Ejector Client

The Ejector service plays an important role in PLS LSD stack. As users are free to unstake vPLS and withdraw PLS at anytime, the system needs to dynamically responed to these demands. Every validator should run an ejector service to properly handle the validator exiting process to facilitate the user requirements.

Running the Ejector Client

There are some configuration items which need to be set to run the Ejector Client. We will pass these items to the client at startup. Below are examples of the settings which will need to be passed to the client at startup.

However before running the client you need to choose which way you would like to install and run the client, there are two ways:

1. Run Using Docker - this is the recomended way as it simplifies the installation process.
2. Run Using Native Go App - if you would prefer you can install and run the Go application Ejector client.

Configuration Items

💡 The below exmaples are using Geth and Lighthouse, you will need to make sure the ports used match your client configuration.

config	description	example value
execution_endpoint	Execution RPC endpoint	http://localhost:8545
consensus_endpoint	Consensus (Beacon chain) RPC endpoint	http://localhost:5052 or public node (See note 1)
keys_dir	keystore path created by pulse-staking-deposit-cli	/blockchain/validator_keys (See note 2)
withdraw_address	Contract address of NetworkWithdraw	0x1F082785Ca889388Ce523BF3de6781E40b99B060

Withdraw Address Setting: 0x1F082785Ca889388Ce523BF3de6781E40b99B060

NOTES

1. Beacon RPC Settings

The ejector client needs to be able to call historic states from the Beacon RPC, which requries the RPC to be running as a Beacon Archive Node (not a full Archive node). Running the becon client in Archive Mode will require approx 100GB more storage space.

Example: In the Lighthouse client use the --reconstruct-historic-states flag in your startup command to set your node to be a Beacon Archive node.

If your node is not running as a Beacon Archive, best to use a Public RPC such as;

https://rpc-beacon.vouch.run

or

https://rpc-pulsechain.g4mm4.io/beacon-api/

2. When Using Complex or Custom keys_dir Paths

If your environment has mulitple keys_dir locations or you have used multiple keystore passwords, it is possible to run mulitple version of the ejector client on the same Node. The ejector will also detect keystores in subdirectories if required.

Run Using Docker

Ejector Setup and Management Tool

The Ejector Management tools is a simple way to operate the ejector client. This tool makes use of Docker containers to run the ejector client. Using this tool is the recommend way to run the Ejector client as configuration and operation is all controlled from an easy to run terminal menu.

Two files are used in this process;

• ejector-menu.sh the actual management tool
• ejector_settings.json stores current settings

The below command will:

• Download the ejector management tool ejector-menu.sh which:
  • Installs Docker (if not already installed)
  • Selects mode of operation i.e. Detached or Interactive
  • Configures ejector settings (and saves to a file)
  • Controls; starting, stopping and removal of ejector client

Note: this command needs to be run as root (sudo).

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Vouchrun/pls-lsd-ejector/refs/heads/main/ejector-menu.sh > ejector-menu.sh; sudo chmod +x ejector-menu.sh && sudo ./ejector-menu.sh

Ejector Management Tool Screenshots

Run Using Native Go App

Installation

Step 1. Install Build Tools

On your Validating Node make sure you have the following tools installed, you will need these to continue.

Install make, gcc and git

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y make gcc git build-essential

Step 2. Install Go

Here we will install Go and set the environment variables:

• Existing Go version binary will be removed
• Go will be installed in /usr/local/go
• the downloaded zipped file will be deleted
• File Path locations will be added to .bashrc

cd $HOME
wget -O go1.21.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz https://go.dev/dl/go1.21.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/go && sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.21.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz && rm go1.21.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz
echo 'export GOROOT=/usr/local/go' >> $HOME/.bashrc
echo 'export GOPATH=$HOME/go' >> $HOME/.bashrc
echo 'export GO111MODULE=on' >> $HOME/.bashrc
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin:$HOME/go/bin' >> $HOME/.bashrc && . $HOME/.bashrc
go version

If you have issues with the above you can always install go by following the official docs. Remember to set your $PATH environment variable, see above example.

Step 3. Install Ejector Client

Below we will clone the requried Ejector repo from the Vouch github repository and install it.

• repo will be cloned into ~/pls-lsd-ejector
• install script will download required components and create an Ejector binary file called pls-lsd-ejector

cd $HOME
git clone https://github.com/Vouchrun/pls-lsd-ejector.git
cd pls-lsd-ejector
make install

This will install the pls-lsd-ejector application in the default GOPATH location which is ~/go/bin. If you wish to change the applications location, simply move it to the location of your choice e.g. /blockchain/ejector

Start the Ejector Client

⚠️ You will need your Keystore password (the password you used when creating your keys), as we will be passing this to the client at startup when prompted.

pls-lsd-ejector start \
    --consensus_endpoint 'BEACON_CHAIN_RPC_ENDPOINT' \
    --execution_endpoint 'EXECUTION_RPC_ENDPOINT'  \
    --keys_dir ./validator_keys \
    --withdraw_address '0x_NETWORK_WITHDRAW_CONTRACT_ADDR'

When you run the Ejector client using the above command, you will be requried to input the password used to secure the keystores running on the validator:

> Enter the password for your imported accounts:

That is it, just make sure the Ejector client runs at all times!

Start Ejector in Tmux (Optional)

It is preferred to run your Ejector client using something like systemd TMUX or Screen which will give you more control and flexibilty when running the client. You can use TMUX by doing the following:

💡 If you are unfamiliar with Running TMUX you should learn how to navigate it first before running the below commands. This TMUX guide might help.

sudo apt install tmux
tmux new-session -s ejector

Then Issue the above Start Command in the TMUX terminal using the instructions in the preceeding section.