Running a Storage Node

Server Requirement

The recommended requirement of a storage server:

Resource	Specification
Recommended OS	Linux 64-bit Intel / AMD
# of CPU Cores	≥ 4
Memory	≥ 8 GB
Bandwidth	≥ 20 Mbps
Public Network IP	required
Linux Kernel Version	5.11 or higher

Server Preparation

Install Docker

Please refer to the official documentation for Docker installation.

Firewall Configuration

The following commands are executed with root privileges. If error messages of permission denied appear, switch to root privilege or add sudo at the beginning of these commands.

By default, the storage node uses port 15001 for network connections, please ensure that the firewall or security group is configured to allow incoming traffic on this port.

Optional: Mount Additional Drive

This step is required only if you are mounting another disk / storage device to your server.

Check the hard disk status using the df -h command:

df -h

If the disk is not mounted, the hard drive for storage mining cannot be used. Use the commands below to view unmounted hard disks:

fdisk -l

# Output result
Disk /dev/vdb: 200 GiB, 214748364800 bytes, 419430400 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x331195d1

From the above, we can see that the unmounted disk is /dev/vdb. We will be using /dev/vdb to demonstrate the mounting operation.

Allocate the /dev/vdb disk:

fdisk /dev/vdb

Enter and press Enter:
n
p
1
2048
the value after default
w

Format the newly divided disk into ext4 format:

mkfs.ext4 /dev/vdb

Enter "y" to continue if the system asks to proceed:

Proceed anyway? (y,N) y

Create /cess directory to mount the disk. Using /cess as an example:

sudo mkdir /cess
sudo echo "/dev/vdb /cess ext4 defaults 0 0" >> /etc/fstab

Replace /dev/vdb with your own disk name. /cess has to remain the same as created in the previous step. If you are not under root privileges, try:

echo "/dev/vdb /cess ext4 defaults 0 0" | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

Mount /cess:

mount -a

Check the disk mounting status:

df -h

If /cess appears, the disk has been successfully mounted.

Prepare CESS Accounts

Storage node need to create at least two wallet accounts.

• Earning Account: Used to receive mining rewards.

• Staking Account: Used to pay for staking TCESS.

• Signature Account: Used to sign blockchain transactions. If no staking account is specified, this account will also be used to pay staking TCESS.

• Storage Deposit: To keep the storage node in honoring its service commitment, the storage node account will have its native tokens locked for the storage amount pledged to offer. Currently in testnet, it is 4,000 TCESS per TB. The pledged space is round up to the closest TB unit and locked for that amount multiply with 4,000 TCESS. The minimum locked token is also 4,000 TCESS.

Note：Each signature account can only be used by one storage node, otherwise an exception will occur.

Please refer to Creating CESS Accounts for creating a CESS account, goto CESS faucet to get our testnet tokens, TCESS, or contact us to get assistance.

Install CESS Client

1. Check for the latest version at: https://github.com/CESSProject/cess-nodeadm/tags

2. Download and install

   wget https://github.com/CESSProject/cess-nodeadm/archive/v0.6.1.tar.gz
   tar -xvzf v0.6.1.tar.gz
   cd cess-nodeadm-0.6.1/
   ./install.sh

   If a message Install cess nodeadm success shows up at the end, it means the installation is completed.

   If the installation fails, please check the troubleshoot procedures.

3. Stop and removing existing services

   Stop existing services:

   sudo cess stop
   # or
   sudo cess down

   Remove existing services：

   sudo cess purge

Configure CESS Client

Setup a Running Network

# Running the storage node on test network:
sudo cess profile premainnet

# or Running the storage node on local development network:
sudo cess profile devtnet

Setup Configuration

sudo cess config set

Enter cess node mode from 'tee/storage/validator/rpcnode' (current: storage, press enter to skip): storage
Enter cess storage listener port (current: 15001, press enter to skip): 
Start configuring the endpoint to access Storage-Miner from the internet
  Do you need to automatically detect extranet address as endpoint? (y/n) y
  Try to get your extranet IP ...
  Your Storage-Miner endpoint is http://x.x.x.x:15001
Enter cess rpc ws-url (current: local-chain, to use an external chain, type WS-URL directly, or press enter to skip):
Enter cess storage earnings account: cXf5MAAmRm85fmZEJRBDVbwEWSfZmkHEGWgBsJBF5LstfKe2D
Enter cess storage signature account phrase: apple pen used tree divide popular force aunt actor text tourist abstract
Enter cess storage disk path (default: /opt/cess/storage/disk): /cess
Enter cess storage space, by GB unit (current: 300, press enter to skip):
Enter the number of CPU cores used for mining; Your CPU cores are 4
  (current: 0, 0 means all cores are used; press enter to skip):
Enter the staking account if you use one account to stake multiple nodes (if it is the same as the signature account, press enter to skip):
Enter the TEE worker endpoints if you have any (separate multiple values with commas, press enter to skip):
Set configurations successfully

