These documents are specifically tailored for deploying Constellation Network nodes according to the configuration and integration requirements of each provider’s dashboard setup.

If this is NOT your first time configuring delegated staking, and you are looking for a way to update your delegating staking parameters, you may skip to the next page.

✨ Welcome first time delegators!​

If this is your first time configuring delegated staking on your node, you will be presented with a CONFIGURATION NOTICE screen.

Simply read through the notice and press any key to continue.

To offer your node for delegation on the Constellation Network, you must complete the delegated staking configuration.

This process allows Node Operators to make their nodes available for delegation.

Follow the steps in this guide to properly set up and enable delegation.

Delegated staking on Constellation Network allows any $DAG holder to participate in network security and validation by staking their tokens with validators without needing to run a node. This enables more users to contribute to decentralization and governance while earning staking incentives. By choosing a validator, you help secure the network, support metagraph projects, and receive $DAG incentives for your participation. Some metagraph validators even offer additional L0 token rewards, increasing your potential incentives.

$DAG holders who participate in delegated staking may choose your node based on the commission percentage you set. This allows you, as a Node Operator, to generate additional rewards revenue from delegations.

In order to view your current delegated staking status, you may issue a status command at any time.

sudo nodectl delegate status

For a valid configuration, your node should report all parameter matches as True.

If any match is not True, please review your desired configuration and issue an update as needed to ensure your desired settings and consistency with the cluster.

In the event that you have already issued an update with your current settings (no changes were necessary), nodectl will prevent an unnecessary cluster update, and decline your request.

DELEGATED UPDATE REQUEST CANCELLED

If the nodectl utility responds without applying any changes, the most likely reason is that your node is already configured with the delegated staking settings you specified.

If this is not the case, review and update your configuration file and submit another update to ensure your desired changes are applied.

nodectl requires you to create a configuration file with the necessary parameters to properly enable delegated staking according to your preferences and requirements.

First time and future updates​

Regardless of whether this is your first time configuring your node for delegation, you must create or update the configuration file to define the specific parameters you want to use when offering your node for delegation.

If you wish to change any delegated staking parameters in the future, you must update the configuration file first before submitting a request to apply those changes to your node’s delegated staking settings.

Important

Create or Update Configuration

Before You Begin

You should now have access to the Constellation Network Official Discord server via an invite provided for Node Operators.

At this point, your VPS should be fully configured and operating as a Constellation Validator Node.

If you believe any steps were missed, please revisit the previous documents to ensure all required tasks are completed before moving forward.

Constellation Network Official Discord Server

Return to or join the Constellation Network Discord server, and reach out to a Discord Administrator who holds the Admin or Team Lead role (visible next to their username).

When contacting an Admin or Team Lead, be prepared to present your Node ID so they can submit it to the internal team for processing. You may be required to confirm your email, this should only be confirmed by an Official Constellation Network Team Member.

Stargazer Wallet

You will need to create and own a Stargazer Wallet

Production Specific

In order to qualify to run a node on Constellation Network's production MainNet Hypergraph cluster, or Dor metagraph cluster, you will need to collateralize your node through your Stargazer wallet.

Please follow guide to import your node’s wallet into your Stargazer Wallet, and transfer $DAG and or $DOR before attempting to join the cluster.

This step is required to meet the staking threshold and ensure your node is eligible for cluster participation.

If this is your first time configuring delegated staking you may to the next document page.

⌨️ Modify existing configuration

If delegated staking has already been configured, you will be asked if you would like to update the configuration. You can enter y.

To update your current delegated staking parameters or to commit them for the first time to the metagraph, you will need to implement an update.

This command finalizes your configuration by submitting it to the metagraph, making your node available for delegated staking based on the parameters you've set.

You should now be in the configurator and at the section where you're prompted to enter the necessary parameters to enable delegation.

These parameters will define how your node appears to other delegated staking participants, allowing them to discover and delegate to your node based on the options you set.

✅ Enter Delegation Parameters

Join the Constellation Network Official Discord

To stay fully informed and connected, you must join the Constellation Network Official Discord server.

This is the central hub for:

✅ Cluster update announcements

✅ Scheduled network restarts

✅ Operational instructions and technical alerts

✅ Validator program updates and governance notices

Prerequisite Steps Before Node Creation

Discord Account

You will need a Discord account.

This guide is intended for restarting your Validator node following a Hypergraph or metagraph cluster restart.

Cluster restarts may occur for a variety of operational reasons, including:

✅ Network upgrade

✅ Seed list access updates

✅ Cluster-wide error resolution

🔁 Optional: Auto Restart Feature

This section explains how to use the Constellation Network Command Line Interface (CLI) utility, which provides a simplified way to run a node without requiring technical expertise or in-depth knowledge of the Tessellation Protocol’s architecture and operation.

What is nodectl?

Pronounced node control, node-c-t-l, or node-cuttle.

nodectl is a command-line utility designed to simplify the deployment and management of Constellation Network Validator nodes.

nodectl version

Delegated staking is supported by nodectl starting with version v2.17.0.

