Running L1 Nodes with Initiad

Overview

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for setting up and running an Initia L1 node. It covers everything from system requirements to connecting to the Initia network.

System Requirements

Before proceeding, ensure your system meets the following requirements:

Tier	CPU	Memory	Storage	Network
Minimum	4 cores	8GB RAM	2 TB NVMe/SSD with write throughput > 1000 MiBps	100 Mbps bandwidth
Recommended	6 cores	16GB RAM	2 TB NVMe/SSD with write throughput > 1000 MiBps	100 Mbps bandwidth
High	8 cores	32GB RAM	2 TB NVMe/SSD with write throughput > 1000 MiBps	100 Mbps bandwidth

We strongly recommend running Initia nodes on a Linux-based operating system. While it may be possible to run on other operating systems, we have not tested them and cannot guarantee the same environment settings and running conditions.

Installation

There are two ways to install the initiad CLI:

Option 1: Building from Source

Install Prerequisites

Install the required packages:

sudo apt install -y build-essential

Also, install the latest version of Go:

sudo apt install -y golang

Verify the installed versions:

make --version  # Must be 3.8 or later
go version      # Must be 1.22 or later

Build the Daemon

Clone and build the Initia node:

git clone git@github.com:initia-labs/initia.git
cd initia
git checkout $TAG  # Replace with desired version
make install

Verify the installation:

initiad version

If initiad is not found, check your $PATH environment variable to ensure it includes $GOBIN or $GOPATH/bin.

Option 2: Using Pre-Built Binaries

Download pre-built initiad binaries from the releases page. Select the appropriate version for your operating system.

System Configuration

File Descriptor Limits

Initia requires a higher number of file descriptors than the default Linux limit. Adjust the system limits by adding the following to /etc/security/limits.conf:

* soft nofile 65535
* hard nofile 65535

Node Setup

Initialization

Initialize your node with a moniker (a human-readable name):

initiad init <moniker>

Note that:

Moniker must contain only ASCII characters
Maximum length is 70 characters
The default home directory is ${HOME}/.initia
To use a different directory, add --home <YOUR_INITIA_HOME> to commands

Your private key is generated during initialization and stored in ${HOME} /.initia/config/priv_validator_key.json. IMPORTANT: Always back up your private key, especially for validator nodes. Loss of the private key may result in permanent node inaccessibility.

Network Configuration

Endpoints

An Initia node provides multiple endpoints that you can enable or disable.

Endpoint	Description	Configuration File
REST	RESTful HTTP API	`~/.initia/config/app.toml`
gRPC/gRPC-WEB	gRPC API	`~/.initia/config/app.toml`
RPC	Tendermint/CometBFT API	`~/.initia/config/config.toml`
P2P	Gossip P2P Network	`~/.initia/config/config.toml`

Validator nodes are not recommended to expose these endpoints publicly.

Configuration Examples

API Configuration (~/.initia/config/app.toml):

[api]
enable = true
swagger = true
address = "tcp://0.0.0.0:1317"

[grpc]
enable = true
address = "0.0.0.0:9090"

[grpc-web]
enable = true
address = "0.0.0.0:9091"

RPC and P2P Configuration (~/.initia/config/config.toml):

[rpc]
laddr = "tcp://0.0.0.0:26657"

[p2p]
laddr = "tcp://0.0.0.0:26656"

External Address Configuration

To allow external nodes to connect to your node, configure the external address in config.toml:

[p2p]
laddr = "tcp://0.0.0.0:26656"
external_address = "YOUR_PUBLIC_IP:26656"

You can automatically set your public IP using:

sed -i -e 's/external_address = \"\"/external_address = \"'$(curl httpbin.org/ip | jq -r .origin)':26656\"/g' ~/.initia/config/config.toml

Connecting to Initia Network

To fully connect to the network, you first need to download the genesis file, configure your peers, and sync the node.

You can find information on the genesis file, peers, and state sync for the network you want to join on the networks page.

Genesis File

To start syncing the node, you first need to download the genesis file.

wget $GENESIS_FILE_URL -O $HOME/.initia/config/genesis.json

Network Configuration

Once the genesis file is downloaded, you can configure the persistent peers in ~/.initia/config/config.toml:

persistent_peers = "peer1@ip1:port1,peer2@ip2:port2"

Replace peer1@ip1:port1,peer2@ip2:port2 with the list of peers for the network you want to join.

State Sync & Snapshots

To sync the node, you can use the state sync feature.

Running as a Service (Optional)

To run Initia as a system service, create an initiad.service file in /etc/systemd/system:

[Unit]
Description=initiad

[Service]
Type=simple
User=ubuntu
ExecStart=/usr/bin/initiad start
Restart=on-abort
StandardOutput=syslog
StandardError=syslog
SyslogIdentifier=initiad
LimitNOFILE=65535

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Once the service file is created, you can enable and start the service:

systemctl enable initiad
systemctl start initiad

To see the logs, you can use the following commands:

journalctl -t initiad    # View current logs
journalctl -t initiad -f # Follow logs in real-time
journalctl -t initiad -n <number> # View last N lines

Cosmovisor (Optional)

If you want automatic binary upgrades, set up Cosmovisor after completing all steps above. In the Cosmovisor setup, the <path-to-executable> refers to your initiad binary path. Follow the Cosmovisor guide.

Nodes and Rollups

Rollups

Nodes

Running L1 Nodes with Initiad

Overview

System Requirements

Installation

Option 1: Building from Source

Option 2: Using Pre-Built Binaries

System Configuration

File Descriptor Limits

Node Setup

Initialization

Network Configuration

Endpoints

Configuration Examples

External Address Configuration

Connecting to Initia Network

Genesis File

Network Configuration

State Sync & Snapshots

Running as a Service (Optional)

Cosmovisor (Optional)

​Overview

​System Requirements

​Installation

​Option 1: Building from Source

​Option 2: Using Pre-Built Binaries

​System Configuration

​File Descriptor Limits

​Node Setup

​Initialization

​Network Configuration

​Endpoints

​Configuration Examples

​External Address Configuration

​Connecting to Initia Network

​Genesis File

​Network Configuration

​State Sync & Snapshots

​Running as a Service (Optional)

​Cosmovisor (Optional)

Overview

System Requirements

Installation

Option 1: Building from Source

Option 2: Using Pre-Built Binaries

System Configuration

File Descriptor Limits

Node Setup

Initialization

Network Configuration

Endpoints

Configuration Examples

External Address Configuration

Connecting to Initia Network

Genesis File

Network Configuration

State Sync & Snapshots

Running as a Service (Optional)

Cosmovisor (Optional)