/prysm/releases/latest | jq -r .tag_name)
git checkout tags/$RELEASETAG
go build -o=./build/beacon-chain ./cmd/beacon-chain
go build -o=./build/validator ./cmd/validator
```

Stop the services.

<pre class="language-bash"><code class="lang-bash"><strong>sudo systemctl stop consensus validator
</strong></code></pre>

Remove old binaries, install new binaries and restart the services.

```bash
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/beacon-chain
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/validator
sudo cp $HOME/git/prysm/build/beacon-chain /usr/local/bin
sudo cp $HOME/git/prysm/build/validator /usr/local/bin
sudo systemctl start consensus validator
```

</details>

## Step 2: Verify services and logs are working properly

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Lighthouse | Prysm | Lodestar | Nimbus | Teku" %}

```bash
# Verify services status
sudo systemctl status consensus validator
```

```bash
# Check logs
sudo journalctl -fu consensus
```

```bash
sudo journalctl -fu validator
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title=" Combined BN+VC for Nimbus | Teku" %}

```bash
# Check services status
sudo systemctl status consensus 
```

```bash
# Check logs
sudo journalctl -fu consensus
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

## Step 3: Optional - Verify your validator's attestations on public block explorer

1\) Visit [https://beaconcha.in/](https://beaconcha.in) or [https://beaconscan.com/](https://beaconscan.com)

2\) Enter your validator's pubkey into the search bar and look for successful attestations.


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