Verify your version

Issue the version command to output the current version of nodectl.

Upgrade if necessary

Please follow the correct upgrade path to ensure your node remains manageable by nodectl and does not encounter compatibility issues.

If there are multiple versions between your current version and v2.17.0, you must follow the correct upgrade path.

Take note of each intermediate version and run the upgrade_nodectl command sequentially for each version step using the -v <version> option.

Upgrade one version at a time. Do not skip versions until you reach v2.17.0.

This ensures compatibility and prevents potential issues with configuration or functionality.

Example: sudo nodectl upgrade_nodectl -v v2.13.0

When you reach a version that can be directly upgraded to the latest v2.17.0 you may exclude the -v option.

Node internal upgrade

If you are requested to upgrade the node, issue a Y and allow nodectl to upgrade the node so that all the features, changes, and updates can be properly applied.

This is important to ensure that all features of nodectl are enabled.

As a Node Operator, you can offer your node for delegation by following these steps:

• Configure delegated staking on your node.

• Create a delegation request to enable your node for delegation.

• Sign the delegation request using your p12 keystore private key.

• Submit the signed request to the metagraph and verify that it has been accepted.

The nodectl utility automates these steps for you. Follow this guide to complete the setup.

nodectl Installation Types

Introduction​

The following documentation will help guide a new Node Operator understand the differences between turning a newly created VPS into a Constellation Network validator node with the use of nodectl.

There are three options:

Normal Install

A normal installation is a more detailed and interactive method of installing nodectl on your VPS. The process will guide you through each step of the installation interactively with details on each step, along the way.

Quick Installation

This installation method installs nodectl with minimal prompts or user interaction. You will only be asked a few questions:

• Which cluster you would like your node to join

• Whether you want to migrate an existing .p12 keystore

• Passphrase for the .p12 keystore:

.

Manual Installation

This new installation can be preformed if desired by advanced users.

nodectl is recommended.

Since delegated staking is a financial decision, the configurator will not automatically commit your node to become available for delegated staking.

• This action must be manually initiated by the Node Operator.

• To validate your permission to update delegated staking settings on the metagraph, you will be prompted to enter your p12 passphrase.

Recommendation

If you are going to build your VPS on a cloud provider that we offer a specific guide to follow, skip this document and move directly to one of those

• AWS

Introduction

This guide walks you through upgrading your Validator node to the latest version of Tessellation using nodectl, leveraging non-interactive mode with recommended defaults. Please refer to the full upgrade guide for a more detailed walk-through.

TL;DR

View specs starting here.

Introduction​

As with any cryptographic ecosystem, there are specific hardware requirements that must be met to ensure your node operates securely, efficiently, and reliably within the Constellation Network’s ecosystem.

Meeting these requirements is essential for maintaining node performance, ensuring compatibility with consensus protocols, and avoiding issues related to resource limitations.

Hardware Requirements​

Constellation Network currently supports two distinct types of nodes across its Hypergraph and metagraph infrastructure:

• Constellation Network Hybrid Validator Node

• Dor Validator Data Layer 1 Node

Virtual vs Dedicated

A VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a virtualized environment running on a physical machine that shares resources (tenancies) with other instances. This makes it a more cost-effective option for operators who are just getting started.

A group of these VPS instances forms what is commonly referred to as the "cloud."

In contrast, a dedicated bare metal server is a physical machine allocated to a single tenant. It offers exclusive access to all hardware resources and typically provides higher performance and configurability. Many cloud providers offer both VPS and dedicated server options, depending on your needs.

Bare Metal

A bare metal server is a physical machine designed to run dedicated services for a single tenant. Unlike virtualized environments, bare metal servers provide full access to the underlying hardware, offering maximum performance, control, and customization.

You can run a bare metal server from various environments, including:

• A personal data center

• A colocation facility

• A private office

• Even from your home, if conditions allow

Because you have full control over both hardware and software, this setup is best suited for advanced operators who need:

• Greater resource allocation

• Custom system configurations

• Specialized networking or storage requirements

🔁 Constellation Network Hybrid Node

A Hybrid Node is required to operate on both the:

• Global Layer 0 – the global consensus and infrastructure layer

• DAG Layer 1 – the native currency and transaction layer for the $DAG token

This dual-role node type is commonly referred to as a Hybrid Validator Node.

Hybrid Node Hardware Requirements

To ensure reliable and efficient performance hybrid nodes must meet the following minimum hardware specifications:

🔁 Dor Data Layer 1 Node

A Dor Node is required to operate on both the:

• Data Layer 1 Metagraph – the data validation layer for the Dor metagraph

Dor Node Hardware Requirements

To ensure reliable and efficient performance hybrid nodes must meet the following minimum hardware specifications:

Software Specification Requirements

Distribution

• Linux Debian-based distribution

Operation System Recommendations

• Ubuntu 24.04

• Debian 12

Software Specific Version Requirements

• Java 11

Considerations

Constellation Network's Tessellation is developed to run on any Debian distribution with Java 11 installed.

