Install

1. System Requirements

• OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

• CPU: 16+ physical cores (SMT disabled recommended)

• RAM: 32 GB minimum

• Disk: 1–2 TB NVMe SSD

• Network: Static IP, high uptime

2. Install Monad Full Node

System Setup

apt update && apt upgrade -y
apt install -y curl jq aria2 nvme-cli

Install Monad Package

mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings

curl -fsSL https://pkg.category.xyz/keys/public-key.asc \
 | gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/category-labs.gpg

cat <<EOF > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/category-labs.sources
Types: deb
URIs: https://pkg.category.xyz/
Suites: noble
Components: main
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/category-labs.gpg
EOF

apt update
apt install -y monad=0.12.7
apt-mark hold monad

Create User and Directories

useradd -m -s /bin/bash monad
mkdir -p /home/monad/monad-bft/{config,ledger}
mkdir -p /home/monad/monad-bft/config/{validators,forkpoint}
chown -R monad:monad /home/monad

Download Mainnet Configs

MF_BUCKET=https://bucket.monadinfra.com

curl -o /home/monad/.env \
 $MF_BUCKET/config/mainnet/latest/.env.example

curl -o /home/monad/monad-bft/config/node.toml \
 $MF_BUCKET/config/mainnet/latest/full-node-node.toml

Edit /home/monad/.env:

KEYSTORE_PASSWORD="your-password"

Peer Discovery Signature

source /home/monad/.env

monad-sign-name-record \
 --address $(curl -s4 ifconfig.me):8000 \
 --keystore-path /home/monad/monad-bft/config/id-secp \
 --password "$KEYSTORE_PASSWORD" \
 --self-record-seq-num 0

Update node.toml:

[peer_discovery]
self_address = "IP:8000"
self_record_seq_num = 0
self_name_record_sig = "SIGNATURE"

Start Node

systemctl enable monad-bft monad-execution monad-rpc
systemctl start monad-bft monad-execution monad-rpc

Wait until fully synced.

3. Validator Requirements

• Self-stake: ≥ 100,000 MON

• Total stake: ≥ 10,000,000 MON

• Top 200 by stake

• Fully synced node

• High uptime

4. Validator Keys

Generate BLS key:

monad-keygen bls \
 --keystore-path /home/monad/monad-bft/config/id-bls \
 --password "$KEYSTORE_PASSWORD"

Back up:

• id-secp

• id-bls

5. Staking CLI Installation

git clone https://github.com/monad-developers/staking-sdk-cli.git
cd staking-sdk-cli
python -m venv cli-venv
source cli-venv/bin/activate
pip install .

6. Staking CLI Configuration

cp staking-cli/config.toml.example config.toml

Configure:

• RPC URL

• Funded address

• Wallet type (private key or Ledger)

Do not commit config.toml.

7. Extract Validator Private Keys

source /home/monad/.env

monad-keystore recover \
 --password "$KEYSTORE_PASSWORD" \
 --keystore-path /home/monad/monad-bft/config/id-secp \
 --key-type secp

monad-keystore recover \
 --password "$KEYSTORE_PASSWORD" \
 --keystore-path /home/monad/monad-bft/config/id-bls \
 --key-type bls

Verify derived public keys.

8. Register Validator (CLI)

python staking-cli/main.py add-validator \
 --secp-privkey "<SECP_PRIVATE_KEY>" \
 --bls-privkey "<BLS_PRIVATE_KEY>" \
 --auth-address "<AUTHORIZED_ADDRESS>" \
 --amount 100_000

• auth-address controls validator on-chain actions

• Confirm public keys before approving transaction

Successful transaction:

Tx status: 1
Validator Created! ID: X

9. Register Validator (TUI)

python staking-cli/main.py tui

Select: Add Validator → Confirm → Execute

10. Validator Configuration

Edit node.toml:

node_name = "your-validator-name"
beneficiary = "0xREWARD_ADDRESS"

Restart services:

systemctl restart monad-bft monad-execution monad-rpc

11. Verification

Check execution set:

python main.py query validator-set \
 --type execution \
 --config-path ~/config.toml | grep <SECP_PUBKEY>

Fetch validator info:

python main.py query validator \
 --validator-id X \
 --config-path ~/config.toml

12. Operations

Common commands:

delegate
undelegate
withdraw
claim-rewards
compound-rewards
change-commission
query