A Step-by-Step guide
**Credit to Mitch-Wariner for helping me with the setup**
Introduction
If you’re reading this guide, you probably already know what Neatcoin is and what it intends to do. As a POS blockchain, the number of validators is intended to grow, and hopefully this guide can help some of you participate in the decentralization of the blockchain.
Setting up the Server
The first step is to subscribe to a Cloud VPS. There are many options to choose from, so I’ll give an example with Hetzner but feel free to shop around for best prices. The system requirements should be;
4 cpu
8gb ram
100+gb ssd
Here’s the one I chose for my validator;
Once you’ve subscribed to Hetzner, you’ll be able to create a new project
Then create the server associated with it, you don’t need fancy options, just the basics will do fine.
And there you go, server created and ready to host your node!
Setting up the node
You should have received login credentials by email to connect to your server.
Open up Terminal, and type:
ssh root@[YourServerIP]
It will ask if you’re sure your want to connect to the server, you can type yes, and then it will prompt you to enter your current password, and then set your new password.
Start by making sure Ubuntu is up to date
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
Then fetch the Neatcoin repo from Github
wget https://github.com/neatcoin/neatcoin/releases/download/v1.1.0/neatcoin-linux.zip
apt install unzip
unzip neatcoin-linux.zip
Then make the file executable
chmod +x neatcoin
Then remove the zipfile
rm neatcoin-linux.zip
Finally you can start the node
./neatcoin
After a few hours, it should be done syncing with the blockchain.
Generate a new key
The next step is to generate a new rotate key. Open a new terminal window and remotely connect to your server like you did previously. Enter this command and save the result
curl -H “Content-Type: application/json” -d ‘{“id”:1, “jsonrpc”:”2.0", “method”: “author_rotateKeys”, “params”:[]}’ http://localhost:9933
Your can verify that everything is working properly by entering this command line, the result should display “true”
curl -H “Content-Type: application/json” -d ‘{“id”:1, “jsonrpc”:”2.0", “method”: “author_hasSessionKeys”, “params”:[“YOUR.ROTATEKEY”]}’ http://localhost:9933
Register your node on Polkadot.JS
Finally, you can register your node. First, you’ll need to create 2 accounts on Neat blockchain (1 controller, and 1 stash account).
*Remember to save the seeds and password securely, and avoid screenshots.
https://polkadot.js.org/apps/?rpc=wss%3A%2F%2Frpc.neatcoin.org%2Fws#/accounts
Then go to the staking page, and select the account actions tabs in order to add a new validator.
You’ll need to enter your rotateKeys you save earlier and decide on the commission %
And Voila! You should now have you validator ready to be nominated.
