This repo describes the way of running custom ETH2.0 network from scratch

Step 0

Choose a minimal number of validators to run (e.g. 16). Beacon chain will not start with smaller amount.

Setup env file. Template is in .env.example.

Build helper docker image:

./scripts/build.sh

Step 1

Generate keystore files and deposit data for all validators.

This can be done by running the following:

./scripts/generate.sh 16

This command runs the docker container with the forked version of official eth2.0-deposit-cli.

First argument is the fork version to run (analogue of eth1 chain id, mainnet uses 00000000) - 4 hex-encoded bytes without 0x prefix. Second argument is the number of validators to generate.

You will see the generated master-key mnemonic. You need to copy and re-enter it once again, then you will finally see the generation process.

After command completion, you can find all artifacts in ./validator_keys/ directory. There will be N keystore files and 1 file describing all deposit configurations.

Step 2

Deploy new deposit contract.

./scripts/deploy.sh

This will deploy and output the deployed contract address in the stdout. You can verify the contract source code manually in etherscan by using the code in ./src/artifacts/Deposit.sol.

Step 3

Execute deposits.

./scripts/deposit.sh $(pwd)/validator_keys/deposit_data-*.json 0x<deposit_contract_data>

First argument is the deposit data file generated in Step 1. Second argument is the address of the deposit contract.

Step 4

Prepare yaml config for beacon chain. Template can be found in ./beacon/config.template.yml

Pay attention to the following parameters:

• MIN_GENESIS_ACTIVE_VALIDATOR_COUNT
• MIN_GENESIS_TIME
• ETH1_FOLLOW_DISTANCE
• DEPOSIT_CHAIN_ID
• DEPOSIT_NETWORK_ID
• DEPOSIT_CONTRACT_ADDRESS
• GENESIS_FORK_VERSION

Other parameters may be left unchanged.

Step 5

Get binaries for Prysm client.

git clone https://github.com/prysmaticlabs/prysm.git

cd prysm

./prysm.sh beacon-chain --download-only
./prysm.sh validator --download-only

Step 6

Run two ETH2.0 beacon nodes:

Replace your own deployment blocks, rpc urls and ENR records.

# In one shell:
./prysm.sh beacon-chain --force-clear-db \
  --contract-deployment-block 8957245 \
  --http-web3provider https://rinkeby.infura.io/v3/... \
  --bootstrap-node "" \
  --config-file config.yml \
  --chain-config-file config.yml \
  --disable-sync \
  --verbosity debug \
  --datadir ./db1
  
# In other shell (find ENR string in the logs of first node):
./prysm.sh beacon-chain --force-clear-db \
  --contract-deployment-block 8957245 \
  --http-web3provider https://rinkeby.infura.io/v3/... \
  --bootstrap-node "" \
  --config-file config.yml \
  --chain-config-file config.yml \
  --disable-sync \
  --verbosity debug \
  --datadir ./db2 \
  --grpc-gateway-port 3501 \
  --rpc-port 4001 \
  --p2p-udp-port 12001 \
  --p2p-tcp-port 13001 \
  --peer "enr:-LK4QNfE6jyAqGmgltwWON3UGU4XJNBQyHmmDJK_Y0D7V8byCbey11CVTbkM2cYi40QRirmBlbb-o3jdEjSWLDBfx18Bh2F0dG5ldHOIAAAAAAAAAACEZXRoMpAnXvoeEjQSNP__________gmlkgnY0gmlwhMCoHxmJc2VjcDI1NmsxoQLCcyeQHzBlQItaDh2OhE4DLFHCgUrf_L28D1K02He4z4N0Y3CCMsiDdWRwgi7g"

Run validator connected to the first node:

./prysm.sh validator wallet recover
./prysm.sh validator --config-file config.yml --chain-config-file config.yml

Step 7

Verify that both node make some progress in mining blocks:

curl http://127.0.0.1:3500/eth/v1alpha1/beacon/chainhead
curl http://127.0.0.1:3501/eth/v1alpha1/beacon/chainhead