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Running a Validator

Non-technical step-by-step guide for onboarding as a Goliath validator with Onyx DAO.

Become a Goliath Validator

Preview Testnet Phase

Validator onboarding is currently coordinated and approval-based during the preview testnet phase.

If you want to run a validator, start here:

Validator Deployment Process

This is the official non-technical onboarding flow for validator operators.

It follows Goliath’s validator onboarding lifecycle operated by Onyx DAO.

Before You Start

On Goliath, validator onboarding uses a managed deployment model:

  • Onyx DAO provides the approved validator software package.

  • Onyx DAO coordinates activation windows and network-side steps.

  • Validator teams focus on hosting, operations readiness, and ongoing uptime.

This makes onboarding easier and reduces setup risk.

System Requirements

Minimum Hardware Specifications

Component
Minimum
Recommended
Critical Notes

CPU

24 cores / 48 threads

32+ cores

Intel Xeon or AMD EPYC, x86-64 only

RAM

256 GB DDR4 ECC

320+ GB DDR5 ECC

ECC is mandatory

Boot Storage

240 GB SSD (RAID 1)

2x 480 GB SSD (RAID 1)

Redundant OS volume

Data Storage

5 TB NVMe

8+ TB NVMe (RAID 10)

2+ GB/s write, 250K+ IOPS

Network

1 Gbps sustained

10 Gbps port

Static IP required, no NAT

Hosting

Dedicated bare metal

Tier 1 data center

VPS/VM NOT acceptable

CPU Requirements

Attribute
Specification

Architecture

x86-64 (Intel Xeon Scalable or AMD EPYC)

Minimum Cores

24 physical cores / 48 threads

Clock Speed

2.5 GHz+ base, 3.0 GHz+ turbo

Benchmark (Passmark)

Single-thread 2300+ (required), 2800+ (recommended)

Why it matters: Consensus nodes perform intensive cryptographic operations. A slow CPU causes the node to fall behind and trigger consensus failures.

Avoid:

  • ARM processors (not supported)

  • Consumer-grade CPUs (inadequate cache, no ECC support)

  • Low-frequency server CPUs (single-thread performance matters)

Memory Requirements

Attribute
Specification

Minimum Capacity

256 GB

Recommended

320 GB+

Type

DDR4 ECC Registered (3200MHz) or DDR5 ECC

ECC

MANDATORY

Why ECC is mandatory: A single bit flip in the in-memory state causes the node to compute a different state hash than other validators, triggering consensus failure. At the scale of 256 GB with constant activity, soft errors are statistically inevitable without ECC.

What happens with insufficient memory:

Heap Size
Observed Behavior

6 GB

Out of memory within hours

16 GB

Out of memory after ~5 days

48 GB

Stable at low TPS with tuning

192-256 GB

Required for mainnet loads

Storage Requirements

Boot Volume (OS):

  • 2x 240 GB SSD minimum in RAID 1 (mirror)

  • Purpose: Operating system, logs, management tools

Data Volume (Blockchain State):

Attribute
Specification

Capacity

5 TB minimum, 8+ TB recommended

Type

NVMe SSD (enterprise-grade)

Configuration

RAID 0 or RAID 10

Sequential Write

2,000+ MB/s

Random Read IOPS

250,000+

Storage Growth Projections:

Network Load
Daily Growth
Year 1 Total

10 TPS (testnet)

~500 MB

~200 GB

50 TPS (low mainnet)

~3 GB

~1.1 TB

200 TPS (moderate)

~15 GB

~5.5 TB

Network Requirements

Attribute
Specification

Bandwidth

1 Gbps sustained (not burstable)

IP Address

Static IPv4, publicly routable

NAT

Not supported

Latency

<100ms to other validators

Required Ports:

Port
Protocol
Direction
Purpose

50111

TCP

In + Out

Gossip protocol (node-to-node)

50211

TCP

Ingress

gRPC API

50212

TCP

Ingress

TLS-encrypted gRPC

123

UDP

In + Out

NTP time synchronization

Hosting Requirements

VPS vs. Bare Metal: Why VPS is NOT Acceptable

Factor
VPS Risk
Consensus Impact

CPU steal

Noisy neighbors

GC pauses extend -> node falls behind -> failure

Memory overcommit

Hypervisor swapping

Catastrophic performance degradation

Disk I/O contention

Shared storage

State writes stall -> consensus failure

Network jitter

Virtual networking

Gossip delays -> consensus divergence

Acceptable Hosting Options:

Option
Verdict
Notes

Dedicated bare metal (Hetzner, OVH, Equinix)

Recommended

Full hardware isolation

Cloud bare metal (AWS i3en.metal, Azure LSv3)

Acceptable

No hypervisor, but expensive

Colocation

Ideal for large operators

Own hardware, rented rack space

Standard VPS / cloud VM

NOT ACCEPTABLE

Causes failures

Data Center Requirements:

