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Cosmos Hub Testnet — Full Node Installation & Validator Setup (Gaia)

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

Network

Gaia version: v27.0.0-rc0

Chain ID: provider (testnet)

0) Variables (recommended)

Adjust these variables before starting:

GAIA_VERSION="v27.0.0-rc0"
CHAIN_ID="provider"
NODE_MONIKER="your_moniker"
GAIA_HOME="$HOME/.gaia"

1) System Requirements

Hardware (recommended minimum)

CPU: 4–8 vCPU
RAM: 16–32 GB
Storage: NVMe SSD recommended (plan plenty of disk; testnets can still grow fast)
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: v27.0.0-rc0

4) Initialize the Node

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

Directory created:

$HOME/.gaia

5) Download Genesis and Addrbook (Testnet)

Genesis

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

Addrbook

wget -O "$GAIA_HOME/config/addrbook.json" \
  https://server-2.itrocket.net/testnet/cosmos/addrbook.json

6) Configure Seeds and Persistent Peers

Keep seed and peer lists updated if connectivity issues arise.

SEEDS="84871382a3ffa5e781034b6519126f2d5ea29f15@cosmos-testnet-seed.itrocket.net:21656,ade4d8bc8cbe014af6ebdf3cb7b1e9ad36f412c0@testnet-seeds.polkachu.com:14956"

PEERS="5359d38055601c523dbbec5c6fd7168d36354c16@cosmos-testnet-peer.itrocket.net:21656,77427588dd30d410736c241e31375cc747194c83@65.109.111.234:34656,5b0e5469e6615808ffb0bcf3228ca8d7cf3b9e94@144.76.30.36:15621,49d75c6094c006b6f2758e45457c1f3d6002ce7a@188.166.8.68:25002,7a4d3c66261d33288055750a872d47c55769ad7a@65.108.127.249:2000,bc24e4667f9db8a0265c9d8f31516ef1fa7c9368@168.119.37.164:30656,c299ee06a11addcccb4cbd0d600ca521ff143ff1@65.109.25.113:14956,ae35eb87fbe117392159e8ec8fa65f7f14cd613f@37.27.0.90:26656,c2ef8a0e7408d0a8dc8a546e4d5c17a42977639e@23.111.23.233:36656,6ce07afdbb0a325a491522bfa4e45ebe41e0aaee@148.251.245.34:13356,a3825c8fb9b8fc6e95b10279ccd898321fa37c20@54.37.31.127:14956"

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 testnet 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 (optional)

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 (optional)

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 $GAIA_VERSION installed
[ ] Genesis and addrbook in place (testnet)
[ ] Seeds and peers configured
[ ] Pruning enabled
[ ] Minimum gas price set
[ ] Prometheus enabled
[ ] Indexer disabled
[ ] systemd service running
[ ] Node fully synced (catching_up=false)
[ ] Wallet backed up securely
[ ] Validator created and verified on-chain (if applicable)

End of document