Install

Designed for high-performance, validator-grade setups (Warp Sync, HA, Safe Upgrades, Troubleshooting).

DN-focused Setup Guide

System Preparation

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y \
  curl git make wget clang pkg-config libssl-dev build-essential \
  apt-transport-https gnupg cmake protobuf-compiler lz4

---

Install Rust and Required Toolchains

curl https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh -s -- -y
source $HOME/.cargo/env

rustup update
rustup component add rust-src
rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown

rustup install nightly-2024-01-21
rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown --toolchain nightly-2024-01-21

---

Build Polkadot SDK

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk.git
cd polkadot-sdk
git checkout polkadot-stable2509-2

cargo build --release

---

Install Binaries

sudo mkdir -p /usr/lib/polkadot
sudo cp target/release/polkadot* /usr/lib/polkadot/
sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/polkadot/polkadot /usr/local/bin/polkadot

---

Create Working Directory

mkdir -p $HOME/.polkadot
chown -R $(id -u):$(id -g) $HOME/.polkadot

---

Warp Sync for DN

Warp Sync drastically speeds up initial boot:

Required flag:

--sync warp

Recommended DB for DN:

--database paritydb

ParityDB is more stable under DN workloads.

---

Full Production-Ready systemd Service

current_user=$(whoami)
STARTNAME="DN_Node_Name"

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/polkadot.service > /dev/null <<EOF
[Unit]
Description=Polkadot Dedicated Node (DN)
After=network.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=$current_user
WorkingDirectory=$HOME/.polkadot
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/polkadot \
  --validator \
  --name "$STARTNAME" \
  --chain polkadot \
  --database paritydb \
  --sync warp \
  --state-pruning 64 \
  --blocks-pruning 64 \
  --base-path $HOME/.polkadot \
  --public-addr /ip4/$(wget -qO- eth0.me)/tcp/30333 \
  --port 30333 \
  --rpc-port 9933 \
  --rpc-cors all \
  --rpc-methods Unsafe \
  --prometheus-external \
  --prometheus-port 9615 \
  --telemetry-url "wss://telemetry-backend.w3f.community/submit/ 1" \
  --telemetry-url "wss://telemetry.polkadot.io/submit/ 0" \
  --unsafe-force-node-key-generation
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
LimitNOFILE=1000000
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

---

Start & Verify

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable polkadot
sudo systemctl restart polkadot
sudo journalctl -u polkadot -f

---

Safe Upgrades for DN (Atomic Upgrade Path)

Never overwrite the binary directly. Use Staged Atomic Upgrade:

Build new binary:

cd ~/polkadot-sdk
git fetch --all
git checkout <new-tag>
cargo build --release

Put new binaries in staging:

sudo mkdir -p /usr/lib/polkadot-upgrade
sudo cp target/release/polkadot* /usr/lib/polkadot-upgrade/

Validate new binary:

/usr/lib/polkadot-upgrade/polkadot --version

Atomic swap:

sudo systemctl stop polkadot
sudo rsync -av --delete /usr/lib/polkadot-upgrade/ /usr/lib/polkadot/
sudo systemctl start polkadot

Verify:

sudo journalctl -u polkadot -n 150 --no-pager

---

High Availability (HA) DN Architecture

Minimal HA Design

             +----------------+
             |     RPC Node   |
             |   (Read-only)  |
             +-------+--------+
                     |
      +--------------+--------------+
      |                             |
+-----+--------+          +---------+-----+
|  Validator A |          | Validator B   |
|   (Primary)  |          |   (Backup)    |
+--------------+          +---------------+
       \          Sentry Nodes          /
        +------------+  +--------------+

Sentry node

--no-telemetry
--no-prometheus
--reserved-peers <validator-ip>

DN Failover Procedure:

Normally:

• Validator B runs with --no-validate

• If Validator A goes offline, B becomes active:

sudo systemctl stop polkadot   # on A
sudo systemctl restart polkadot --validator   # on B

Can be automated with keepalived or pacemaker.

---

Troubleshooting Guide

Node not starting after upgrade

sudo journalctl -u polkadot -n 100

Try full sync:

polkadot --sync full --database paritydb

RocksDB corruption errors

Switch to ParityDB:

--database paritydb

Node not visible in Telemetry

Check external IP:

wget -qO- eth0.me

Open port:

sudo ufw allow 30333

Poor synchronization speed

Enable compiled WASM:

--wasm-execution compiled

Drop in peers

Increase limits:

--in-peers 500
--out-peers 500

---

Monitoring (Prometheus + Grafana)

Prometheus endpoint:

http://<node-ip>:9615/metrics

Key metrics:

• substrate_block_height

• substrate_sync_target

• substrate_peers_count

• substrate_block_import