Mosaic Validator Node Installation Guide
If your machine was a validator node on Devnet, first chill your node on the Validator Admin Dashboard in the Devnet Mosaic Explorer, and wait for the green sign that says you can turn it off, before actually turning the machine off! Also do not forget to delete your devnet node from the devnet VPN (devnet-vpn.mosaicchain.io)!
Please read this guide carefully before starting the installation process.
The installation process takes approximately 15 minutes. It is an automated process, but you have to provide some input for your personal validator node. During the process you will see different screens. When the installation is running in the back, you will see text running on the screen or a spinning or flashing cursor. It will be clear when you need to interact by typing in data or choosing between options.
Necessary equipment:
Validator machine with power cord
keyboard
monitor, which is compatible with your validator machine
internet connection through LAN cable
another device where you can check your email, visit a website and where you can set up an authenticator app (smartphone, laptop, desktop)
the pendrive (USB stick) with the installation software
Necessary data:
a name for your validator machine on your local network,
a username and password to log in to your validator machine,
a name for your validator node on the Mosaic VPN,
email address, where you can receive the verification code for your Mosaic VPN account
Setup of hardware:
Connect the keyboard to the machine
Connect the monitor to the computer and plug in the monitor into the electrical network (turn on your monitor if it has a switch)
Connect the machine with a LAN cable to your local internet
Plug in the power cord into your machine and plug it into the electrical network
Do NOT turn the machine on, until the pendrive is not connected
Installation Process
Starting the computer
BEFORE turning your machine on, plug in the installer pendrive to an USB port on your machine. Depending on your machine’s content, go on with Case A or Case B.
Case A - Devnet (or other system) was already installed on your machine
Turn on the computer and start continuously hitting the “F12” button on the keyboard. When the boot menu shows up, you will see two options, choose the one that refers to the pendrive. If it is not obvious by name, you can determine by the size of the volume, the smaller one is the pendrive.
Use the up and down arrow keys to move between the options. On some computers, the mouse pointer is set by default on one of the options therefore the color of the selection does not change. In this case step down to the “Enter setup” text, usually this one is in white, and on selection turns orange. When you can see that this one is selected, hit the up arrow as many times as needed for the selection of the pendrive. (Usually one step.) Then hit enter.
If after this step not the installer screen appears, restart the computer and try again.
Case B - New machine without operation system installed
Turn on the computer and wait for the first screen.
If it is not the installer screen, restart the computer and go on with Case A.
Steps of the installer
To start the installer, hit enter (leaving the first option selected).
The installer starts its process, you should see it on your monitor. When the process is running by itself, you can see it on the screen as text is running or the cursor is spinning or flashing, in these cases, just wait for the next step. There might be some words or red signs onscreen indicating fault, like “failed unmounting cd-rom”, these refer to non required components, it is normal, do not worry, if the process is going on.
When you need to interact, you can use the arrow keys and the Tab key on your keyboard to move between options where it is applicable, and the Enter key to confirm your answer.
1. Keyboard configuration
Choosing the language of the keyboard layout only refers to the keyboard layout, not the language of the installer’s messages.
If you would like to change the default English keyboard layout, you can use the up and down arrow keys to select the „Layout” or „Variant” fields and when the field is highlighted, press Enter to see the options. You can move between the options with the arrow keys, and confirm your selection by pressing the Enter key. When both fields show your choice, step down with the arrow key to „Done” and press Enter.
2. Confirm destructive action
This screen is for safety reasons. If there was any data or software installed before on this machine, this is a warning that it will be all deleted during the installation.
Step on „continue” with the down arrow key, if you are sure you do not need any previous content of this machine, and press Enter.
3. Profile configuration
Here you must provide data for setting up this machine. Type in your input and move between the fields with the arrow keys or by pressing Enter. When you are done with all the fields, move the cursor (highlight) to „done” and press Enter.
Your name: a name that the Operating System requires you to provide. Does not affect your Validator and will not be shown anywhere.
Your server's name: The name of this machine and how it will be seen on the local network.
Pick a username: This will be your login name to this machine
Choose a password: The password you will use to login to this machine
Confirm your password: Same password
Write down and keep these credentials at a safe place, you will need them to log in to your validator machine!
4. Installing system
This part may take a while, do not worry the process is running.
When system installation is complete, the title will change to „Installation complete!” and also at the end of the text (at the bottom) you read „***** INSTALLATION COMPLETED *****”
„Reboot now” option appears, and to start the validator setup process, choose this option with the down arrow key and press Enter.
5. Login to system
After rebooting you have to login to the system with the username and password you provided at the profile configuration.
{your machine’s name} login: Type in your username, then press Enter
Password: Type in your password. Be aware that no characters are shown on screen, but the system registers the characters you press on the keyboard. After typing your password, press Enter.
