# Strategies with Validator Nodes - Artela Network By [0xOuterGod](https://paragraph.com/@0xoutergod) · 2024-04-07 --- **Vitalik Buterin** talked [in this article](https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2022/09/17/layer_3.html) about the possible application of Layer 3, mentioning Starkware's work in this regard: if L2s are used to achieve greater general-purpose and trustless scalability, **L3s** find application in **custom scalability systems** with **custom features** (i.e., privacy) or in **validiums**. Validiums are systems that use SNARKs to verify computation but delegate the data availability function to a third party. They are less secure solutions than rollups, but significantly cheaper and can find applications in enterprise blockchain solutions, according to Vitalik. ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/6f854053fb786f8cc7eac4e695c48cfff3e8fe9abc277aa4f4fe7f62b665c584.jpg) He elaborates further, but let's focus on one important aspect: it is possible to add additional Layers that serve functions other than scalability, which can fulfill customized functionalities. When we talk about blockchains, functionality refers to the ability to support various applications. The EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) serves as the execution engine for smart contracts and is the most widely adopted standard in the development of dApps even outside the Ethereum world as there are EVM-compatible or EVM-equivalent chains. However, EVM has limitations in terms of supporting extensive functionality to dApps. Therefore, two solutions exist: * **replace the EVM** with superior virtual machine systems (some candidates are MoveVM and FuelVM); * **enhance the EVM** with a complementary extension. The second approach is certainly the less radical and more impactful one, as it allows adding a stack in the form of an extension, pushing the EVM beyond its design limits while retaining its advantages. Artela Network is in fact pushing in this direction. What’s Artela Network? ---------------------- Artela Network has developed a new programmable module - **_Aspect_** - that takes its name from _aspect-oriented programming_, a programming paradigm that aims to increase modularity by allowing the separation of cross-cutting issues. Aspect allows developers to inject additional logic to process-related transactions into their entire lifecycle, beyond the smart contract itself. The execution environment of **Aspect extensions** runs on the **WASM Virtual Machine**. All of this allows testing of new possibilities about on-chain functionalities like runtime protection for smart contracts, on-chain automation, lighter implementations of EIPs, and more, while maintaining EVM-equivalence. ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/b202496820645d468019c34418084af430f617a7c3a0f963a7172fd8ee026e2d.webp) **Artela Network's Public Testnet** has been active now since March 15, 2024, let's see today how to participate and who knows, maybe turn out to be eligible for some rewards! In July 2023 they **raised $6M** from some VCs such as Shima Capital, Big Brain Holdings, SevenX Ventures, and Dispersion Capital. ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/e56f38c8bcac5d209689e9ee6f8fa15560cf8d7d55e9bf6ed0e75d9b4119235f.webp) > _Don’t forget to subscribe on Mirror to stay tuned to all future articles._ [Subscribe](null) **Artela Node Installation - Step-by-Step Guide** ------------------------------------------------- To begin the procedure, you need a computer with any Linux distro installed, Ubuntu **22.04** or later will do, an SSD with +200 GB and a fast Internet connection. It’s required to use 22.04 version or newer versions, otherwise your node won’t be installed correctly. For those without resources capable of supporting a validator node at home, you can fall back on **VPS (Virtual Private Server)** solutions, that is, you can rent a virtual server. There are several solutions, which I recommend below: * [**Contabo**](https://www.jdoqocy.com/click-101113651-13796470), I recommend the **Cloud VPS M model**, with 6 vCPU Cores, 16 GB RAM, 400 GB SSD SATA3; * [**Aeza**](https://aeza.net/?ref=432182), I recommend at least the **VIEs-3** or **PARs-3** model, with 4 vCPU Cores, 8 GB RAM, 120 GB NVMe. This is a Russian VPS service and payment by credit/debit card is not possible from many Western countries, but payments in crypto (BTC, BEP20, ERC20, TRC20, DASH, LTC, XMR...) are possible. After payment is made, you will receive the **IP address** to access. ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/ce955069c6e5becac5334e686ddec0cfb6de6ee5161fb5bb44a2ce3357a848dc.png) If operating from Windows, open Windows Powershell and launch the following command, entering your IP address instead of `IP_ADDRESS`: ssh root@IP_ADDRESS Give confirmation to save ED25519 key fingerprint to the list of known hosts, available at `C:\Users\WINDOWS_USER\.ssh` and enter the password of your VPS. If you have done everything correctly, the following screen will appear: ![After login on PuTTy or Powershell on VPS provided by Contabo](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/3797a09fd5cf8e43078013eaa587a315c495cc859e81ebf4b385bddb31676a14.png) After login on PuTTy or Powershell on VPS provided by Contabo > ⚠️ Disclaimer ⚠️: Launch every command one by one. Entering more commands together could break the installation process or bring to fatal errors. Now enter the following commands and execute them: # Preparation sudo apt update -y sudo apt upgrade -y sudo apt install curl git make wget jq lz4 build-essential unzip gcc -y Install Golang # Install Golang sudo rm -rf /usr/local/go curl -Ls https://go.dev/dl/go1.21.5.linux-amd64.tar.gz | sudo tar -xzf - -C /usr/local eval $(echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin' | sudo tee /etc/profile.d/golang.sh) eval $(echo 'export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/go/bin' | tee -a $HOME/.profile) go version # go version go1.21.5 linux/amd64 **Download Artela binary** files and configure the service, check if the latest version is `v0.4.7-rc6`: # Set variables echo "export MONIKER="0xOuterGod"" >> $HOME/.bash_profile echo "export ARTELA_CHAIN_ID="artela_11822-1"" >> $HOME/.bash_profile echo "export ARTELA_PORT="30"" >> $HOME/.bash_profile source $HOME/.bash_profile # Download binary files cd $HOME git clone https://github.com/artela-network/artela && cd artela git checkout v0.4.7-rc6 make install # Configure and initialize the app artelad config node tcp://localhost:${ARTELA_PORT}657 artelad config keyring-backend os artelad config chain-id artela_11822-1 artelad init $MONIKER --chain-id artela_11822-1 Download `genesis.json` and `addrbook.json` files and configure them as follows: # Download genesis.json & addrbook.json wget -O $HOME/.artelad/config/genesis.json https://testnet-files.itrocket.net/artela/genesis.json wget -O $HOME/.artelad/config/addrbook.json https://testnet-files.itrocket.net/artela/addrbook.json # Configure seeds & peers SEEDS="8d0c626443a970034dc12df960ae1b1012ccd96a@artela-testnet-seed.itrocket.net:30656" PEERS="5c9b1bc492aad27a0197a6d3ea3ec9296504e6fd@artela-testnet-peer.itrocket.net:30656,13db40d2414b94a7aa112b5f0ad4e5db9cecd85e@[2a03:4000:4a:f20:58db:a3ff:fecf:350e]:26656,844377056c31f227cfb0759c29df9f239c284386@209.145.48.72:45656,28c6ff1859a00798be435dbb7c225539070a4245@31.169.73.194:29656,635fda81fe7aedcc755f29069a09afbc852e475f@143.198.70.161:26656,2812341c57f60bb41850787dc0e580f49df747d3@94.103.86.112:26656,412e10bed8ea78a6e53049e13203d800edcfb4c5@165.154.224.44:26656,e95a746ad42eb2b2cec8a4af68d65bcb45f48825@89.58.16.102:26656,887a45dca2fbbe73e7c8bcf836d81a3c2e4cfa53@37.60.229.253:30656,f5e7b2e9fc232222ed4c5fe282124a5fe0b91590@207.180.202.175:26656,df31e029240ab2940cfd4df8f13617227fcf08d8@135.125.97.162:11656" sed -i -e "s/^seeds *=.*/seeds = \"$SEEDS\"/; s/^persistent_peers *=.