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Getting Started

Prerequisites​

Avalanche​

Avalanche is a smart contracts platform, the fastest on the market according to the "Time-To-Finality" criterion. It is maintained and augmented by the Ava Labs foundation.

To participate in the operation and governance of the Avalanche infrastructure, you need to become a blockchain validator.

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A blockchain validator is someone who is responsible for verifying transactions on a blockchain. In proof of stake (PoS) systems like Avalanche®, validators are given rewards as long as they stake the network’s token (AVAX) and correctly participate in the network. This mechanism helps secure the network by imposing the need to lock up value in the network in order to participate in the consensus decisions.

Becoming a validator means providing stable, reliable and efficient IT resources, and financial stake.

The ooNodz offering is the turnkey solution to deal with all IT-related expectations.

For more information:

Financial stake​

The protocol requires a minimum stake of 2000 AVAX, for a minimum period of 14 days.
Make sure you have at least this amount, plus the additional amount needed to pay the transaction fees (they are low on the Avalanche network, a few cents per transaction on average).

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Liquid satking protocols such as GoGoPool offer solutions that make it possible to become a network validator with less stake (for instance, 1100 AVAX with GoGoPool). See here.

Avalanche Wallet​

Once your node server is ordered and live, you will need to activate your validation and therefore need to interact directly with the Avalanche protocol. To do this, you must use an official Avalanche wallet.

This wallet provides the detailed interface to:

  • transfer your stake
  • declare the node server to be assigned to your stake.
  • validate the placement of your stake on the network
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This essential step is completely independent of the non-custodial services offered by the ooNodz network. It must therefore be performed solely by the user, and owner of stake.

To access the Avalanche Wallet, navigate to Core.

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The former offical Avalanche wallet (Wallet.avax.network) has been officially discontinued and is no longer maintained.

If you do not have a wallet yet, create one. You can follow this short tutorial (2m25s length video):


NodeID​

To differentiate your node from all the other peers on the network, you must get a unique identifier which will be "attached" to your node server.
On the Avalanche network, this identifier is called NodeID, and is a string formatted like NodeID-5mb46qkSBj81k9g9e4VFjGGSbaaSLFRzD (the public key). In essence, NodeID is defined by two files (the private key):

  • staker.crt
  • staker.key

The ooNodz App allows you to import your existing NodeID or to get a new one created for you.

You will be asked this ID to activate your validation on the Avalanche protocol.

Proof of Possession

Since the implementation of the major Avalanche update Durango on March 6th 2024, node operators are also required to provide proof of possession (PoP) in addition to the NodeID when they want to start a new validation cycle.
The PoP is based on:

  • a BLS public key (48 byte representation of the public key)
  • a BLS signature (96 byte signature by the private key over its public key)

These elements are also provided by the ooNodz App and can be accessed at any time on your dashboard.

Non-Fungible-Token​

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If someone gets a hold of your NodeID files (the private key), they still cannot get to your funds at stake, as they are controlled by the Avalanche Wallet private keys, not by the node. But, they could re-create your node somewhere else, and depending on the circumstances might make you lose the staking rewards.

For a better user experience on the ooNodz App, we have chosen to attach to an NFT each NodeID (only the public key) imported or created on the network. Once the NFT is created and the NodeID attached, its ownership is transfered to you. This way you can easily transfer your NodeID to another address in case an existing address is compromised, or simply if you want to use another address in the future to validate the network.

Once active on the ooNodz network, you can export your NodeID files if needed for backup purpose. If you decide to leave the ooNodz network, we offer you the ability to burn the NodeID files safely cold-stored on our network (make sure you have backed up your files first!).

Web3 interface​

The ooNodz App is built on smart contracts hosted on the blockchain. It is essential to have a web3 access to interact directly with the blockchain.
Web3 browser extensions allows this interaction. The ooNodz applicaiton supports the following extensions to date: Core, Metamask, Rabby, Coinbase. They are compatible with the main browsers on the market.
You must install one in order to connect to our network. The ooNodz App redirects you directly to the installation procedure.

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Be sure you do not have more than one wallet extension activated in your browser to avoid user experience conflicts. If so, disable surplus extension(s) in your extenstion manager and refresh page.

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We will implement more web3 wallet alternatives in the near future.

Smart Contracts​

If you're comfortable with smart contracts, you can choose to interact directly with our contracts via the blockchain without going through our web interface. Our contracts are publicly accessible.
You can read the dedicated chapter for an overview of the contracts and details of the functions they embed.

Hardware​

We provide you with the optimum hardware framework to enable you to validate the network in the best possible conditions. The hardware is based on servers sourced from Europe's leading cloud providers' solutions. The configuration chosen is that recommended by the Avalanche Team in its documentation (+/- 2go RAM, +/- 1 CPU core, depending on each cloud provider offering and its availability at a given moment).

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