prvng_extensions/taskservs/infrastructure/polkadot/validator

Polkadot Validator Task Service

Overview

The Polkadot Validator task service provides a production-ready installation and configuration of a Polkadot validator node. Validators are critical infrastructure components that secure the Polkadot network by producing blocks, participating in consensus, and finalizing transactions. This service includes comprehensive security hardening, monitoring, and operational tools.

Features

Validator Core Functions

• Block Production - Aura-based block authoring and validation
• ELVES Consensus - Ethereum-Like Validation Execution System support
• Network Finality - GRANDPA finality gadget participation
• Hybrid Consensus - Support for multiple consensus mechanisms
• Consensus Participation - Active participation in network consensus
• Session Key Management - Automated key generation, rotation, and backup
• Slashing Protection - Built-in protections against slashing conditions

Security & Hardening

• System Hardening - Comprehensive systemd security configuration
• Firewall Integration - Automatic UFW/firewalld configuration
• Fail2ban Protection - Intrusion detection and prevention
• Key Security - Encrypted key backup with Age/SOPS support
• Access Control - SSH restrictions and user isolation

Monitoring & Alerting

• Health Monitoring - Comprehensive system and validator health checks
• Prometheus Integration - Native metrics export for monitoring
• Block Production Tracking - Monitor validator performance
• Network Connectivity - Peer and network status monitoring
• Alerting System - Syslog integration with custom alerts

Operational Features

• Automated Setup - Complete validator deployment and configuration
• Session Rotation - Automated session key rotation with safety checks
• Backup & Recovery - Secure key backup and restoration procedures
• Performance Optimization - Validator-optimized configuration settings
• Multi-Chain Support - Polkadot, Kusama, and Westend support

Configuration

Basic Validator Configuration

validator: PolkadotValidator = {
    name: "polkadot-validator"
    version: "1.5.0"
    run_user: {
        name: "polkadot"
        home: "/home/polkadot"
    }
    chain: "polkadot"
    base_path: "/var/lib/polkadot"
    ports: {
        p2p_port: 30333
        prometheus_port: 9615
    }
    validator_mode: true
    telemetry_enabled: false
}

Production Validator Configuration

validator: PolkadotValidator = {
    name: "polkadot-validator-prod"
    version: "1.5.0"
    run_user: {
        name: "polkadot"
        group: "polkadot"
        home: "/opt/polkadot"
    }
    chain: "polkadot"
    base_path: "/var/lib/polkadot"
    ports: {
        p2p_port: 30333
        prometheus_port: 9615
    }
    validator_mode: true
    consensus: {
        type: "aura"  # Options: "aura", "elves", "hybrid"
        elves_support: true
        hybrid_fallback: false
    }
    rpc: {
        enabled: false  # Disabled for validator security
    }
    security: {
        firewall_enabled: true
        fail2ban_enabled: true
        ssh_restrictions: true
        key_backup_enabled: true
        backup_encryption_key: "/etc/polkadot/backup.key"
    }
    monitoring: {
        enabled: true
        prometheus_external: false
        health_check_interval: 60
        alert_thresholds: {
            peer_count_min: 10
            block_production_delay_max: 30
            finalization_lag_max: 10
        }
    }
    performance: {
        database_cache: 2048
        state_cache_size: 2147483648
        max_peers: 50
        sync_mode: "warp"
        pruning: {
            mode: "state"
            blocks_to_keep: 256
        }
    }
    session_keys: {
        rotation_enabled: true
        rotation_interval: "7d"
        backup_enabled: true
    }
    reserved_nodes: [
        "/ip4/10.0.1.10/tcp/30333/p2p/12D3KooW...",
        "/ip4/10.0.1.11/tcp/30333/p2p/12D3KooW..."
    ]
    bootnodes: [
        "/dns/bootnode-0.polkadot.io/tcp/30333/p2p/12D3KooWEyoppNCUx8Yx66oV9fJnriXwCcXwDDUA2kj6vnc6iDEp"
    ]
    log_level: "info"
    telemetry_enabled: false  # Disabled for validator privacy
}