When you have logged in successfully, you will see the so called command line:
{your username}@{your machine’s name}:~$ _
Type in setup-validator and press Enter to start the validator setup process.
6. Choosing network
On the first screen you have to choose which network you would like to join. Select the “Mainnet” with the down arrow button and press enter.
In the appearing reassurance window, select “Yes, I join MAINNET” and press Enter.
At the next screen after reading the text, press Enter.
7. System setup - Installing components
The installer is installing the required dependencies. This may take a few minutes. When it is finished and a „Next” button appears, press Enter.
8. Mosaic Validator OS Setup
You can set your validator node’s name here, which will be public to the Mosaic network. It may be the same as your validator machine’s name, it is pre-entered in the input field, but you can change it using the keyboard keys. If you have entered the name of your choice, press the down arrow key and if „Next” is active, press Enter.
If the name you entered is already taken in the network or conflicts with some other naming conventions, you will get an error notification and you must provide a different name.
9. Connection Initiated with Mosaic Network
At this phase you will need your other device. You will need a browser and access to your emails. The validator machine’s screen is needed to help you with the steps of this phase and it provides you with the TOTP code, which you will have to enter at the end of this phase on your other device.
Go through the steps shown on the validator machine’s screen, using your other device:
Open the given website on your other device.
You will see a form, requesting your email address where you can receive a verification code. Type your email address in the input field and check the Privacy Policy checkbox (after reading the Privacy Policy accessible through its link) and click on the „Get Verification Email” button.
The form on the website changes, and you can see 6 dots for a verification code. Check your email account, you should get an email with the verification code within a few minutes. Copy-paste or type the verification code from the email into the form on the website.
After entering the correct code, the form changes again, and you have to enter the name of your validator node you provided earlier during the installation process. It is also written on the validator machine’s screen in point 3.
(If you have already signed up before, and signed in through the sign-in page, the node registration form does not come up automatically, you can open it with the button on the top right part, that says “+ Register new validator node”.)
On the form under your validator node’s name you must type the TOTP code which can be seen on your validator machine’s screen at the time you are at this step. For security reasons the TOTP code changes every 30 seconds, the bottom bar shows the remaining time until the current code gets outdated and a new code will be shown.
After completing your node registration on the VPN network website you will see your node in your node registry.
10. Setting up two factor authentication
Turn back to your validator machine’s screen.
In order to provide secure access later to your validator admin dashboard, you need to set up a two factor authentication. Follow the instructions on the screen:
1. If you do not have an authenticator app yet, Download and open Google Authenticator or another similar application to your phone.
2. Scan the QR Code with the authenticator app.
3. Press enter on the validator machine’s keyboard to continue
If you are new to the authenticator app, you can find a detailed guide here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seyOjyJGsxY
Do not share your QR code with anyone! This is the secret key of your node, which makes accessing it more secure.
After hitting enter to continue you will see a screen where you have to provide the verification code from the newly set two-factor authentication.
Check the code in the authentication app on your phone and enter it using the keyboard. (Note: the numeric keypad may be turned off by default, in which case you may need to press the “num lock” key, or you can use the numbers above the letters.) The verification code changes every 30 seconds, so you can only move forward if you press enter on continue before the entered code changes. If the authentication fails because the code has changed, you can try again with the next code.
If authentication succeeded, just press enter on the next screen.
11. Connected to Mosaic Network
After going through the steps of the installer, your validator node is successfully connected to Mosaic Network. Your node starts the synchronization with the blockchain, how long it takes depends on the length of the blockchain. The synchronization consists of two parts running in parallel: the Mosaic Chain and the Polkadot Relay Chain synchronization. The current state of the Polkadot Relay chain synchronization cannot be seen on the screen, but the process is still running in the background.
If you wait until the synchronization process is completed, you will see a screen about completion, where you hit enter, the installer closes and you will get back to the command line.
In the browser of your other device you will see your node appearing in the Mosaic Explorer
(mainnet-explorer.mosaicchain.io). It might take a few minutes from the beginning of the synchronization process. On the Mosaic Explorer scroll down and in the left bottom corner click on the validator node name to open the node selector. While your node is synchronizing some components will appear in red next to its name, this is normal.
You can now disconnect the keyboard and the monitor from your validator machine and take the pendrive out. You can move your validator node to its final location. Then, make sure your machine remains connected to the internet and electrical network.
If you switch off your machine to move it to its final location, you do not have to do anything after switching it back on, no need for signing in or giving any commands, it will automatically start all the services to run the mosaic validator node.
Congratulations, your node is all set up!
You can complete the last step, i.e. connecting the node to the validator NFT, based on the Onboarding Guide.
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