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

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

View Logs

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

Stop

sudo systemctl stop consensus

Start

sudo systemctl start consensus

View Status

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! 🎉