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Run a t0rn Testnet Collator

This guide outlines the essential minimum of steps required to run a collator for t0rn - a release candidate of t3rn on the Rococo testnet. This guide uses the v1.4.0-rc.0 release, however always use the latest available version.

Make sure to have your machine setup for Rust and Substrate development.

Generate a Collator Keypair​

Install the subkey tool:

cargo install subkey --git https://github.com/paritytech/substrate

To generate a new generic Substrate keypair just run:

subkey generate

Save the entire output to a proper secret vault or at least keep note of the secret phrase.

Setup Directories​

Create the collator node's data and a specs directory:

mkdir -p ~/t0rn/{data,specs}

Option 1: Install a Prebuilt Collator​

We maintain collator binaries which we release alongside every runtime release. Our sole target platform is glibc based Linux. Download and extract the prebuild:

curl -sSfL \
  https://github.com/t3rn/t3rn/releases/download/v1.4.0-rc.0/t0rn-collator-v1.4.0-rc.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.gz \
| gunzip > ~/t0rn/circuit-collator

Don't forget to make it executable:

chmod +x ~/t0rn/circuit-collator

Fetch Chain Specs (Binary)​

To associate your node to the correct network we need to provide the t0rn chain spec as well as the Rococo chain specification. We need the latter as every collator runs an embedded relay chain node.

curl -sSfL \
  -o ~/t0rn/specs/rococo.raw.json \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/t3rn/t3rn/v1.4.0-rc.0/specs/rococo.raw.json

curl -sSfL \
  -o ~/t0rn/specs/t0rn.raw.json \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/t3rn/t3rn/v1.4.0-rc.0/specs/t0rn.raw.json

Option 2: Pull latest Docker image​

docker pull ghcr.io/t3rn/t0rn-collator:v1.4.0-rc.0

Select Boot Nodes​

caution

We are cuurrently revamping t0rn and will release our updated bootnodes once finished.

We publish these chain specs alongside our runtime releases.

Also, select a Rococo boot node:

rococo_boot_node="$(jq -r .bootNodes[0] ~/t0rn/specs/rococo.raw.json)"

or:

rococo_boot_node=/ip4/34.90.151.124/tcp/30333/p2p/12D3KooWF7BUbG5ErMZ47ZdarRwtpZamgcZqxwpnFzkhjc1spHnP

The t0rn boot node reads:

t0rn_boot_node=/dns/bootnode.t0rn.io/tcp/33333/p2p/12D3KooWEepV69XCJB4Zi193cZcm5W22ZR62DEP84iLFTUKVPtwp

Option 1: Start the Collator (Binary)​

~/t0rn/circuit-collator \
  --collator \
  --name my-collator \
  --base-path ~/t0rn/data \
  --chain ~/t0rn/specs/t0rn.raw.json \
  --bootnodes "$t0rn_boot_node" \
  --port 33333 \
  --rpc-port 8833 \
  --prometheus-port 7001 \
  --telemetry-url 'wss://telemetry.polkadot.io/submit 1' \
  --ws-port 9933 \
  --execution Wasm \
  --pruning=archive \
  --state-cache-size 0 \
  -- \
  --chain ~/t0rn/specs/rococo.raw.json \
  --bootnodes "$rococo_boot_node" \
  --port 10001 \
  --rpc-port 8001 \
  --ws-port 9001 \
  --execution Wasm

Option 2: Start the Collator (Docker image)​

docker run -p 33333:33333 -p 8833:8833 -p 9933:9933 \
  -v /node ghcr.io/t3rn/t0rn-collator:v1.4.0-rc.0 \
  --collator \
  --name genius \
  --base-path /node \
  --chain /node/specs/t0rn.raw.json \
  --bootnodes "$t0rn_boot_node" \
  --execution Wasm \
  --pruning=archive \
  --state-cache-size 0 \
  -- \
  --chain /node/specs/rococo.raw.json \
  --bootnodes "$rococo_boot_node" \
  --port 10001 \
  --rpc-port 8001 \
  --prometheus-port 7001 \
  --telemetry-url 'wss://telemetry.polkadot.io/submit 1' \
  --ws-port 9001 \
  --execution Wasm

When running the collator the first time, add the --rpc-methods=unsafe argument to be able to call rotateKeys later. Please restart your node after the registration process without the argument.

Set Your Collator's Aura Key​

Your collator needs an Aura identity in order to produce blocks.

The Aura key must be inserted into the keystore after startup.

For the Binary Collator:

~/t0rn/circuit-collator \
  key \
  insert \
  --base-path ~/t0rn/data \
  --chain ~/t0rn/specs/t0rn.raw.json \
  --scheme Sr25519 \
  --suri "your collator's secret phrase ..." \
  --key-type aura

For the Docker Collator: cd /usr/local/bin/

circuit-collator \
  key \
  insert \
  --base-path ~/t0rn/data \
  --chain ~/t0rn/specs/t0rn.raw.json \
  --scheme Sr25519 \
  --suri "your collator's secret phrase ..." \
  --key-type aura

Get Some T0RN Balance​

Your Collator needs some funds to register on testnet.

Go to the t0rn testnet faucet, insert your substrate address and get some T0RN to cover transaction costs.

Register as a candidate​

  1. Go to the polkadot.js app and connect your collator account by clicking "Add account", then inserting your previously generated secret phrase aka mnemonic.

  2. Generate a new session key pair and obtain the corresponding public key:

curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"id":1, "jsonrpc":"2.0", "method": "author_rotateKeys", "params":[]}' http://localhost:8833

Your output should look similar to:

{"jsonrpc":"2.0","result":"0x0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef","id":1}

The result key is your public key of the newly created session key pair. Copy it as it is needed in the next step.

  1. Set the session key for your collator under:
Developer --> Extrinsics --> session -> setKeys(sr25519_pubkey, 0x00)
  1. Now finally register your collator as candidate under:
Developer --> Extrinsics --> collatorSelection -> registerAsCandidate()

After some time your collator should be included and producing blocks! You can check here if your collator has registered successfully.