Networks
Testnet
Genesis Instructions
Preparing for Genesis

Preparing for Genesis

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Update 10/10/2023: the following has been updated for dydx-testnet-4.

Update 9/1/2023: the following has been updated for the 3rd public testnet dydx-testnet-3.

For Existing Validators for the current testnet

The current testnet dydx-testnet-3 will be turned down on 10/16/2023 and the next testnet dydx-testnet-4 will launch on 10/17/2023. If you plan to use the same machine instance for both networks, please make sure you create a separate home directory for dydx-testnet-4. When running any command with dydxprotocold, please explicitly pass in --home=<directory_of_your_choice> and --chain-id=dydx-testnet-4 to specify which network the command is intended for. Alternatively, you are also welcomed to use a separate machine for dydx-testnet-4

Goals

This document contains instructions to do the following steps:

  • Initialize the node (i.e. setting up home directory)
  • Set up your validator credentials
  • Adding genesis accounts (i.e. creating gentx)
  • Submit gentx to the testnet repo

These are necessary steps to register your validator in the genesis and prepare for network startup.

Get the Latest dydxprotocold Binary

Download the latest release binaries from dydxprotocol/v4-chain releases (opens in a new tab), which is v0.3.6 here (opens in a new tab)

Choose the binary for the corresponding platform, and set up in $PATH (using linux-amd64 as example):

# Choose a platform. Supported: linux-amd64, linux-arm64
export DYDX_PLATFORM=<platform>
tar -xvzf dydxprotocold-$BINARY_VERSION-${DYDX_PLATFORM}.tar.gz
mkdir -p "${HOME}/local/bin"
export PATH="${HOME}/local/bin:$PATH"
cp build/dydxprotocold-$BINARY_VERSION-${DYDX_PLATFORM} "${HOME}/local/bin/dydxprotocold"
rm -R build

Verify the binary version:

dydxprotocold version --long

The output should look like this (make sure the version and commit is consistent):

commit: 6ed30700011e4d4433272286afaed1465ae71dc3
cosmos_sdk_version: v0.47.3
go: go version go1.19.9 <platform>
name: dydxprotocol
server_name: dydxprotocold
version: 0.3.6

Note: We will release a newer binary for the actual network launch for dydx-testnet-4. Please stay tuned for updates in the Slack channels.

Initialize Your Node

Initialize the home directory for dydxprotocold. Please note: we are using chain-id=dydx-testnet-4 for public testnet #4.

# Use a new home directory for testnet 4.
export HOME_TESTNET_4=~/.dydx-testnet-4
# Choose a moniker as the custom username of your node. It should be human-readable.
export DYDX_MONIKER=<moniker>
# Configure chain ID.
export CHAIN_ID=dydx-testnet-4
# Init the home directory
dydxprotocold init --chain-id=$CHAIN_ID --home=$HOME_TESTNET_4 $DYDX_MONIKER

Saving/Recovering Consensus Keys

Be sure to make a copy of the key pair json priv_validator_key.json and node_key.json under $HOME_TESTNET_4/config, as these key pairs are generated during dydxprotocold init .... and cannot be recovered later unless they were explicitly derived through the mnenomics.

If you've previously created a gentx and are recovering your home directory, you will need to replace the default priv_validator_key.json and node_key.json files with the files backed up from above.

Import/Create Validator Key

You could either create a new key for the testnet, or import existing an existing key.

Option 1: Creating a New Key

# Generate key-ring. 
# Using the `test` keyring-backend as example. 
# Feel free to choose the keyring backend as you like. 
export DYDX_KEY_NAME=<key_name>
dydxprotocold keys add $DYDX_KEY_NAME --keyring-backend test --home=$HOME_TESTNET_4

Option 2: Import Via Mnemonic

To import via mnemonic, you can do so using the following command and then input your mnemonic when prompted.

export DYDX_KEY_NAME=<key_name>
dydxprotocold keys add $DYDX_KEY_NAME --recover --keyring-backend test --home=$HOME_TESTNET_4

Store validator address as envvar

MY_VALIDATOR_ADDRESS=$(dydxprotocold keys show $DYDX_KEY_NAME -a --keyring-backend test --home=$HOME_TESTNET_4)

Create gentx

Add Genesis Account

Before you can create a gentx, you’ll need to add a genesis account (using the address generated above) to the genesis.json file. This local genesis.json file will not be used for the testnet, and only helps to generate a gentx. Note that dv4tnt is the native token used for the public testnet.

dydxprotocold add-genesis-account $MY_VALIDATOR_ADDRESS 1000000000000000000000000adv4tnt --home=$HOME_TESTNET_4

Generate gentx

Use gentx command to create your genesis transaction in $HOME_TESTNET_4/gentx/.

You can also use the below optional flags:

  --website="xxx" \
  --details="xxx" \
  --identity="xxx" \
  --pubkey="xxx"
dydxprotocold gentx $DYDX_KEY_NAME 500000000000000000000000adv4tnt --moniker $DYDX_MONIKER --keyring-backend test --chain-id $CHAIN_ID --home=$HOME_TESTNET_4

It will output something similar to:

Genesis transaction written to "/Users/XXX/.dydx-testnet-4/config/gentx/gentx-ae8a1fd5828866c435f9b559fad39e1bc19a06dc.json"

See here (opens in a new tab) for an example gentx file.

Submit Your gentx

  1. Fork the Public Testnet Github Repo (dydxprotocol/v4-testnets (opens in a new tab)).

  2. Clone the forked repo.

git clone https://github.com/<your username or organization>/v4-testnets.git
  1. Create a new local branch:
git checkout -b $DYDX_MONIKER/gentx
  1. Copy the gentx file to the forked v4-testnets repo (ensure that it is in the correct folder)
cp $HOME_TESTNET_4/config/gentx/gentx-xxxxxxxxxxxx.json v4-testnets/dydx-testnet-4/gentx/gentx-$DYDX_MONIKER.json
  1. Commit and push to your repo.
git add dydx-testnet-4/gentx/*
git commit -m "$DYDX_MONIKER gentx"
git push origin $DYDX_MONIKER/gentx

  1. Create a pull request in the original dydxprotocol/v4-testnets repo. In other words, the base repository should be dydxprotocol/v4-testnets and the base branch should be main.

  2. Maintainers will review and merge the PRs. If you need any help, post in #v-dydx-public-testnet-discussion.

Changelog

8/3/2023: updated for the second public testnet dydx-testnet-2

9/1/2023: updated for the third public testnet dydx-testnet-3

10/10/2023: updated for the third public testnet dydx-testnet-4

FundsStarting the network