High-Availability Validator Setup

validator: PolkadotValidator = {
    name: "polkadot-validator-ha"
    # ... base configuration
    high_availability: {
        enabled: true
        backup_nodes: [
            "validator-backup-1.company.com",
            "validator-backup-2.company.com"
        ]
        failover_timeout: 300
        sync_check_interval: 30
    }
    monitoring: {
        enabled: true
        prometheus_external: true
        prometheus_port: 9615
        custom_metrics: true
        alertmanager_webhook: "https://alerts.company.com/webhook"
    }
    security: {
        firewall_enabled: true
        fail2ban_enabled: true
        ssh_restrictions: true
        allowed_ssh_users: ["admin", "operator"]
        key_backup_enabled: true
        backup_encryption_key: "/etc/polkadot/backup.key"
        auto_updates: true
    }
    network: {
        external_addresses: [
            "/ip4/203.0.113.1/tcp/30333"
        ]
        reserved_only: true
        reserved_nodes: [
            "/ip4/10.0.1.10/tcp/30333/p2p/12D3KooW...",
            "/ip4/10.0.1.11/tcp/30333/p2p/12D3KooW...",
            "/ip4/10.0.1.12/tcp/30333/p2p/12D3KooW..."
        ]
        max_peers: 25
    }
}

ELVES Consensus Validator Configuration

validator: PolkadotValidator = {
    name: "polkadot-elves-validator"
    version: "1.5.0"
    run_user: {
        name: "polkadot"
        group: "polkadot"
        home: "/opt/polkadot"
    }
    chain: "polkadot"
    base_path: "/var/lib/polkadot"
    ports: {
        p2p_port: 30333
        prometheus_port: 9615
    }
    validator_mode: true
    consensus: {
        type: "elves"
        elves_config: {
            epoch_duration: 2400  # blocks per epoch
            validators_per_epoch: 21
            proposal_timeout: 3000
            prevote_timeout: 3000
            precommit_timeout: 3000
            commit_timeout: 1000
            ethereum_compatibility: true
        }
        finality: {
            type: "grandpa"
            grandpa_interval: 8
        }
    }
    ethereum_compatibility: {
        enabled: true
        chain_id: 1
        evm_runtime: true
    }
    session_keys: {
        aura_key: "auto-generate"
        grandpa_key: "auto-generate"
        elves_key: "auto-generate"
        rotation_enabled: true
        rotation_interval: "7d"
    }
    monitoring: {
        enabled: true
        elves_metrics: true
        ethereum_metrics: true
        consensus_transition_alerts: true
    }
    performance: {
        database_cache: 4096
        state_cache_size: 4294967296
        evm_cache_size: 1073741824
        max_peers: 50
    }
}

Usage

Deploy Validator

./core/nulib/provisioning taskserv create polkadot-validator --infra <infrastructure-name>

List Available Task Services

./core/nulib/provisioning taskserv list

SSH to Validator Server

./core/nulib/provisioning server ssh <validator-server>

Service Management

# Check validator status
systemctl status polkadot-validator

# Start/stop validator
systemctl start polkadot-validator
systemctl stop polkadot-validator
systemctl restart polkadot-validator

# View validator logs
journalctl -u polkadot-validator -f

# Check validator health
sudo -u polkadot /opt/polkadot/scripts/validator-monitor.sh

Session Key Management

# Generate new session keys
sudo -u polkadot /opt/polkadot/scripts/validator-keys.sh generate

# Backup session keys
sudo -u polkadot /opt/polkadot/scripts/validator-keys.sh backup

# Rotate session keys (with safety checks)
sudo -u polkadot /opt/polkadot/scripts/session-rotation.sh

# Verify keys on-chain
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"id":1, "jsonrpc":"2.0", "method": "author_hasKey", "params":["aura", "0x..."]}' \
  http://localhost:9933/

Validator Operations

# Check if validator is active
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"id":1, "jsonrpc":"2.0", "method": "author_hasSessionKeys", "params":["0x..."]}' \
  http://localhost:9933/

# Monitor block production
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"id":1, "jsonrpc":"2.0", "method": "chain_getHeader", "params":[]}' \
  http://localhost:9933/

# Check validator metrics
curl http://localhost:9615/metrics | grep polkadot_

# ELVES Consensus Operations
# Check ELVES consensus state
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"id":1, "jsonrpc":"2.0", "method": "elves_getConsensusState", "params":[]}' \
  http://localhost:9933/

# Monitor ELVES epoch information
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"id":1, "jsonrpc":"2.0", "method": "elves_getCurrentEpoch", "params":[]}' \
  http://localhost:9933/

# Check ELVES validator participation
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"id":1, "jsonrpc":"2.0", "method": "elves_getValidatorParticipation", "params":[]}' \
  http://localhost:9933/

# Monitor consensus transitions (hybrid mode)
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"id":1, "jsonrpc":"2.0", "method": "elves_getConsensusTransitions", "params":[]}' \
  http://localhost:9933/

Security Operations

# Check firewall status
sudo ufw status verbose
# or for RHEL/CentOS
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

