Prysm

Overview

Prysm is a Go implementation of Ethereum protocol with a focus on usability, security, and reliability. Prysm is developed by Prysmatic Labs, a company with the sole focus on the development of their client. Prysm is written in Go and released under a GPL-3.0 license.

Official Links

Subject	Links
Releases	https://github.com/prysmaticlabs/prysm/releases
Documentation	https://docs.prylabs.network
Website	https://prysmaticlabs.com

Subject

Links

Releases

https://github.com/prysmaticlabs/prysm/releases

Documentation

https://docs.prylabs.network

Website

https://prysmaticlabs.com

1. Initial configuration

Create a service user for the consensus service, create data directory and assign ownership.

sudo adduser --system --no-create-home --group consensus
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/prysm/beacon
sudo chown -R consensus:consensus /var/lib/prysm/beacon

Install dependencies.

sudo apt install curl jq git -y

2. Install Binaries

Downloading binaries is often faster and more convenient.
Building from source code can offer better compatibility and is more aligned with the spirit of FOSS (free open source software).

Option 1 - Download binaries

Run the following to automatically download the latest binaries.

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

Install the binaries.

sudo mv beacon-chain validator /usr/local/bin

Option 2 - Build from source code

Install Bazel

wget -O bazel https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazelisk/releases/download/v1.16.0/bazelisk-linux-amd64
chmod +x bazel
sudo mv bazel /usr/local/bin

Build the binaries.

mkdir -p ~/git
cd ~/git
git clone https://github.com/prysmaticlabs/prysm.git
cd prysm
git fetch --tags
RELEASETAG=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/prysmaticlabs/prysm/releases/latest | jq -r .tag_name)
git checkout tags/$RELEASETAG
bazel build //cmd/beacon-chain:beacon-chain --config=release
bazel build //cmd/validator:validator --config=release

Verify Prysm was built properly by displaying the help menu.

bazel run //beacon-chain -- --help

Install the binaries.

sudo cp -a $HOME/git/prysm /usr/local/bin/prysm

3. Setup and configure systemd

Create a systemd unit file to define your consensus.service configuration.

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/consensus.service

Depending on whether you're downloading binaries or building from source, choose the appropriate option. Paste the following configuration into the file.

Option 1 - Configuration for binaries

[Unit]
Description=Prysm Consensus Layer Client service for Goerli
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target
Documentation=https://www.coincashew.com

[Service]
Type=simple
User=consensus
Group=consensus
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=3
KillSignal=SIGINT
TimeoutStopSec=900
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/beacon-chain \
  --goerli \
  --datadir=/var/lib/prysm/beacon \
  --checkpoint-sync-url=https://goerli.beaconstate.info \
  --genesis-beacon-api-url=https://goerli.beaconstate.info \
  --execution-endpoint=http://localhost:8551 \
  --jwt-secret=/secrets/jwtsecret \
  --accept-terms-of-use=true \
  --suggested-fee-recipient=<0x_CHANGE_THIS_TO_MY_ETH_FEE_RECIPIENT_ADDRESS>

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Option 2 - Configuration for building from source

[Unit]
Description=Prysm Consensus Layer Client service for Goerli
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target
Documentation=https://www.coincashew.com

[Service]
Type=simple
User=consensus
Group=consensus
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=3
KillSignal=SIGINT
TimeoutStopSec=900
WorkingDirectory=/usr/local/bin/prysm
ExecStart=bazel run //cmd/beacon-chain --config=release -- \
  --goerli \
  --datadir=/var/lib/prysm/beacon \
  --checkpoint-sync-url=https://goerli.beaconstate.info \
  --genesis-beacon-api-url=https://goerli.beaconstate.info \
  --execution-endpoint=http://localhost:8551 \
  --jwt-secret=/secrets/jwtsecret \
  --accept-terms-of-use=true \
  --suggested-fee-recipient=<0x_CHANGE_THIS_TO_MY_ETH_FEE_RECIPIENT_ADDRESS>

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Replace<0x_CHANGE_THIS_TO_MY_ETH_FEE_RECIPIENT_ADDRESS> with your own Ethereum address that you control. Tips are sent to this address and are immediately spendable.
Not staking? If you only want a full node, delete the whole lines beginning with

--suggested-fee-recipient

To exit and save, press Ctrl + X, then Y, then Enter.

Run the following to enable auto-start at boot time.

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable consensus

Finally, start your consensus layer client and check it's status.

sudo systemctl start consensus
sudo systemctl status consensus

Press Ctrl + C to exit the status.

Check your logs to confirm that the consensus clients are up and syncing.

sudo journalctl -fu consensus | ccze

Example of Synced Consensus Client Logs

"Peer summary" activePeers=69 inbound=0 outbound=69 prefix=p2p
"Synced new block" block=0xb5ccb2f85... epoch=1837 finalizedEpoch=1838 finalizedRoot=0x1dce0... prefix=blockchain slot=21338 "Finished applying state transition" attestations=128 payloadHash=0x000000000000 prefix=blockchain slot=2138 syncBitsCount=213 txCount=0"terminal difficulty has not been reached yet" latestDifficulty=10000000 prefix=powchain terminalDifficulty=10000000

4. Helpful consensus client commands

sudo journalctl -fu consensus | ccze

Example of Synced Prysm Consensus Client Logs

time="2023-02-02 11:21:00" level=info msg="Peer summary" activePeers=35 inbound=10 outbound=25 prefix=p2p
time="2023-02-02 11:21:00" level=info msg="Synced new block" block=0xd9ddeza1289... epoch=11795 finalizedEpoch=111794 finalizedRoot=0x462e3275... prefix=blockchain slot=31205
time="2023-02-02 11:21:00" level=info msg="Finished applying state transition" attestations=64 payloadHash=0x000000000000 prefix=blockchain slot=31205 syncBitsCount=209 txCount=0

sudo systemctl stop consensus

sudo systemctl start consensus

sudo systemctl status consensus

Now that your consensus client is configured and started, you have a full node.

Proceed to the next step on setting up your validator client, which turns a full node into a staking node.

If you wanted to setup a full node, not a staking node, stop here! Congrats on running your own full node! 🎉

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