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Full Node Installation & Validator Setup

This document describes all required steps to install, configure, and operate a Cosmos Hub node and, if applicable, create a validator using Gaia (gaiad) .

0) Variables (recommended)

Adjust these variables before starting:

GAIA_VERSION="v26.0.0"
CHAIN_ID="cosmoshub-4"
NODE_MONIKER="Cumulo"
GAIA_HOME="$HOME/.gaia"

1) System Requirements

Hardware (recommended minimum)

CPU: 4–8 vCPU
RAM: 16–32 GB
Storage: NVMe SSD recommended (Cosmos Hub grows steadily; plan >1TB)
Network: 1 Gbps

Software

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
git, make, gcc, curl, wget, jq
Go installed and configured

Install dependencies:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y git make gcc jq curl wget build-essential ca-certificates

2) Install Go (if not installed)

Check existing installation:

go version

If missing, install a stable version (example 1.22.x):

cd $HOME
GO_VERSION="1.22.6"
wget https://go.dev/dl/go${GO_VERSION}.linux-amd64.tar.gz
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/go
sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf go${GO_VERSION}.linux-amd64.tar.gz

echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin:$HOME/go/bin' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

go version

3) Build and Install Gaia

cd $HOME
rm -rf cosmos
git clone https://github.com/cosmos/gaia cosmos
cd cosmos
git checkout $GAIA_VERSION
make install

Verify version:

gaiad version
# expected: v25.3.0

4) Initialize the Node

gaiad init "$NODE_MONIKER" --chain-id "$CHAIN_ID"

Directory created:

$HOME/.gaia

5) Download Genesis and Addrbook

Genesis

wget -O "$GAIA_HOME/config/genesis.json"  https://snapshots.polkachu.com/genesis/cosmos/genesis.json --inet4-only

Addrbook

wget -O "$GAIA_HOME/config/addrbook.json"  https://files2.cumulo.me/mainnet/cosmoshub/addrbook.json

6) Configure Seeds and Persistent Peers

Keep seed and peer lists updated if connectivity issues arise.

SEEDS="00bf1f9d3c65137dc99c40cd03864384ce0ef7c3@cosmoshub-mainnet-seed.itrocket.net:34656"

PEERS="cbc6e2c364fec853fc74f01d4926c6046d9b2067@cosmoshub-mainnet-peer.itrocket.net:34656,36ad7bacc3a18b4deb647c60a0c1d8bbd24fde39@82.113.25.131:26656,27ad834c62dbefc5beb74be7575515927bd07c58@37.120.245.50:26656,0add711ee2dcedcfb4c575aa1ace3f4995c8d731@170.64.218.141:26090,bd2b5b30ee1a6f3d983bb3c1a083ea37aff18ce1@18.142.7.52:26656,7b15dce221b13ca353187b4f7219a94db6b71ad3@185.119.118.109:2000,be43400a8688132bd225b8cf9aad16042a37dac1@139.59.75.73:26090,66ca3161c5532da890815e40826ddbbbe2cb7f6c@176.9.101.44:26656,1a2ec6b643e4f6fda476dc94f579c2035e1de33f@178.128.238.183:26090,a1dc1d64c4412e0f9bf9ff6111b18fd68bc38d05@46.101.130.205:26090,c9326664143738dd027d96d658a28cb5dcc6c198@134.65.192.166:26656"

Apply configuration:

sed -i -e "/^\[p2p\]/,/^\[/{s/^[[:space:]]*seeds *=.*/seeds = \"$SEEDS\"/}"        -e "/^\[p2p\]/,/^\[/{s/^[[:space:]]*persistent_peers *=.*/persistent_peers = \"$PEERS\"/}"        "$GAIA_HOME/config/config.toml"

7) Configure Pruning

sed -i 's/^pruning *=.*/pruning = "custom"/' "$GAIA_HOME/config/app.toml"
sed -i 's/^pruning-keep-recent *=.*/pruning-keep-recent = "100"/' "$GAIA_HOME/config/app.toml"
sed -i 's/^pruning-interval *=.*/pruning-interval = "19"/' "$GAIA_HOME/config/app.toml"

8) Gas Price, Metrics and Indexer

Minimum gas price

sed -i 's|minimum-gas-prices =.*|minimum-gas-prices = "0.0025uatom"|g'   "$GAIA_HOME/config/app.toml"

Enable Prometheus

sed -i 's/prometheus = false/prometheus = true/'   "$GAIA_HOME/config/config.toml"

Disable transaction indexer

sed -i 's/^indexer *=.*/indexer = "null"/'   "$GAIA_HOME/config/config.toml"

9) Create systemd Service

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/gaiad.service > /dev/null <<EOF
[Unit]
Description=Cosmos Hub node (gaiad)
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=$USER
WorkingDirectory=$HOME/.gaia
ExecStart=$(which gaiad) start --home $HOME/.gaia
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5
LimitNOFILE=65535

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

Enable and start:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable gaiad
sudo systemctl start gaiad

Logs:

sudo journalctl -u gaiad -f --no-hostname -o cat

10) Verify Synchronization

gaiad status 2>/dev/null | jq .sync_info

When catching_up is false, the node is synced.

11) Create Wallet

WALLET="cumwallet"
gaiad keys add "$WALLET"

Check balance (after funding):

gaiad query bank balances "$(gaiad keys show "$WALLET" -a)"

12) Prepare validator.json

Get validator consensus pubkey:

gaiad tendermint show-validator

Example validator.json:

{
  "pubkey": {
    "@type": "/cosmos.crypto.ed25519.PubKey",
    "key": "<YOUR_VALIDATOR_PUBKEY_BASE64>"
  },
  "amount": "1000000uatom",
  "moniker": "Cumulo",
  "identity": "77158D6796D16CD0",
  "website": "https://cumulo.pro",
  "security": "info@cumulo.pro",
  "details": "Cumulo is a professional validator focused on security, reliability and long-term network contribution.",
  "commission-rate": "0.05",
  "commission-max-rate": "0.2",
  "commission-max-change-rate": "0.01",
  "min-self-delegation": "1"
}

13) Create the Validator

gaiad tx staking create-validator validator.json   --from "$WALLET"   --chain-id "$CHAIN_ID"   --node tcp://127.0.0.1:26657   --gas 450000   --fees 3000uatom   -y

Verify:

VAL_ADDR="$(gaiad keys show "$WALLET" --bech val -a)"
gaiad query staking validator "$VAL_ADDR"

14) Final Checklist

[ ] gaiad v25.2.0 installed
[ ] Genesis and addrbook in place
[ ] Seeds and peers configured
[ ] Pruning enabled
[ ] Minimum gas price set
[ ] Prometheus enabled
[ ] Indexer disabled
[ ] systemd service running
[ ] Node fully synced
[ ] Wallet backed up securely
[ ] Validator created and verified on-chain

End of document