Launch your Denali node in 5 minutes

5 min readJun 2, 2020

With this guide you’ll be able to become an AVA Denali Network Validator in 5 minutes! A script will take care of all the configuration for you.

The script has 3 main steps:

Download and run the script to set up the VPS. Before moving on to the next steps, you’ll have to wait for the network to sync. This can take a while.
Set up your username and password
Launch the node configuration script

1 — Launch the script

First of all, connect to your VPS or have your Linux Ubuntu 18.04 machine running. If you don’t have a VPS, take a look at our previous guide : https://medium.com/@ablock.io/guide-launch-your-denali-node-with-aws-from-a-to-z-4a13ebac1466

1- Run the following command

curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ablockio/Auto-AVA-Denali-node-deployment/master/install_ava_node.sh | bash

The command will install all the dependencies, the AVA Gecko and launch the bootstrap of your node.

You should get the following result:

The first bootstrap of your node takes about 1 hour. Please be patient.

Now go to the directory “Auto-AVA-Denali-node-deployment”

cd Auto-AVA-Denali-node-deployment

You can now set your username and password. To do this, open the file config.json

nano config.json

Your password must contain at least 8 characters, with one upper case, one lower case, one number and one special character..

Use the keyboard arrows to navigate through the config.json file. Once you have changed your username and password, press Ctrl+X and then “Y” to save.

2 — Become a validator

You will now run the second script that will allow you to become a validator.

To do this, execute the following command:

node launch_node.js

If you have the above result, your node is not yet synchronized. The script will try to create your wallet every 60 seconds until your node is synchronized.

Once your node is synchronized, you will see this:

Now, copy the X-Chain address and use the faucet to receive AVA: https://faucet.ava.network/

If you get the following message, it means that your balance is still 0. Don’t panic, your node still hasn’t synchronized the transaction. The script will check your balance every 30 seconds.

Once you receive AVA you will see this:

Your node is now fully set up and you can use your nodeID to check if your node is in the “pending list” on the explorer. : https://explorer.ava.network/validators

Enjoy the AVA Denali network and we hope that this tutorial helped you!

Restart your node

Execute the following command:

curl -s  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ablockio/Auto-AVA-Denali-node-deployment/master/reboot_node.sh | bash

You should get the result below :

Your node has been rebooted.

Update your node

To update your node to the latest version, execute the following command:

curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ablockio/Auto-AVA-Denali-node-deployment/master/reboot_node_update.sh | bash

You should have the following result :

Issue #1:

If you’re trying to export your P-Chain wallet private key and you’re getting this result :

Follow this steps :

systemctl status avanode

If you got the following result :

Type :

ps -ef

You will kill the ./build/ava process and reboot your node.

To kill the ava process run the following command :

kill -9 1914

and reboot :

curl -s  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ablockio/Auto-AVA-Denali-node-deployment/master/reboot_node.sh | bash

You could now retry, and get you P-chain wallet private key.

ablock links:

ablock is a staking service provider with a focus on community engagement. We build software, tools, and other cool stuff.
Check us out!

Website : https://ablock.io

Telegram Group: https://t.me/ablockio

Twitter : https://twitter.com/ablock_io

About AVA Labs:

AVA Labs makes it simple to launch finance applications using blockchain technolog — with highly scalable and efficient networks, customizable public and private blockchains, the capability to create any digital asset, and more. We are empowering people to build an open, simple, and democratic internet of finance.