  • Tier III or higher (N+1 redundancy)

  • Redundant power (UPS + generator)

  • Redundant cooling

  • Physical security (badge access, cameras)

Operating System

Attribute
Specification

Supported OS

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (64-bit)

Alternative

RHEL 8/9, Oracle Linux 8/9

Kernel

5.15.x or 6.x LTS

Required Software:

Component
Version
Purpose

Docker Engine

20.10.6+

Container runtime

Docker Compose

1.29.2+

Container orchestration

JQ

1.5+

JSON processing

cURL

7.58+

API health checks

Step 1: Contact Onyx DAO and Apply

What you do

  1. Reach out to Onyx DAO on Telegram.

  2. Share your organization name and validator interest.

  3. Provide a technical and operational point of contact.

What Onyx DAO does

  1. Opens your onboarding thread.

  2. Shares the onboarding checklist and target timeline.

  3. Schedules kickoff.

Exit criteria

  • Your onboarding request is accepted and tracked.

Step 2: Kickoff and Planning

What you do

  1. Join the kickoff telegram group.

  2. Confirm your team roles (technical owner, operations owner, on-call owner).

  3. Confirm preferred deployment windows (UTC).

What Onyx DAO does

  1. Explains the full validator deployment path.

  2. Defines responsibilities between your team and Onyx DAO.

  3. Confirms communication and incident escalation channels.

Exit criteria

  • Roles, timeline, and communications are agreed.

Step 3: Infrastructure Readiness Review

What you do

  1. Prepare production-grade validator infrastructure.

  2. Confirm stable connectivity, static public networking, and operational monitoring.

  3. Confirm your team can support 24/7 operations.

What Onyx DAO does

  1. Reviews your readiness evidence.

  2. Validates your host and network profile against validator standards.

  3. Approves or returns a remediation list.

Exit criteria

  • Your environment is approved for deployment.

Step 4: Validator Package and Environment Preparation

What you do

  1. Prepare the host environment for the managed validator package.

  2. Follow the setup checklist exactly as provided by Onyx DAO.

  3. Complete pre-deployment checks.

What Onyx DAO does

  1. Provides the approved validator package.

  2. Provides deployment instructions and required settings.

  3. Verifies package integrity and readiness with you.

Exit criteria

  • Environment is prepared and validated for activation.

Step 5: Identity, Security, and Node Registration

What you do

  1. Complete validator identity and key readiness requirements.

  2. Submit required public onboarding artifacts to Onyx DAO.

  3. Confirm your security and backup procedures are in place.

What Onyx DAO does

  1. Validates onboarding artifacts.

  2. Handles network registration and node activation transactions.

  3. Schedules the activation window.

Exit criteria

  • Your validator is approved for activation.

Step 6: Deployment Window and Network Activation

What you do

  1. Join the live activation window.

  2. Execute only the operator steps requested by Onyx DAO.

  3. Keep your team available until activation completes.

What Onyx DAO does

  1. Runs the network-side activation sequence.

  2. Coordinates restart and activation order.

  3. Validates consensus health during rollout.

Exit criteria

  • Your validator joins the active validator set successfully.

Step 7: Post-Activation Validation

What you do

  1. Confirm your validator remains healthy after activation.

  2. Monitor for stability during the agreed soak period.

  3. Report anomalies immediately in the onboarding channel.

What Onyx DAO does

  1. Verifies network stability after validator addition.

  2. Confirms your node status and onboarding acceptance checks.

  3. Clears your validator for steady-state operations.

Exit criteria

  • Post-activation checks pass and onboarding is marked complete.

Step 8: Handover to Ongoing Operations

What you do

  1. Move to normal validator operations.

  2. Keep on-call coverage active.

  3. Follow ongoing maintenance and incident procedures.

What Onyx DAO does

  1. Finalizes operational handover.

  2. Confirms reward and participation configuration.

  3. Transitions your team to steady-state governance and operations.

Exit criteria

  • Validator is fully onboarded and in normal operations.

Important Operational Rules

To protect network stability, these rules apply during and after onboarding:

  1. Do not perform unplanned validator restarts.

  2. Never perform unilateral restart actions during an incident.

  3. For any validator status problem, contact Onyx DAO first and follow coordinated recovery steps.

  4. Keep backups and operational monitoring active at all times.

These controls are critical for avoiding consensus instability during validator operations.

Typical Onboarding Timeline

Stage
Typical Duration

Application + Kickoff

1-3 days

Readiness Review

2-7 days

Package Prep + Validation

1-3 days

Activation Window + Soak

1-2 days

Actual timing depends on infrastructure readiness and scheduling windows.

Rewards and Next Reading

After onboarding, review:

If you are ready to begin, contact Onyx DAO:

PreviousValidator RewardsNextValidator Dashboard

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