tezos-baker

Boilerplate code to set up a minimalistic Tezos baker capable of baking, accusing, and paying its delegators.

This code:

• installs octez-node, octez-baker, octez-accuser, Tezpay and its extension payouts_substitutor on a single machine
• provides some basic maintenance tools.

Disclaimer

This repository is not intended to provide perfect code, but code as simple as possible and sufficient to start a baking activity. It can be used as a tutorial.

As a result, it is not state-of-the-art in terms of automation, high availability, or security. We will address these aspects throughout this documentation when relevant. In any case, we decline all responsibility in the event of damages, theft of crypto-assets, operational or security incidents, as detailed further in the LICENSE.txt file.

Additionally, this code doesn't leverage all the options provided by octez, Tezpay and payouts-substitutor. We encourage you to read the documentation for these tools and enhance your setup, transforming this basic configuration into something remarkable.

• octez: https://tezos.gitlab.io/index.html
• Tezpay: https://docs.tez.capital/tezpay/tutorials/
• payouts-substitutor: https://github.com/LaBoulange/tezpay-extensions

Release management

• Versions are numbered in the same way as those of the Tezos Gitlab repository, on which they are based. (See https://gitlab.com/tezos/tezos/-/releases). Before v20.0, they were based on Serokell's 'tezos-packaging' repository (See https://github.com/serokell/tezos-packaging).
• Underlying tags are named according to the same version number, with references to the active and replaced protocol names. Before v18.1-1, only the major version number was used.
• In the case of a change not tied to a new release of octez, a minor version number prefixed by an underscore is appended to both versions and tags.

Prerequisites

This code is designed to run on a x86_64 or ARM64 Linux platform.

Hardware requirements:

• 2 CPU cores
• Preferably 8GB RAM
• 300GB SSD drive

Before using this code, you should also have:

• a Tezos account set up to become the baker, and funded with a sufficient amount of XTZ.
• a Tezos account set up to handle the payouts.

Operating instructions

For simplicity, both the initial setup and maintenance processes are designed to be executed by the 'root' user. While this is convenient, it is not best practice from a security standpoint. Ideally, one should minimize operations performed as 'root' and designate one or more users specifically for Tezos-related tasks. Because user management configurations can vary widely, we've opted not to make assumptions about your preferences in this area. This approach allows you to easily modify these scripts and procedures according to your own criteria and preferences.

Initial setup

• Choose a directory where the executable files for your baker will be installed. This directory will be referred to as BAKER_INSTALLATION_DIR later in this document.
• Ensure this ``BAKER_INSTALLATION_DIRis part of thePATH` environment variable the users intended to run or service the baker (see Operating instructions section above).
• Copy the file usr/local/bin/install-tezos-baker.sh of this repository to the BAKER_INSTALLATION_DIR directory of your machine.
• Copy the file usr/local/bin/tezos_constants.sh of this repository to the BAKER_INSTALLATION_DIR directory of your machine.
• Make sure all the two files above are executable by the users intended to run them.
• Create a file BAKER_INSTALLATION_DIR/tezos-env.sh by copying BAKER_INSTALLATION_DIR/tezos-env.sh.template. Some variables need configuration and should persist over upgrades:
  • BAKER_ARCH: The hardware architecture you use for baking. Currently, the supported values are amd64 (x86_64) and arm64. Default: amd64.
  • BUILD_DIR: The working directory where files will be downloaded by the insllation scripts of this repository. Default: /tmp/build-tezos-baker.
  • INSTALL_DIR: The directory BAKER_INSTALLATION_DIR where executables files will be stored. Defult: /usr/local/bin.
  • DATA_DIR: The directory where the data needed by octez and Tezpay will be stored (requires large storage space).
  • KEY_BAKER: This should be the friendly name you would like to use as an alias for your baker address when managing your baker. This name is not shared publicly; it is used only locally.
  • BAKER_ACCOUNT_HASH: The tzXXX address of your baker.
  • BAKER_LIQUIDITY_BAKING_SWITCH: The liquidity baking vote (off, on, or pass). See https://tezos.gitlab.io/active/liquidity_baking.html for more details.
  • BAKER_LIMIT_STAKING_OVER_BAKING: How many times your stake, ranging from 0 (no staking) to 5 (max allowed by the protocol), you allow others to stake with your baker.
  • BAKER_EDGE_BAKING_OVER_STAKING: Proportion from 0 (0%) to 1 (100%) of the reward that your baker receives from the amount staked by stakers.
  • TEZPAY_ACCOUNT_HASH: The tzYYY address of your payout account.
  • TEZPAY_FEES: The baking fee you wish to charge your delegators, ranging from 0 (0%) to 1 (100%).
• Make BAKER_INSTALLATION_DIR/tezos-env.sh executable by the users intended to run it.
• Run install-tezos-baker.sh.
• Next, follow the step-by-step instructions in the initial-setup.sh file from this repository. Don't execute this file as a script. Instead, copy and run the instructions one at a time, as you'll be prompted to take several actions throughout the process. These actions are described in the comments appearing in this file.

