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Run Beacon Node: Lighthouse

Version check

This page's content is up-to-date for Lighthouse v8.1.3.

Prerequisites

The Beacon Node requires an Execution client in order to operate. See Step 2: Run Execution Client for more information.

Overview​

Lighthouse is an Ethereum and Gnosis consensus layer client written in Rust by Sigma Prime.

Download Lighthouse

Visit Lighthouse's page on how to download Lighthouse.

https://lighthouse-book.sigmaprime.io/installation.html

Learn More about Lighthouse
info

Gnosis maintains a repo with sample Lighthouse Dockerfiles and configs

https://github.com/gnosischain/lighthouse-client

ContentLink
Release Pagehttps://github.com/sigp/lighthouse/releases/
Docker Imageshttps://hub.docker.com/repository/docker/sigp/lighthouse/
Lighthouse Docshttps://lighthouse-book.sigmaprime.io/
Github Repohttps://github.com/sigp/lighthouse

Checkpoint Sync​

We recommend the use of Checkpoint sync to sync your Beacon Node quickly, and avoid long range attacks.

Gnosis provides a checkpoint sync server at https://checkpoint.gnosischain.com.

# Usage
$ lighthouse bn
  --checkpoint-sync-url https://checkpoint.gnosischain.com
More about Checkpoint Sync

Option 1: Run as a System Process​

Refer to Guide

Option 2: Run using Docker​

Images are referenced under the following pattern sigp/lighthouse:{image-tag} with the image-tag referring to the image available on Docker Hub.

Most users should use the latest-modern tag, which corresponds to the latest stable release of Lighthouse with optimizations enabled. If you are running on older hardware then the default latest image bundles a portable version of Lighthouse which is slower but with better hardware compatibility.

caution

The Beacon Node requires an Execution client in order to operate. See Step 2: Run Execution Client for more information.

1. Folder Structure​

Create new folders:

mkdir -p /home/$USER/gnosis/consensus/data

Including the folders from your Execution client, your folder structure should now look like:

/home/$USER/gnosis/
├── jwtsecret/
├── execution/
└── consensus/
    └── data/

2. Docker Compose​

Modify your Compose file with your favorite text editor and add the consensus container. The file should now look like:

/home/$USER/gnosis/docker-compose.yml
version: "3"
services:

  execution:
    # From Step 2
    # ...

  consensus:
    container_name: consensus
    image: sigp/lighthouse:latest-modern
    restart: always
    networks:
      - gnosis_net
    ports:
      - 9000:9000/tcp # p2p
      - 9000:9000/udp # p2p
      - 5054:5054/tcp # metrics
    expose:
      - 4000 # http
    volumes:
      - /home/$USER/gnosis/consensus/data:/data
      - /home/$USER/gnosis/jwtsecret/jwt.hex:/jwt.hex
      - /etc/timezone:/etc/timezone:ro
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
    command: |
      lighthouse
      beacon_node
      --network=gnosis
      --disable-upnp
      --datadir=/data
      --port=9000
      --http
      --http-address=0.0.0.0
      --http-port=4000
      --execution-endpoint=http://execution:8551
      --execution-jwt=/jwt.hex
      --checkpoint-sync-url=https://checkpoint.gnosischain.com
    logging:
      driver: "local"

networks:
  gnosis_net:
    name: gnosis_net

3. Start Containers​

Start the consensus layer client listed in the compose file:

cd /home/$USER/gnosis
docker compose up -d

4. Monitor Logs​

Check your logs for each service (execution and consensus) with:

docker logs -f --tail 500 execution

5. Updating your Node​

To update, just pull the new images, then stop and restart your services:

cd /home/$USER/gnosis
docker compose pull
docker compose stop
docker compose up -d