Setting up your environment

Introduction

Welcome to the first chapter on running your first node on Starknet! Treat this chapter as a compiled prerequisite for upcoming chapters. Feel free to come back to this chapter in case you accidentally skipped over a step.

There are four prerequisites before proceeding to next steps.

  • Docker = Docker is a free and widely-used platform that allows us to run node clients in isolated, reproducible environments. It’s the preferred deployment method for many node client providers due to its consistency, portability, and ease of setup. Visit docker desktop to install Docker for your OS.

  • Browser Wallet = We need up to two wallet addresses that will be needed in Staking your STRK tokens and Running your block attestation service sections. You can use any browser wallet of your choice such as Argent or Braavos.

  • Make sure both wallet addresses have some testnet STRK tokens. You can visit the faucet page to request STRK.

  • We need Ethereum Sepolia Websocket RPC URL to allow communication between our validator and sepolia testnet. You can create an account with Alchemy, Infura or Quicknode to get your free RPC.

With these steps complete, you’re now ready to launch your first validator!

Spinning up your first validator

Ready to launch your first validator? Let’s do this!

Running a validator means using your local machine’s storage to maintain a full database of the blockchain, starting from the genesis block. This ensures the availability and integrity of blockchain data.

Before beginning the installation process, check to see if your system meets the required hardware specifications. We have listed the specifications for the different node clients that we will be covering.

Juno (minimal requirements)

  • CPU: At least 2 cores

  • RAM: 4GB or more

  • Storage: 400GB or more (SSD recommended, storage grows over time)

Source

Pathfinder

  • CPU: 4 cores

  • RAM: 8 GB

  • Storage: 250GB SSD

Source

It is very important that you consider allocating more than the required amount of storage to anticipate future chain growth and compute for attestation.

Feel free to pick your client of choice and proceed to either of the section to get started.