# Monitor fail2ban
sudo fail2ban-client status polkadot-validator

# Check SSH access logs
sudo journalctl -u ssh | grep polkadot

# Verify key backup integrity
sudo -u polkadot age -d -i /etc/polkadot/backup.key \
  /var/backups/polkadot/keys-latest.age

Architecture

Validator Architecture

┌─────────────────┐    ┌──────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐
│   Network       │────│  Validator Node  │────│   Monitoring    │
│   Peers         │    │                  │    │   & Alerts      │
│                 │    │ • Block Author   │    │                 │
│ • Other Vals    │────│ • Consensus      │────│ • Prometheus    │
│ • Full Nodes    │    │ • Finality       │    │ • Health Checks │
│ • Bootnodes     │    │ • Key Mgmt       │    │ • Alerting      │
└─────────────────┘    └──────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘

Security Layers

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Security Hardening                       │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Network Security  │  System Security   │  Key Security    │
│                    │                    │                  │
│ • Firewall (UFW)   │ • Systemd Hardening│ • Encrypted Keys │
│ • Fail2ban         │ • User Isolation   │ • Secure Backup  │
│ • SSH Restrictions │ • Auto Updates     │ • Key Rotation   │
│ • Reserved Nodes   │ • File Permissions │ • Age Encryption │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                    Monitoring & Alerting                    │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│              Polkadot Validator Process                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Network Ports

• P2P Port (30333) - Peer-to-peer validator network
• Prometheus Port (9615) - Metrics (internal access only)
• SSH Port (22) - Restricted administrative access

File Structure

/var/lib/polkadot/          # Main data directory
├── chains/                 # Chain-specific data
├── keystore/              # Session keys (encrypted)
├── node.key               # Node identity key
└── validator-state/       # Validator state data

/opt/polkadot/             # Validator tools
├── scripts/               # Management scripts
│   ├── validator-keys.sh  # Key management
│   ├── session-rotation.sh# Key rotation
│   └── validator-monitor.sh# Health monitoring
└── backups/               # Key backups (encrypted)

/etc/polkadot/             # Configuration
├── validator.conf         # Main configuration
├── backup.key            # Backup encryption key
└── monitoring.conf       # Monitoring configuration

/var/log/polkadot/         # Logs
├── validator.log         # Validator logs
├── monitoring.log        # Monitoring logs
└── security.log          # Security events

Supported Operating Systems

• Ubuntu 20.04+ / Debian 11+
• CentOS 8+ / RHEL 8+ / Fedora 35+

System Requirements

Minimum Validator Requirements

• RAM: 16GB (32GB recommended)
• Storage: 200GB NVMe SSD (500GB+ recommended)
• CPU: 4 cores (8 cores recommended, high clock speed)
• Network: Dedicated server with excellent connectivity
• Uptime: 99.9%+ uptime requirement

Production Validator Requirements

• RAM: 32GB+ (64GB for optimal performance)
• Storage: 1TB+ NVMe SSD with high IOPS
• CPU: 8+ cores, 3.0GHz+ base clock
• Network: Dedicated bare metal server, multiple network paths
• Backup: Secondary server for failover
• Monitoring: 24/7 monitoring and alerting

Network Requirements

• Latency - Low latency to other validators (< 100ms)
• Bandwidth - High bandwidth with unlimited data
• Redundancy - Multiple network paths for reliability
• IP Address - Static public IP address
• DDoS Protection - DDoS mitigation service recommended

Troubleshooting

Validator Performance Issues

# Check validator health
sudo -u polkadot /opt/polkadot/scripts/validator-monitor.sh

# Monitor block production
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"id":1, "jsonrpc":"2.0", "method": "author_hasSessionKeys", "params":["0x..."]}' \
  http://localhost:9933/

# Check system resources
htop
iostat -x 1
df -h /var/lib/polkadot

# Analyze validator metrics
curl -s http://localhost:9615/metrics | grep -E "(block_height|finality|peers)"

Session Key Issues

# Check session keys status
sudo -u polkadot /opt/polkadot/scripts/validator-keys.sh status

# Verify keys in keystore
ls -la /var/lib/polkadot/keystore/

# Test key accessibility
sudo -u polkadot polkadot key inspect \
  --keystore-path /var/lib/polkadot/keystore \
  --keystore-uri file:///var/lib/polkadot/keystore

# Check if keys are set on-chain
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"id":1, "jsonrpc":"2.0", "method": "session_nextKeys", "params":["0x..."]}' \
  http://localhost:9933/

Network Connectivity Issues

# Check connected peers
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"id":1, "jsonrpc":"2.0", "method": "system_peers", "params":[]}' \
  http://localhost:9933/

