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Celestia Node Installation

This guide will walk you through installing a Celestia Light Node.

System Requirements​

System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

  • CPU: 1 core
  • RAM: 2 GB
  • Storage: 25 GB SSD
  • Network: 100 Mbps

Recommended Requirements

  • CPU: 2 cores
  • RAM: 4 GB
  • Storage: 50 GB SSD
  • Network: 100 Mbps

Prerequisites​

  • Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or later
  • Root or sudo access
  • Stable internet connection

Installation Steps​

Step 1: Install Go​

Install Go 1.20.3

install-go.sh
# Install dependencies
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y curl tar wget clang pkg-config libssl-dev build-essential git make ncdu

# Install Go 1.20.3
cd $HOME
wget "https://golang.org/dl/go1.20.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz"
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/go
sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf "go1.20.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz"
rm "go1.20.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz"

# Set up Go environment
cat <<'EOF' >> $HOME/.profile
export GOROOT=/usr/local/go
export GOPATH=$HOME/go
export GO111MODULE=on
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin:$HOME/go/bin
EOF

source $HOME/.profile

# Verify installation
go version

Note: This script installs Go 1.20.3 and sets up the environment. You may need to restart your terminal or run source ~/.profile for changes to take effect.

Step 2: Clone and Build Celestia Node​

cd $HOME
rm -rf celestia-node
git clone https://github.com/celestiaorg/celestia-node.git
cd celestia-node/
git checkout tags/v0.9.5
make build
make install
make cel-key

Verify the installation:

celestia version

Expected output:

Semantic version: v0.9.5
Commit: 2fa72c7199e5b93772a2c7e25141cfbd28f16a8e
Build Date: Tue 16 May 2023 06:52:10 PM CEST
System version: amd64/linux
Golang version: go1.20.3

Step 3: Initialize the Node​

This command will create a new wallet named my_celes_key.

warning

Remember to save the address and mnemonics of this wallet!

celestia light init --p2p.network blockspacerace
  • When the above command is entered, it should give a result like the following.
2023-03-27T21:05:40.875Z        INFO    node    nodebuilder/init.go:29  Initializing Light Node Store over '/root/.celestia-light-blockspacerace-0'
2023-03-27T21:05:40.876Z        INFO    node    nodebuilder/init.go:61  Saved config    {"path": "/root/.celestia-light-blockspacerace-0/config.toml"}
2023-03-27T21:05:40.876Z        INFO    node    nodebuilder/init.go:63  Accessing keyring...
2023-03-27T21:05:40.881Z        WARN    node    nodebuilder/init.go:135 Detected plaintext keyring backend. For elevated security properties, consider using the `file` keyring backend.
2023-03-27T21:05:40.882Z        INFO    node    nodebuilder/init.go:150 NO KEY FOUND IN STORE, GENERATING NEW KEY...    {"path": "/root/.celestia-light-blockspacerace-0/keys"}
2023-03-27T21:05:40.901Z        INFO    node    nodebuilder/init.go:155 NEW KEY GENERATED...

NAME: my_celes_key
ADDRESS: celestia1xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MNEMONIC (save this mnemonic) 12 words
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx........................

NOTE: The core ip, rpc port, grpc port in the ExecStart command are taken from the endpoints provided in the Celestia documentation (https://docs.celestia.org/nodes/blockspace-race/#rpc-endpoints) and there are alternatives. If you want, you can change here and use different endpoints.

Start Node​

  • Enter the following code while on the Tmux screen.
celestia light start --core.ip https://rpc-blockspacerace.pops.one --core.rpc.port 26657 --core.grpc.port 9090 --keyring.accname my_celes_key --metrics.tls=false --metrics --metrics.endpoint otel.celestia.tools:4318 --gateway --gateway.addr localhost --gateway.port 26659 --p2p.network blockspacerace

Step 4: Create Systemd Service​

/etc/systemd/system/celestia-lightd.service
sudo tee <<EOF >/dev/null /etc/systemd/system/celestia-lightd.service
[Unit]
Description=celestia-lightd Light Node
After=network-online.target

[Service]
User=$USER
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/celestia light start --core.ip https://rpc-blockspacerace.pops.one --core.rpc.port 26657 --core.grpc.port 9090 --keyring.accname my_celes_key --metrics.tls=false --metrics --metrics.endpoint otel.celestia.tools:4318 --gateway --gateway.addr localhost --gateway.port 26659 --p2p.network blockspacerace
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=3
LimitNOFILE=4096

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

Step 5: Start the Node​

Service Management Commands

Start service
sudo systemctl start celestia-lightd
Stop service
sudo systemctl stop celestia-lightd
Restart service
sudo systemctl restart celestia-lightd
Check status
sudo systemctl status celestia-lightd

Verify Node Sync​

Once synchronized, the logs should look similar to:

INFO    header/store    store/store.go:349      new head        {"height": 106151, "hash": "CD084A85460978EC8C9E4BA23EE3847B28A90A879245E46F68B8133E413EA7A3"}
INFO    das     das/subscriber.go:34    new header received via subscription    {"height": 106151}
INFO    das     das/worker.go:79        finished sampling headers       {"from": 106151, "to": 106151, "errors": 0, "finished (s)": 0.000060704}
WARN    header/sync     sync/sync_head.go:140   received known network header   {"current_height": 106151, "header_height": 106151, "header_hash": "CD084A85460978EC8C9E4BA23EE3847B28A90A879245E46F68B8133E413EA7A3"}
INFO    header/store    store/store.go:349      new head        {"height": 106152, "hash": "C0FA44EF29FDE75ECD069A2031CC0A8BE94996F775FC106F76B88CCA514B1EF9"}
INFO    das     das/subscriber.go:34    new header received via subscription    {"height": 106152}
INFO    das     das/worker.go:79        finished sampling headers       {"from": 106152, "to": 106152, "errors": 0, "finished (s)": 0.00005358}

Monitor Your Node​

Check Node ID​

Get your Node ID to monitor on Tiascan:

celestia p2p info
info

Your Node ID will be displayed as ID="12D.....". You can search this on https://tiascan.com/light-nodes to see uptime and other details.

Important Backup​

warning

Backup your keys directory at /root/.celestia-light-blockspacerace-0/keys. This contains your wallet keys!

Configuration​

Port Configuration​

Default ports used by Celestia Light Node:

ServicePortProtocolDescription
Gateway26659TCPAPI Gateway
P2PVariousTCPPeer connections

Network Endpoints​

You can use alternative RPC endpoints from the official documentation.

Next Steps​