Create the private key shares

caution

Charon is in a beta state and should be used with caution according to its Terms of Use.

info

Running a Distributed Validator alone means that a single operator manages all of the nodes of the DV. Depending on the operators security preferences, the private key shares can be created centrally, and distributed securely to each node. This is the focus of the below guide.

Alternatively, the private key shares can be created in a lower-trust manner with a Distributed Key Generation process, which avoids the validator private key being stored in full anywhere, at any point in its lifecycle. Follow the group quickstart instead for this latter case.

Pre-requisites

• Ensure you have docker installed.
• Make sure docker is running before executing the commands below.

Create the key shares locally

Charon Command

Create the artifacts needed to run a DV cluster by running the following command to setup the inputs for the DV. Check the Charon CLI reference for additional optional flags to set.

WITHDRAWAL_ADDR=[ENTER YOUR WITHDRAWAL ADDRESS HERE]
FEE_RECIPIENT_ADDR=[ENTER YOUR FEE RECIPIENT ADDRESS HERE]
NB_NODES=[ENTER AMOUNT OF DESIRED NODES]
NETWORK="goerli"

Then, run this command to create all the key shares and cluster artifacts locally:

docker run --rm -v "$(pwd):/opt/charon" obolnetwork/charon:v0.18.0 create cluster --name="Quickstart Cluster" --withdrawal-addresses="${WITHDRAWAL_ADDR}" --fee-recipient-addresses="${FEE_RECIPIENT_ADDR}" --nodes="${NB_NODES}" --network="${NETWORK}" --num-validators=1 --cluster-dir="cluster"

Launchpad UI

Go to the Obol Goerli DV Launchpad and select Create a distributed validator alone. Follow the steps to configure your DV cluster.

After successful completion, a subdirectory cluster/ should be created. In it are as many folders as nodes of the cluster. Each folder contains charon artifacts and partial private keys needed for each node of the cluster.

Once you have made a backup of the cluster/ folder, you can move to deploying this cluster physically.