# Test P2P connectivity
telnet other-validator-ip 30333

# Check network configuration
ip route get 8.8.8.8
netstat -tlnp | grep :30333

# Monitor network traffic
sudo netstat -i
sudo iftop -i eth0

Security Issues

# Check firewall status
sudo ufw status numbered
sudo fail2ban-client status

# Review security logs
sudo journalctl -u polkadot-validator | grep -i security
sudo tail -f /var/log/auth.log

# Check for intrusion attempts
sudo fail2ban-client status ssh
sudo grep "Failed password" /var/log/auth.log

# Verify file permissions
ls -la /var/lib/polkadot/keystore/
sudo find /var/lib/polkadot -type f -perm /o+r

Backup and Recovery Issues

# Test backup integrity
sudo -u polkadot /opt/polkadot/scripts/validator-keys.sh verify-backup

# Restore from backup
sudo -u polkadot /opt/polkadot/scripts/validator-keys.sh restore /path/to/backup

# Check backup encryption
sudo -u polkadot age -d -i /etc/polkadot/backup.key \
  /var/backups/polkadot/keys-latest.age | head -1

# Verify session key recovery
sudo systemctl stop polkadot-validator
# Restore keys
sudo systemctl start polkadot-validator

Security Best Practices

Validator Security

• Key Management - Never expose session keys, use secure backup
• Network Isolation - Use reserved nodes and firewall restrictions
• Regular Updates - Keep validator software and OS updated
• Monitoring - Implement comprehensive monitoring and alerting
• Physical Security - Secure physical access to validator hardware

Operational Security

• Access Control - Limit administrative access to essential personnel
• Change Management - Document and review all configuration changes
• Incident Response - Have clear incident response procedures
• Regular Audits - Perform regular security audits and reviews
• Backup Testing - Regularly test backup and recovery procedures

Network Security

• DDoS Protection - Use DDoS mitigation services
• VPN Access - Use VPN for administrative access
• Network Monitoring - Monitor for unusual network activity
• Peer Filtering - Use reserved nodes to control peer connections
• Traffic Analysis - Regular analysis of network traffic patterns

Performance Optimization

Hardware Optimization

• NVMe Storage - Use high-performance NVMe SSDs
• Memory - Sufficient RAM for database caching
• CPU - High clock speed processors for single-threaded performance
• Network - Low-latency network connections

Configuration Optimization

• Database Cache - Optimize database cache size
• State Cache - Configure appropriate state cache
• Peer Limits - Limit peers to reduce network overhead
• Pruning - Use state pruning to manage disk usage

System Optimization

• CPU Affinity - Pin validator process to specific cores
• I/O Scheduler - Use appropriate I/O scheduler for SSDs
• Network Tuning - Optimize TCP settings for low latency
• Memory Management - Configure memory management for validator workload

Monitoring and Alerting

Key Metrics to Monitor

# Block production rate
curl -s http://localhost:9615/metrics | grep polkadot_block_height

# Finalization lag
curl -s http://localhost:9615/metrics | grep polkadot_finality_

# Peer connections
curl -s http://localhost:9615/metrics | grep polkadot_peers

# System resources
curl -s http://localhost:9615/metrics | grep -E "(cpu|memory|disk)"

Prometheus Configuration

# prometheus.yml
global:
  scrape_interval: 15s

scrape_configs:
  - job_name: 'polkadot-validator'
    static_configs:
      - targets: ['localhost:9615']
    scrape_interval: 30s
    metrics_path: '/metrics'

Alerting Rules

# validator-alerts.yml
groups:
  - name: polkadot-validator
    rules:
      - alert: ValidatorDown
        expr: up{job="polkadot-validator"} == 0
        for: 1m
        labels:
          severity: critical
        annotations:
          summary: "Polkadot validator is down"
          
      - alert: LowPeerCount
        expr: polkadot_peers < 10
        for: 5m
        labels:
          severity: warning
        annotations:
          summary: "Low peer count: {{ $value }}"
          
      - alert: HighFinalizationLag
        expr: polkadot_finality_lag > 10
        for: 2m
        labels:
          severity: critical
        annotations:
          summary: "High finalization lag: {{ $value }}"

Resources

• Official Documentation: wiki.polkadot.network/docs/maintain-validator
• Validator Guide: guide.kusama.network/docs/mirror-maintain-guides-how-to-validate-kusama
• GitHub Repository: paritytech/polkadot
• Validator Community: matrix.to/#/#polkadot-validator-lounge:web3.foundation
• Telemetry (for testnets): telemetry.polkadot.io