diff --git a/docs/sidebars.js b/docs/sidebars.js index 4ebe47978cb802..6bd50be028d05c 100644 --- a/docs/sidebars.js +++ b/docs/sidebars.js @@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ module.exports = { "cli/manage-stake-accounts", "offline-signing", "offline-signing/durable-nonce", + "cli/usage", ], "Solana Clusters": ["clusters"], "Develop Applications": [ @@ -61,6 +62,7 @@ module.exports = { "running-validator", "running-validator/validator-reqs", "running-validator/validator-start", + "running-validator/vote-accounts", "running-validator/validator-stake", "running-validator/validator-monitor", "running-validator/validator-info", diff --git a/docs/src/cli/.usage.md.header b/docs/src/cli/.usage.md.header index 5e1267d613a172..ead6b6492518a4 100644 --- a/docs/src/cli/.usage.md.header +++ b/docs/src/cli/.usage.md.header @@ -1,4 +1,6 @@ -# solana CLI +--- +title: CLI Usage Reference +--- The [solana-cli crate](https://crates.io/crates/solana-cli) provides a command-line interface tool for Solana diff --git a/docs/src/running-validator/validator-start.md b/docs/src/running-validator/validator-start.md index 0038420e10ed4e..94c69ce8ecd6b5 100644 --- a/docs/src/running-validator/validator-start.md +++ b/docs/src/running-validator/validator-start.md @@ -168,12 +168,15 @@ vote account on the network. If you have completed this step, you should see the solana-keygen new -o ~/vote-account-keypair.json ``` -Create your vote account on the blockchain: +The following command can be used to create your vote account on the blockchain +with all the default options: ```bash solana create-vote-account ~/vote-account-keypair.json ~/validator-keypair.json ``` +Read more about [creating and managing a vote account](vote-accounts.md). + ## Trusted validators If you know and trust other validator nodes, you can specify this on the command line with the `--trusted-validator ` diff --git a/docs/src/running-validator/vote-accounts.md b/docs/src/running-validator/vote-accounts.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000000000..dad81e1ee3c79d --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/src/running-validator/vote-accounts.md @@ -0,0 +1,146 @@ +--- +title: Vote Account Management +--- + +This page describes how to set up an on-chain _vote account_. Creating a vote +account is needed if you plan to run a validator node on Solana. + +## Create a Vote Account +A vote account can be created with the +[create-vote-account](../cli/usage.md#solana-create-vote-account) command. +The vote account can be configured when first created or after the validator is +running. All aspects of the vote account can be changed except for the +[vote account address](#vote-account-address), which is fixed for the lifetime +of the account. + +### Configure an Existing Vote Account + - To change the [validator identity](#validator-identity), use +[vote-update-validator](../cli/usage.md#solana-vote-update-validator). + - To change the [vote authority](#vote-authority), use +[vote-authorize-voter](../cli/usage.md#solana-vote-authorize-voter). + - To change the [withdraw authority](#withdraw-authority), use +[vote-authorize-withdrawer](../cli/usage.md#solana-vote-authorize-withdrawer). + - To change the [commission](#commission), use + [vote-update-commission](../cli/usage.md#solana-vote-update-commission). + +## Vote Account Structure + +### Vote Account Address +A vote account is created at an address that is either the public key of a +keypair file, or at a derived address based on a keypair file's public key and +a seed string. + +The address of a vote account is never needed to sign any transactions, +but is just used to look up the account information. + +When someone wants to [delegate tokens in a stake account](../staking.md), +the delegation command is pointed at the vote account address of the validator +to whom the token-holder wants to delegate. + +### Validator Identity + +The _validator identity_ is a system account that is used to pay for all the +vote transaction fees submitted to the vote account. +Because the validator is expected to vote on most valid blocks it receives, +the validator identity account is frequently +(potentially multiple times per second) signing transactions and +paying fees. For this reason the validator identity keypair must be +stored as a "hot wallet" in a keypair file on the same system the validator +process is running. + +Because a hot wallet is generally less secure than an offline or "cold" wallet, +the validator operator may choose to store only enough SOL on the identity +account to cover voting fees for a limited amount of time, such as a few weeks +or months. The validator identity account could be periodically topped off +from a more secure wallet. + +This practice can reduce