syntropy-validator-ansible

This GitHub repository has the required documents that can be used to deploy a single validator or even multiple.

Deployment of a single validator should take less than 10mins and for multiple validators under 1 hour.

The validator software is provided by Syntropy, more information about Syntropy can found here.

Notice: Please be aware this playbook just covers server hardening and container start up. It does not handle backups & monitoring which is highly suggested to setup! For assistance with setting up backups & monitoring for your validator(s) then I would suggest joining the discord here.

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If this has helped you in anyway and want to help me to continue updating this, by sending a little contribution then please do:

• Ethereum Address: 0x9DE8aC561aEBBa42a1D322F101dFe02171e1D4Cb
• Bitcoin Address: bc1qa7fnea3vxcje5xywdchhuzr8u6az3mje95lxuv

Contents

• Assumptions
• Pre-reqs
• Steps to complete
• Advanced Users

Assumptions

1. You have been provided your validator access key(s)
2. You have already ordered your VPS(') or dedicated server(s) and have been provided the login credentials
3. The operating syetem of the VPS(') or dedicated server (s) is supported by the ansible playbook (see list below)

• Debian 9, 10 & 11
• Ubuntu 18.04 & 20.04

4. You have at least a basic understanding of working with Linux

Pre-reqs

Your computer/ansible controller will need to have ansible installed, this can be completed by looking here. Be aware as mentioned within the site linked, Ansible does not support Windows and as such if you are on Windows I would suggest installing WSL(Windows Subsystem for Linux) using this guide here. After which you can start a Ubuntu flavor WSL and install Ansible.

Your computer/ansible controller will need to have git installed, this can be completed by looking here.

Steps to complete

1. Clone this repo
   git clone https://github.com/HNGamingUK/syntropy-validator-ansible.git

2. cd into cloned repo
   cd syntropy-validator-ansible

3. Run script to install required ansible modules
   ./ansible-modules.sh

4. Create Ansible vault password file
   4a. nano ~/.vault_pass
   4b. Enter password of your choice
   4c. Use ctrl + x to exit, following on-screen information to save

5. Create an Ansible vault
   5a. Copy contents of vault-example
   5b. ansible-vault create ~/.vault.yaml
   5c. Paste copied content into nano window
   5d. Edit information to values as required (ID can be left at 1111 if you wish), if you plan to deploy multiple validators then repeat section below (incrementing the validator number by 1 each time):

   validator1_name: hnguk-validator1
   validator1_key: access1234
   

   5e. Use ctrl + x to exit, following on-screen information to save

6. Create Ansible ssh key
   ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/ansible - Press enter when asked for a passphrase

7. Create user ssh key
   ssh-keygen -f ~/.ssh/my_user - Replace my_user with same name entered in step 5d - Enter a passphrase when asked if you wish (this phrase will need to be entered whenever you manually login to the validator(s))

8. Inital Validator setup (Repeat if you plan to run multiple validators)
   8a. Login to validator in a separate window with credentials provided
   8b. Enter the following commands in order (for the final command replace ansible public key with the contents of ~/.ssh/ansible.pub on your Ansible host)
   sudo adduser ansible -gecos "" --disabled-password
sudo echo "ansible ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL" >> /etc/sudoers
sudo mkdir /home/ansible/.ssh
sudo echo "ansible public key" > /home/ansible/.ssh/authorized_keys
   8c. Logout of validator

9. Edit the inventory file
   9a. nano inventory
   9b. Change IP to the IP address you recieved from your provider (if you plan to use mutliple validators add further entries and increment the validator number by 1)
   9c. Use ctrl + x to exit, following on-screen information to save

10. Finally run the playbook! ansible-playbook -i inventory syntropy-validator.yaml

That's it! Your validator should now be online, you can confirm this by going to the telemetry ui and staking dashboard (links below)

• Telemetry UI
• Staking Dashboard

Advanced Users

The guide above is deffinately helpful for advanced users but there are potentially some methods of config that you have done differently to me. As such I have outlined them below so you know how to change them (if you want) to conform to your own standard.

1. Ansible config file With this file you will see the sections I have made edits to are uncommented and have data entered. If the data located in the config file does not meet your standards feel free to make edits to make it work for you.

2. Ansible user As per the guide above I use an ansible user that Ansible uses to login and make the config changes. With the private key being in ~/.ssh/ansible if this is not how your setup works you will need to edit the config file as mentioned above.

3. Vault password file location I store the vault password in ~/.vault_pass if you store yours in a different location then you will need to change it on line 140 within the Ansible config file.

4. Vault file location I store the vault file in ~/.vault.yaml if you store yours in a different location then you will need to change it on line 5 within the playbook file.

5. Vault file contents Please see vault-example file for the variables that need to be added to your vault file and edited with your own data.