🎓 New Harmony Validators
Comprehensive Learning Path: Welcome to EasyNodePro's Companion Guide covering everything needed to become a professional Harmony ONE validator.
Official Integration: Use this guide alongside the official manual installation (opens in a new tab) for your first server deployment with enhanced understanding and best practices.
🎯 Professional Validator Responsibilities
- 🖥️ Infrastructure Management - Create and maintain servers for block signing operations
- 🏷️ Brand Development - Establish professional validator identity and community presence
- 🤝 Community Engagement - Contribute value and provide support in official Harmony channels
- 📊 Delegation Growth - Develop strategies to attract and retain delegators
- ⚖️ Strategic Planning - Optimize BLS key allocation (typically add 2nd key around 10M ONE)
- 🔄 Network Adaptation - Deploy new nodes as shard conditions evolve
🚀 Getting Started
Ready to Begin? Follow this systematic approach to establish your professional validator infrastructure.
🖥️ Server Selection
Infrastructure Planning: Select a provider with adequate resources for validator operations. Research current validator hosting patterns as preferences evolve frequently.
👤 User Account & SSH Configuration
Security Foundation: Proper user account setup covered comprehensively in our admin tools section.
📁 Create Harmony Workspace
Organization: Establish a dedicated workspace for validator files and database storage within your user account.
Create your harmony directory within your user home directory:
mkdir ~/harmonyNavigation: Always return to your harmony folder when executing validator commands. Use this command if you become lost in the directory structure:
cd ~/harmony📌 Important: Execute all installation and validator commands from this harmony directory to maintain proper file organization.
🔐 Firewall Configuration
Security Critical: Configure firewall with minimal attack surface - open only essential ports publicly.
📥 Inbound Rules
🔑 Port 22 TCP - SSH Access
Security Best Practice: Restrict to specific IP addresses (home/work) and disable password authentication to prevent brute force attacks.
⚡ Port 6000 TCP - Harmony Consensus
🌐 Port 9000 TCP - P2P Communication
📤 Outbound Rules
Simplified Configuration: Leave all outbound ports open to enable server internet communication.
💰 Validator Wallet Configuration
Account Names: Replace serviceuser with your actual account name in all examples below!
🆕 Option A: Create New Validator Wallet
Dedicated Validation: Create a separate wallet exclusively for validator operations and reward collection to maintain clear separation of funds.
Execute wallet creation after your server is online and synchronized:
cd ~/harmony
./hmy keys add serviceuser --passphraseCritical Security: The system will display your mnemonic phrase only once. Record it immediately in a secure location and never share it. Loss of this phrase means permanent loss of wallet access.
📥 Option B: Import Existing Wallet
Import Flexibility: Multiple import methods available for existing wallets. Review available options with the keys command below.
./hmy keys
Manage your local keys
Usage:
hmy keys [flags]
hmy keys [command]
Available Commands:
add Create a new keystore key
check-passphrase Check if passphrase for given account is valid.
export-ks Export the keystore file contents
export-private-key Export the secp256k1 private key
generate-bls-key Generate bls keys then encrypt and save the private key with a requested passphrase
generate-bls-keys Generates multiple bls keys for a given shard network configuration and then encrypts and saves the private key with a requested passphrase
get-public-bls-key Get the public bls key associated with the provided private bls key
import-ks Import an existing keystore key
import-private-key Import an existing keystore key (only accept secp256k1 private keys)
list List all the local accounts
location Show where `hmy` keeps accounts & their keys
mnemonic Compute the bip39 mnemonic for some input entropy
recover-bls-key Recover bls keys from an encrypted bls key file
recover-from-mnemonic Recover account from mnemonic
remove Remove a key from the keystore
save-bls-key Encrypt and save the bls private key with a requested passphrase
Flags:
-h, --help help for keys
Global Flags:
--file string Path to file for given command when applicable
-e, --ledger Use ledger hardware wallet
--no-latest Do not add 'latest' to RPC params
--no-pretty Disable pretty print JSON outputs
-n, --node string <host> (default "http://localhost:9500")
-v, --verbose dump out debug information, same as env var HMY_ALL_DEBUG=true
Use "hmy keys [command] --help" for more information about a command.Example: Recover wallet from mnemonic phrase:
./hmy keys recover-from-mnemonic serviceuser --passphraseVerification: List your registered validator wallet address:
./hmy keys list💸 Fund Validator Wallet
Minimum Requirement: Transfer at least 10,001 ONE to your validator wallet before executing the create-validator command during official setup.
🔐 BLS Keys Configuration
Blockchain Authentication: BLS keys authenticate your server on the Harmony blockchain during the Official Setup process.
🎯 BLS Key Strategy
Best Practice: Generate 10 BLS keys for your starting shard and store them securely on your local machine for reusability across deployments.
🏠 Local Storage: Save .key and .pass files locally using WinSCP, scp, rsync, or your preferred file transfer method.
⚡ Scaling Efficiency: While you initially need only 1 key (threshold: ~9.5 million ONE), having additional keys ready prevents service restarts and missed blocks during expansion.
🔑 Creating BLS Keys
Shard Selection: Consider running validators on shards 1-3 rather than the congested shard 0 for better performance.
🗂️ Preparation: Create password file for streamlined key generation:
cd ~/harmony
echo -E 'password' > blskey.pass⚡ Generate Keys (execute after toolbox installation):
./hmy keys generate-bls-keys --count 10 --shard 1 --passphrase-file blskey.passFile Management: This generates .key files in your ~/harmony directory. Ensure secure backup storage of these critical files.
📁 Key Installation: Copy generated keys to the BLS directory:
cp *.key ~/harmony/.hmy/blskeys⚙️ Configuration Setup: Edit harmony configuration file:
nano ~/harmony/harmony.confConfiguration Update: Modify the PassFile parameter from PassFile = [] to include your password file path.
PassFile = "./blskey.pass"Save and exit nano (Ctrl+X y enter)
Backup your .key and .pass files @ home or in the cloud
Using your admin transfer tool of choice, transfer your .key and .pass files to your home pc and store them securely. The key and pass files are all you need backed up to quickly restore a node. Once you create keys for a shard you can save them and re-use them when needed. They do not need to be created again once you have working copies backed up.
We suggest building a folder that contains a folder for each shard and storing your keys in there.
Ready to Install
You're ready to hit our next section which you'll use along side the official harmony documentation to install. Each chapter in the next section matches up to the official Harmony docs website. Read our notes on what to do before you go through their pages so you can avoid a lot of unneccessary information.