Move docs from book/ to docs/ (#8469) (#8471)

automerge

docs/src/running-validator/validator-start.md

@@ -0,0 +1,184 @@
+# Starting a Validator
+
+## Configure Solana CLI
+
+The solana cli includes `get` and `set` configuration commands to automatically
+set the `--url` argument for cli commands. For example:
+
+```bash
+solana config set --url http://devnet.solana.com:8899
+```
+
+\(You can always override the set configuration by explicitly passing the
+`--url` argument with a command, eg: `solana --url http://beta.devnet.solana.com:8899 balance`\)
+
+## Confirm The Testnet Is Reachable
+
+Before attaching a validator node, sanity check that the cluster is accessible
+to your machine by fetching the transaction count:
+
+```bash
+solana transaction-count
+```
+
+Inspect the network explorer at
+[https://explorer.solana.com/](https://explorer.solana.com/) for activity.
+
+View the [metrics dashboard](https://metrics.solana.com:3000/d/testnet-beta/testnet-monitor-beta?var-testnet=testnet)
+for more detail on cluster activity.
+
+## Confirm your Installation
+
+Try running following command to join the gossip network and view all the other
+nodes in the cluster:
+
+```bash
+solana-gossip spy --entrypoint devnet.solana.com:8001
+# Press ^C to exit
+```
+
+## Enabling CUDA
+
+If your machine has a GPU with CUDA installed \(Linux-only currently\), include
+the `--cuda` argument to `solana-validator`.
+
+When your validator is started look for the following log message to indicate
+that CUDA is enabled: `"[<timestamp> solana::validator] CUDA is enabled"`
+
+## Tune System
+
+For Linux validators, the solana repo includes a daemon to adjust system settings to optimize
+performance (namely by increasing the OS UDP buffer limits, and scheduling PoH with realtime policy).
+
+The daemon (`solana-sys-tuner`) is included in the solana binary release.
+
+To run it:
+
+```bash
+sudo solana-sys-tuner --user $(whoami) > sys-tuner.log 2>&1 &
+```
+
+## Generate identity
+
+Create an identity keypair for your validator by running:
+
+```bash
+solana-keygen new -o ~/validator-keypair.json
+```
+
+The identity public key can now be viewed by running:
+
+```bash
+solana-keygen pubkey ~/validator-keypair.json
+```
+
+> Note: The "validator-keypair.json” file is also your \(ed25519\) private key.
+
+Your validator identity keypair uniquely identifies your validator within the
+network. **It is crucial to back-up this information.**
+
+If you don’t back up this information, you WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RECOVER YOUR
+VALIDATOR if you lose access to it. If this happens, YOU WILL LOSE YOUR
+ALLOCATION OF LAMPORTS TOO.
+
+To back-up your validator identify keypair, **back-up your
+"validator-keypair.json” file to a secure location.**
+
+### Vanity Keypair
+
+You can generate a custom vanity keypair using solana-keygen. For instance:
+
+```bash
+solana-keygen grind --starts-with e1v1s
+```
+
+Depending on the string requested, it may take days to find a match...
+
+## More Solana CLI Configuration
+
+Now that you have a keypair, set the solana configuration to use your validator
+keypair for all following commands:
+
+```bash
+solana config set --keypair ~/validator-keypair.json
+```
+
+You should see the following output:
+
+```text
+Wallet Config Updated: /home/solana/.config/solana/wallet/config.yml
+* url: http://devnet.solana.com:8899
+* keypair: /home/solana/validator-keypair.json
+```
+
+## Airdrop & Check Validator Balance
+
+Airdrop yourself some SOL to get started:
+
+```bash
+solana airdrop 1000
+```
+
+To view your current balance:
+
+```text
+solana balance
+```
+
+Or to see in finer detail:
+
+```text
+solana balance --lamports
+```
+
+Read more about the [difference between SOL and lamports here](../introduction.md#what-are-sols).
+
+## Create Vote Account
+
+If you haven’t already done so, create a vote-account keypair and create the
+vote account on the network. If you have completed this step, you should see the
+“validator-vote-keypair.json” in your Solana runtime directory:
+
+```bash
+solana-keygen new -o ~/validator-vote-keypair.json
+```
+
+Create your vote account on the blockchain:
+
+```bash
+solana create-vote-account ~/validator-vote-keypair.json ~/validator-keypair.json
+```
+
+## Connect Your Validator
+
+Connect to a testnet cluster by running:
+
+```bash
+solana-validator --identity-keypair ~/validator-keypair.json --voting-keypair ~/validator-vote-keypair.json \
+    --ledger ~/validator-ledger --rpc-port 8899 --entrypoint devnet.solana.com:8001 \
+    --limit-ledger-size
+```
+
+To force validator logging to the console add a `--log -` argument, otherwise
+the validator will automatically log to a file.
+
+Confirm your validator connected to the network by opening a new terminal and
+running:
+
+```bash
+solana-gossip spy --entrypoint devnet.solana.com:8001
+```
+
+If your validator is connected, its public key and IP address will appear in the list.
+
+### Controlling local network port allocation
+
+By default the validator will dynamically select available network ports in the
+8000-1.0.1 range, and may be overridden with `--dynamic-port-range`. For
+example, `solana-validator --dynamic-port-range 1.0.1-1.0.1 ...` will restrict
+the validator to ports 1.0.1-11011.
+
+### Limiting ledger size to conserve disk space
+
+The `--limit-ledger-size` arg will instruct the validator to only retain the
+last couple hours of ledger. To retain the full ledger, simply remove that arg.