*/persistent_peers = \"$PEERS\"/" $HOME/.artelad/config/config.toml # Configure custom ports in app.toml sed -i.bak -e "s%:1317%:${ARTELA_PORT}317%g; s%:8080%:${ARTELA_PORT}080%g; s%:9090%:${ARTELA_PORT}090%g; s%:9091%:${ARTELA_PORT}091%g; s%:8545%:${ARTELA_PORT}545%g; s%:8546%:${ARTELA_PORT}546%g; s%:6065%:${ARTELA_PORT}065%g" $HOME/.artelad/config/app.toml # Configure custom ports in config.toml sed -i.bak -e "s%:26658%:${ARTELA_PORT}658%g; s%:26657%:${ARTELA_PORT}657%g; s%:6060%:${ARTELA_PORT}060%g; s%:26656%:${ARTELA_PORT}656%g; s%^external_address = \"\"%external_address = \"$(wget -qO- eth0.me):${ARTELA_PORT}656\"%; s%:26660%:${ARTELA_PORT}660%g" $HOME/.artelad/config/config.toml # Configure pruning sed -i -e "s/^pruning *=.*/pruning = \"custom\"/" $HOME/.artelad/config/app.toml sed -i -e "s/^pruning-keep-recent *=.*/pruning-keep-recent = \"100\"/" $HOME/.artelad/config/app.toml sed -i -e "s/^pruning-interval *=.*/pruning-interval = \"50\"/" $HOME/.artelad/config/app.toml # Configure minium gas price, prometheus and disable indexer sed -i 's|minimum-gas-prices =.*|minimum-gas-prices = "0.025art"|g' $HOME/.artelad/config/app.toml sed -i -e "s/prometheus = false/prometheus = true/" $HOME/.artelad/config/config.toml sed -i -e "s/^indexer *=.*/indexer = \"null\"/" $HOME/.artelad/config/config.toml # Create service file sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/artelad.service > /dev/null < /dev/null; then curl https://testnet-files.itrocket.net/artela/snap_artela.tar.lz4 | lz4 -dc - | tar -xf - -C $HOME/.artelad else echo no have snap fi # Enable & start the service sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable artelad sudo systemctl restart artelad Now we are ready to **create**/recover **a wallet**. Remember, do not use a wallet where you’re holding your crypto on Cosmos ecosystem but use a dust wallet or a **brand new wallet**: # If you want to create a new wallet, remember to save your seed phrase artelad keys add wallet # If you decide to restore a wallet you already have, launch instead this artelad keys add wallet --recover # Set wallet & valoper addresses as variables ARTELA_WALLET_ADDRESS=$(artelad keys show wallet -a) ARTELA_VALOPER_ADDRESS=$(artelad keys show wallet --bech val -a) echo "export ARTELA_WALLET_ADDRESS="$ARTELA_WALLET_ADDRESS >> $HOME/.bash_profile echo "export ARTELA_VALOPER_ADDRESS="$ARTELA_VALOPER_ADDRESS >> $HOME/.bash_profile source $HOME/.bash_profile It’s time to **request a faucet** on [**Artela Network’s Discord server**](https://discord.gg/artela). In order to get the _EVM address_ for faucet request, launch on your Powershell terminal the following command: artelad debug addr $ARTELA_WALLET_ADDRESS In order to get the faucet, launch the command `$request EVM_ADDRESS`. Return to the terminal screen and continue with the launch of the validator node: # Check sync status. If false then continue, otherwise wait full sync artelad status 2>&1 | jq .SyncInfo # Create a new validator node artelad tx staking create-validator \ --amount 990000uart \ --from wallet \ --commission-rate 0.1 \ --commission-max-rate 0.2 \ --commission-max-change-rate 0.01 \ --min-self-delegation 1 \ --pubkey $(artelad tendermint show-validator) \ --moniker $MONIKER \ --details "" \ --chain-id artela_11822-1 \ --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 \ -y # If you want to delegate more tokens, redelegate to yourself artelad tx staking delegate $(artelad keys show wallet --bech val -a) 1000000uart --from wallet --chain-id artela_11822-1 --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y # If you want to delegate tokens to another validator node, launch artelad tx staking delegate 1000000uart --from wallet --chain-id artela_11822-1 --gas auto --gas-adjustment 1.5 -y # Monitor your validator node with this command artelad status 2>&1 | jq .ValidatorInfo **Congratulations, you have successfully completed the installation of your node!** ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/85a7e431b247eb2f4e531d6fb61e97352b650756ed2b526cf7ecfcc68db39482.png) _The guide you read is for educational purposes. Penumbra has not released any information about its tokenomics nor airdrop, so this is an educational content. If you like my work, I suggest you to subscribe and mint the entry in order to support my work._ [Subscribe](null) --- *Originally published on [0xOuterGod](https://paragraph.com/@0xoutergod/strategies-with-validator-nodes-artela-network)*