• If a staker payment account is provided, for testnet, the pledged space (answer to the Enter cess storage space) is round up to the closest TB unit and that amount multiply with 4,000 amount of TCESS will be locked as a miner deposit.

• If a staker payment account is not provided, then the signature account will be used as the staking account. If the staking account different from signature account is provided, can only increase stake in block browser manually.

• Default TEE Node endpoints for the chain will be used if you don't provide any TEE Node endpoints. This doesn't affect your reward as a storage miner.

Start CESS storage node

sudo cess start

[+] Running 3/0
 ✔ Container chain       Running                                                0.0s
 ✔ Container miner       Running                                                0.0s
 ✔ Container watchtower  Running                                                0.0s

If you want to speed up your earnings, you can choose to deploy a Marker-type TEE Node to help storage nodes certify space and mark user service files. Please refer to the TEE Node User Guide.

Common Operations

Check CESS Chain Sync Status

docker logs -f -n 50 chain

As shown below, if we see that the height of the block corresponding to "best" is about the latest height in CESS Explorer, it means the local chain node synchronization is completed.

CESS Blockchain Synchronization Completed

Only when the chain synchronization is completed can you operate other functions such as increase the staking, view the status of the node, etc.

Check Your Storage Node Status On-chain

You can check your storage node status on-chain.

1. Goto Polkadot-js Apps: Developer > Chain state

2. On selected state query: select sminer pallet and allMiner() storage item

3. Click the button on the right to query the state

4. At the bottom of the returned list, you should find the storage node address that your mnemonic (with root path) generated from your answer to sudo cess config set. See below for an example.

   

   CESS query on all miners
5. You can also check your detail miner info with selecting sminer pallet and minerItems(AccountId32) storage item. In the Option<AccountId32>, choose/input the storage node address. It will return your detail information on-chain. See below for an example.

   

   CESS query on my miner item
6. Go to the Accounts page and check your account details, you would see a certain amount of TCESS has been reserved as the storage deposit.

   

   Token is reserved as a storage miner

View the Storage Node Log

docker logs -f -n 50 miner

As shown below, the storage node will sync the chain at first and then fetch key from tee node, finally start to generate idle files and start mining.

Storage Node Log

View Storage Node Status

sudo cess miner stat

An example of the returned result is shown below：

CESS Miner Stat

Refer to the Glossary on the names above.

At the beginning of the storage node synchronization, all your validated space, used space, and locked space are 0. It is only when the validated space been incremented above 0 that the storage miner start earning rewards.

Please wait for chain synchronization if you get the output like you are not registered as a storage miner..., otherwise, please config a public chain node to skip local chain synchronization.

Increase Storage Node Staking

Make sure that the signatureAcc is the same as stakingAcc can use this command

sudo cess miner increase staking <deposit amount>

Withdraw Storage Node Staking

After your node has exited CESS Network (see below), run

sudo cess miner withdraw

Query Reward Information

sudo cess miner reward

Claim Reward

sudo cess miner claim

Update All Service Images

sudo cess pullimg

Stop and Remove All Services

sudo cess down

Update Earnings Account

sudo cess miner update earnings [earnings account]

Exit CESS Network

sudo cess miner exit

Upgrade CESS Client

Stop and Remove All Services

sudo cess stop
sudo cess down

Remove All Chain Data

Do not perform this operation unless the CESS network has been redeployed and it is confirmed that the data can be cleared.

sudo cess purge

Update cess-nodeadm

wget https://github.com/CESSProject/cess-nodeadm/archive/vx.x.x.tar.gz
tar -xvf vx.x.x.tar.gz
cd cess-nodeadm-x.x.x
sudo ./install.sh --skip-dep

Update All Service Images

sudo cess pullimg