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Validating on Testnet

Synced Node​

Before creating a testnet validator, ensure you have first followed the instructions on how to join the testnet

Initialize Wallet Keyring​

If you decide you want to turn your node into a validator, you will first need to add a wallet to your keyring.

While you can add an existing wallet through your seed phrase, we will create a new wallet in this example (replace KEY_NAME with a name of your choosing):

osmosisd keys add KEY_NAME

Ensure you write down the mnemonic as you can not recover the wallet without it. To ensure your wallet was saved to your keyring, check that KEY_NAME is in your keys list:

osmosisd keys list

Validator Public Key​

The last thing needed before initializing the validator is to obtain your validator public key which was created when you first initialized your node. To obtain your validator pubkey:

osmosisd tendermint show-validator

Create Validator Command​

Ensure you have a small amount of OSMO on the wallet address you are using on your keyring in order to successfully send a transaction. Once you have have a balance on the address on your keyring, you can now send the create-validator transaction.

Get OSMO via the Faucet​

If you need testnet testnet OSMO you have two options.

The validator details are supplied in a JSON file, not as command flags. Create validator.json:

{
  "pubkey": {"@type":"/cosmos.crypto.ed25519.PubKey","key":"oWg2ISpLF405Jcm2vXV+2v4fnjodh6aafuIdeoW+rUw="},
  "amount": "400000000uosmo",
  "moniker": "Wosmongton",
  "identity": "",
  "website": "",
  "security": "security@example.com",
  "details": "",
  "commission-rate": "0.1",
  "commission-max-rate": "0.2",
  "commission-max-change-rate": "0.05",
  "min-self-delegation": "400000000"
}

The pubkey value is the whole JSON object printed by osmosisd tendermint show-validator, not the bech32 osmovalconspub... string. Paste it in verbatim.

Then submit it, passing the file path as the only argument:

osmosisd tx staking create-validator validator.json \
  --from=[KEY_NAME] \
  --chain-id="osmo-test-5" \
  --gas="auto" \
  --gas-adjustment=1.3 \
  --gas-prices="0.03uosmo"

What the JSON fields mean:

  • pubkey is the validator consensus public key from osmosisd tendermint show-validator.
  • amount is your self-delegation, in uosmo (in the example, 400000000uosmo is 400 OSMO).
  • moniker is a human readable name you choose for your validator.
  • security is a contact your delegators can reach you at. identity, website, and details are optional and may be left as empty strings.
  • commission-rate is the rate you charge your delegators (10 percent in the example).
  • commission-max-rate is the most you are ever allowed to charge (20 percent in the example).
  • commission-max-change-rate is how much you can raise the rate in a 24 hour period (5 percent per day in the example, until reaching the max).
  • min-self-delegation is the lowest amount of your own funds the validator must keep self-delegated to stay bonded (400 OSMO in the example).

And the flags:

  • --from is the KEY_NAME you created when initializing the key on your keyring.
  • --chain-id is the network you are joining (osmo-test-5 for this testnet).
  • --gas-prices is the price per unit of gas in uosmo.

Troubleshooting​

If you inspect your create-validator transaction in the explorer, and see the following error:

out of gas in location: WritePerByte; gasWanted: 177140, gasUsed: 177979: out of gas

The simulated gas limit was too low. Increase --gas-adjustment, or replace --gas="auto" with a fixed limit above the reported gasUsed value. For the example above:

--gas=220000

--gas-prices controls the transaction fee, not the gas limit. Osmosis sets a dynamic minimum gas price via its fee market, so query the current base fee (osmosisd query txfees base-fee) and pass a value at or above it.

Track Validator Active Set​

To see the current validator active set:

osmosisd query staking validators --limit 300 -o json | jq -r '.validators[] |
[.operator_address, .status, (.tokens|tonumber / pow(10; 6)),
.commission.update_time[0:19], .description.moniker] | @csv' | column -t -s","

You can search for your specific moniker by adding grep MONIKER at the end:

osmosisd query staking validators --limit 300 -o json | jq -r '.validators[] |
[.operator_address, .status, (.tokens|tonumber / pow(10; 6)),
.commission.update_time[0:19], .description.moniker] | @csv' | column -t -s"," | grep Wosmongton

If your bond status is BOND_STATUS_BONDED, congratulations, your validator is part of the active validator set!

Track Validator Signing​

To track your validator's signing history, copy the validator public key:

osmosisd tendermint show-validator

Use your validators public key queried above:

osmosisd query slashing signing-info [validator-pubkey]

Example:

osmosisd query slashing signing-info '{"@type":"/cosmos.crypto.ed25519.PubKey","key":"HlixoxNZBPq4pBOYEimtSq9Ak4peBISVsIbI5ZHrEAU="}'