Maintenance

The maintenance-cheat-sheet.sh file includes the following sections:

• Restart/Reboot: Instructions for when you need to restart, possibly due to reasons such as Linux distribution maintenance.
• Upgrade octez: Steps for updating when a new version of octez is released. This section also covers Tezos protocol upgrades.
• Upgrade TezPay: Procedures for when a new version of TezPay is available.
• Stake management: Guidelines on setting your baker's deposit limit and replenishing your payout account.
• Voting process: Help on how to vote at the various stages of the Tezos amendment and voting process (https://tezos.gitlab.io/active/voting.html).

Don't execute this file as a script. Instead, copy and run the instructions of the section that interests you one at a time, as you'll be prompted to take several actions throughout the process. These actions are described in the comments appearing in this file.

Upgrade from previous versions

Upgrade from tezos-baker v20.0 (see CHANGELOG.md)

A new variable, BAKER_ARCH, has been introduced in BAKER_INSTALLATION_DIR/tezos-env.sh to specify the hardware architecture used for baking. This ensures that the corresponding octez and Tezpay executables are downloaded and installed. Please refer to the Initial setup section above for more details.

Another significant change is the use of the Tezpay extension payouts-substitutor, which redirects the payout of rewards due to 'oven' type contracts to the owners of these contracts. Indeed, the operation of these contracts deprives them of rewards when balance movements are applied to them because their balance update mechanism involves a temporary passage through a zero balance (more details here on the Tezos Agora), which, since the Paris protocol, results in the cancellation of the reward for the concerned cycle.

Finally, the script install-tezos-baker.sh has been introduced to simplify the upgrade process for tezos-baker.

These changes involve the following steps:

• Copy the file usr/local/bin/install-tezos-baker.sh of this repository to the BAKER_INSTALLATION_DIR directory of your machine.
• Make sure this file is executable by the users intended to run or service the baker (see Operating instructions section above).
• Add the following line to BAKER_INSTALLATION_DIR/tezos-env.sh just before the . `which tezos-constants.sh` statement (if in doubt, please refer to usr/local/bin/tezos-env.sh.template for guidance):
  • export BAKER_ARCH='amd64' or export BAKER_ARCH='arm64' depending on the architecture you are using for baking.
• Update your Tezpay config.hjson file to enable payouts-substitutor extension
  • include the following configuration block (assuming here that the values of $INSTALL_DIR, $NODE_RPC_ADDR and $RUN_DIR have not been adjusted by you)). Additional configuration options are available in the payouts-substitutor's documentation. For practical implementation, please refer to the initial-setup.sh file in this repository:

 

extensions: [
    {
        name: payouts-substitutor
        command: /usr/local/bin/payouts-substitutor
        args: [
        ]
        kind: stdio
        configuration: {
            RPC_NODE: 127.0.0.1:8732
        }
        hooks: [
            {
                id: after_candidates_generated
                mode: rw
            }
        ]
    }
] 

• Run install-tezos-baker.sh.
• Run the 'Upgrade octez' procedure of the Maintenance section above.
• Run the 'Upgrade TezPay' procedure of the Maintenance section above.

Upgrade from tezos-baker v20.0_2 (see CHANGELOG.md)

• Copy the file usr/local/bin/install-tezos-baker.sh of this repository to the BAKER_INSTALLATION_DIR directory of your machine (see Initial setup section above, step 1).
• Make sure this file is executable by the users intended to run or service the baker (see Operating instructions section above).
• Run install-tezos-baker.sh.
• Run the 'Upgrade octez' procedure of the Maintenance section above.

Should you wish to support us

You can send a donation:

• to our baker's address: tz1aJHKKUWrwfsuoftdmwNBbBctjSWchMWZY
• or to its Tezos domain name: laboulange.tez

Or just click here:

 

This is not mandatory, but it is greatly appreciated!

Contact

Feel free to contact us with any questions or suggestions. We can be reached through the following channels:

• MailChain: laboulange@mailchain
• E-mail: la.boulange.tezos@gmail.com
• DNS: https://dns.xyz/fr/LaBoulange
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/LaBoulangeTezos
• Telegram: https://t.me/laboulangetezos

We are also active in various Telegram and Discord groups related to Tezos.