the risk of loss of funds if the validator node's +disk or file system becomes compromised or corrupted. + +The validator identity is required to be provided when a vote account is created. +The validator identity can also be changed after an account is created by using +the [vote-update-validator](../cli/usage.md#solana-vote-update-validator) command. + +### Vote Authority + +The _vote authority_ keypair is used to sign each vote transaction the validator +node wants to submit to the cluster. This doesn't necessarily have to be unique +from the validator identity, as you will see later in this document. Because +the vote authority, like the validator identity, is signing transactions +frequently, this also must be a hot keypair on the same file system as the +validator process. + +The vote authority can be set to the same address as the validator identity. +If the validator identity is also the vote authority, only one +signature per vote transaction is needed in order to both sign the vote and pay +the transaction fee. Because transaction fees on Solana are assessed +per-signature, having one signer instead of two will result in half the transaction +fee paid compared to setting the vote authority and validator identity to two +different accounts. + +The vote authority can be set when the vote account is created. If it is not +provided, the default behavior is to assign it the same as the validator identity. +The vote authority can be changed later with the +[vote-authorize-voter](../cli/usage.md#solana-vote-authorize-voter) command. + +The vote authority can be changed at most once per epoch. If the authority is +changed with [vote-authorize-voter](../cli/usage.md#solana-vote-authorize-voter), +this will not take effect until the beginning of the next epoch. +To support a smooth transition of the vote signing, +`solana-validator` allows the `--authorized-voter` argument to be specified +multiple times. This allows the validator process to keep voting successfully +when the network reaches an epoch boundary at which the validator's vote +authority account changes. + +### Withdraw Authority + +The _withdraw authority_ keypair is used to withdraw funds from a vote account +using the [withdraw-from-vote-account](../cli/usage.md#solana-withdraw-from-vote-account) +command. Any network rewards a validator earns are deposited into the vote +account and are only retrievable by signing with the withdraw authority keypair. + +The withdraw authority is also required to sign any transaction to change +a vote account's [commission](#commission), and to change the validator +identity on a vote account. + +Because the vote account could accrue a significant balance, consider keeping +the withdraw authority keypair in an offline/cold wallet, as it is +not needed to sign frequent transactions. + +The withdraw authority can be set at vote account creation with the +`--authorized-withdrawer` option. If this is not provided, the validator +identity will be set as the withdraw authority by default. + +The withdraw authority can be changed later with the +[vote-authorize-withdrawer](../cli/usage.md#solana-vote-authorize-withdrawer) +command. + +### Commission + +_Commission_ is the percent of network rewards earned by a validator that are +deposited into the validator's vote account. The remainder of the rewards +are distributed to all of the stake accounts delegated to that vote account, +proportional to the active stake weight of each stake account. + +For example, if a vote account has a commission of 10%, for all rewards earned +by that validator in a given epoch, 10% of these rewards will be deposited into +the vote account in the first block of the following epoch. The remaining 90% +will be deposited into delegated stake accounts as immediately active stake. + +A validator may choose to set a low commission to try to attract more stake +delegations as a lower commission results in a larger percentage of rewards +passed along to the delegator. As there are costs associated with setting up +and operating a validator node, a validator would ideally set a high enough +commission to at least cover their expenses. + +Commission can be set upon vote account creation with the `--commission` option. +If it is not provided, it will default to 100%, which will result in all +rewards deposited in the vote account, and none passed on to any delegated +stake accounts. + +Commission can also be changed later with the +[vote-update-commission](../cli/usage.md#solana-vote-update-commission) command. + +When setting the commission, only integer values in the set [0-100] are accepted. +The integer represents the number of percentage points for the commission, so +creating an account with `--commission 10` will set a 10% commission.