Developers
Validators
Validator Operations

Validator Operations

What You'll Learn

  • Essential validator management operations for ongoing network participation
  • How to unjail a validator that has been penalized by the network
  • Complete process for unstaking and removing a validator from the chain
  • Command-line procedures for critical validator maintenance tasks

Overview

This guide covers essential operations for managing your validator node on the Allora Network. These operations are critical for maintaining validator status and handling various network scenarios.

Why These Operations Matter

Operational Importance:

  • Network compliance: Maintain good standing with network consensus requirements
  • Penalty recovery: Restore validator functionality after network penalties
  • Exit procedures: Properly remove validators when needed
  • Risk management: Handle emergency situations and validator maintenance

Professional Responsibility:

  • Uptime maintenance: Ensure continuous participation in network consensus
  • Quick recovery: Minimize downtime and restore operations rapidly
  • Proper procedures: Follow correct protocols to avoid additional penalties
  • Network health: Contribute to overall network stability and reliability

Critical Validator Operations

Unjailing a Validator

To unjail a validator execute the following command from the validator:

allorad --home="$APP_HOME" \
  tx slashing unjail --from $VALIDATOR_ADDRESS

When Unjailing Is Needed

Common Jailing Scenarios:

  • Downtime penalties: Extended periods of missed block signatures
  • Double signing: Accidental signing of conflicting blocks (serious offense)
  • Network violations: Failure to follow consensus rules or protocol requirements
  • Technical issues: Infrastructure problems causing validator misbehavior

Unjailing Process

Steps to Recovery:

  1. Identify the issue: Determine why the validator was jailed
  2. Fix underlying problems: Resolve technical issues causing the penalty
  3. Wait for unjail period: Respect minimum jailing duration requirements
  4. Execute unjail command: Use the provided command to restore validator status
  5. Monitor restoration: Verify validator returns to active consensus participation

Post-Unjailing Actions:

  • System monitoring: Implement better monitoring to prevent future jailing
  • Infrastructure review: Assess and improve validator setup for reliability
  • Performance tracking: Monitor validator metrics and network participation
  • Backup procedures: Establish redundancy to prevent future downtime

Unstaking/Unbonding a Validator

If you need to delete a validator from the chain, you just need to unbound the stake with your custom parameters:

allorad --home="$APP_HOME" \
  tx staking unbond ${VALIDATOR_OPERATOR_ADDRESS} \
  ${STAKE_AMOUNT}uallo --from "$MONIKER" \
   --keyring-backend=test --chain-id ${NETWORK}

Unbonding Considerations

When to Unbond:

  • Permanent exit: Shutting down validator operations permanently
  • Infrastructure changes: Major system upgrades requiring validator restart
  • Economic decisions: Reallocating stake to other investment opportunities
  • Network transitions: Moving to different networks or protocols

Unbonding Process Details

Command Parameters:

  • $VALIDATOR_OPERATOR_ADDRESS: The specific validator's operator address
  • $STAKE_AMOUNT: Amount of tokens to unbond (in base denomination uallo)
  • $MONIKER: Your validator's human-readable name
  • $NETWORK: The chain ID for the network (e.g., allora-testnet-1)

Important Considerations:

  • Unbonding period: Tokens are locked for a specified period after unbonding
  • Partial unbonding: You can unbond partial amounts rather than entire stake
  • Delegator impact: Unbonding affects delegators who have staked with your validator
  • Slashing exposure: Validators remain subject to slashing during unbonding period

Advanced Operations

Validator Key Management

Security Best Practices:

  • Key rotation: Regularly update validator signing keys for security
  • Backup procedures: Maintain secure backups of all validator keys and configurations
  • Access control: Limit access to validator infrastructure and key materials
  • Multi-signature: Consider multi-signature setups for critical operations

Emergency Procedures

Crisis Management:

  • Emergency shutdown: Procedures for safely shutting down validator during crises
  • Key compromise: Steps to take if validator keys are potentially compromised
  • Infrastructure failure: Backup plans for hardware or network failures
  • Coordinated response: Communication with network during emergency situations

Operational Best Practices

Monitoring and Maintenance

Continuous Operations:

  • Performance metrics: Track validator performance and network statistics
  • Alert systems: Set up monitoring and alerting for validator issues
  • Regular updates: Keep validator software updated with latest releases
  • Health checks: Implement automated health checks and status monitoring

Risk Management

Penalty Prevention:

  • Redundant infrastructure: Multiple servers and network connections
  • Automated failover: Systems to switch to backup infrastructure automatically
  • Regular testing: Test disaster recovery and emergency procedures regularly
  • Documentation: Maintain detailed runbooks for all operational procedures

Community Engagement

Network Participation:

  • Governance voting: Actively participate in network governance decisions
  • Community communication: Maintain open communication with delegators and community
  • Technical contributions: Share knowledge and contribute to network development
  • Professional network: Build relationships with other validators and network participants

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Jailing Problems

Diagnostic Steps:

  • Check validator status: Verify current validator state and jailing reason
  • Review logs: Examine validator logs for error messages and issues
  • Network connectivity: Ensure stable connection to network peers
  • System resources: Verify adequate computational resources and performance

Unbonding Issues

Common Solutions:

  • Insufficient balance: Ensure adequate tokens for transaction fees
  • Address verification: Double-check validator operator address accuracy
  • Network parameters: Verify correct chain ID and network configuration
  • Transaction confirmation: Monitor transaction status and confirmation

Prerequisites

  • Active validator: Currently operating validator node on the Allora Network
  • Command-line access: Terminal access to validator infrastructure
  • Administrative permissions: Appropriate access rights for validator operations
  • Network connectivity: Stable connection to Allora Network blockchain

Next Steps

Stake a ValidatorSoftware Upgrades