The nodectl utility was developed to run specifically on Ubuntu 24.04 and Ubuntu 22.04.

Ubuntu Specific

Ubuntu uses the convention of .04 to represent versions of their Debian distribution that is LTS (long term support), and .10 for their more "experimental" short term support releases.

It is highly recommended to use a .04 version release.

Prerequisites

• VPS IP address ( https://www.whatismyip.com )

  • These examples will use a ficitious 13.13.13.13

• SSH username on the VPS (e.g. ubuntu, root, or other)

• Know your local path to your private key on your local machine

  • e.g. Windows C:\Users\Alice\.ssh\node_private_key

  • e.g. Macintosh /Users/alice/.ssh/node_private_key

Assumptions

• You are using Debian Ubuntu as your distribution. If you are not, please substitute ubuntu for root throughout this document.

• The username alice or Alice should be replaced with your actual local username on your Windows or Macintosh system.

💻 Windows, Macintosh or Linux

🎶 Tips & Best Practices

• Keep your private key secure: Never share it, and use a strong passphrase.

• Use Keychain (macOS) or ssh-agent (Windows) to avoid re-entering the passphrase each session. ( Out of scope of this document ).

• Regularly update your local OpenSSH client and your VPS’s OpenSSH server to the latest stable versions.

This guide outlines the steps required to collateralize your node’s hot wallet, meeting the staking requirements needed to join the Constellation Network Hypergraph or a metagraph.

Before you Begin​

If you’ve chosen to use nodectl to create your node, excellent choice! You should skip this section of the instructions.

Users leveraging nodectl do not need to perform any of the steps outlined here, as nodectl handles all of them dynamically and automatically.

Manual Installation

Environment variables chart

Cluster Removal

Leave Cluster

To leave the cluster after a process has been started and joined.

Stop jar processes

Find the process(es) associated with your node

Kill the process(es)

Before we begin

Please make sure you created your SSH key pairs prior to starting these steps.

VPS Build Procedure

Before Be Begin

From now on, all instructions will be executed on your remote VPS, not on your local system.

Please make sure to set up and connect to your remote VPS before continuing.

Before we begin

Please make sure you created your SSH key pairs prior to starting these steps.

VPS Build Procedure

Enabling this configuration allows your node to:

• Automatically monitor and restart services if they become unresponsive or disconnected from the cluster

• Automatically check for and apply updates via nodectl when new versions of Tessellation are available (based on your configuration preferences)

This ensures your node remains healthy, up-to-date, and engaged in network operations with minimal manual intervention.

Before We Begin

The following pages are essential reading before proceeding to any technical implementation. They are designed to help you organize your notes, confirm your virtual server specifications, and understand cloud provider requirements. Reviewing this information will ensure a smooth setup process and reduce the likelihood of configuration errors.

These sections are especially helpful for first-time Node Operators. However, experienced or technically proficient users may choose to skim or skip them as needed.

Topics covered in this section:

• Setting Up Your Notes — Guidance on preparing and organizing the information you'll need throughout the node setup process.

• Understanding Your VPS Specifications — Ensure that your virtual server meets the required hardware and system configuration.

• Cloud Provider Specific Guides — Reference materials tailored to specific providers like AWS, DigitalOcean, and Heztner.

Purpose

This document suggests a method for keeping notes and tips accessible when preparing to or operating your node.

We hope that referring back to your notes for reminders on managing your node and recalling necessary passphrases or passwords will be time-saving, useful, and efficient.

Understanding Passphrase & Passwords

There are 3 main passwords that we must have an understand and control of the concepts to make the administration of our nodes simple and less aggravating.

Password and Note Storage

The following mediums are a good start to where you should record and maintain your notes.

Warnings

🚑 PLEASE DO NOT 🚒

Do not use the same passphrases or other sensitive values/information as shown in this example.

These examples are public facing and may be used by a nefarious actor as a first attempt to access your node in a penetration attack.

The example values in these notes are fictitious, please replace usernames, passwords, passphrases, etc. with your own.

Notes for Macintosh

Notes for Windows

Just in Case

If you are using a Command Prompt verses PuTTy, you may want to copy the Macintosh notes 👆and replace Terminal with Command Prompt as necessary.

⚠️ Guide Usage

This guide assumes that you have properly created and connected to your VPS successfully and installed the nodectl utility.

🧰 Prerequisites

Before beginning, ensure you’ve reviewed the full checklist and profile documentation.

• This guide uses dag-l0 as the profile name.

• Replace dag-l0 with your node’s actual profile name if it differs.

  • For example dor-dl1 for Dor data layer1 validator nodes.

🔐 SSH Into Your VPS

Use the following command to connect to your VPS via SSH:

📄 Verify Your Node Is on the Seed List

To confirm that your node is recognized by the network, run:

Expected Output:

🛑 If you are not on the seed list, stop here and contact a Discord Administrator Team Lead via the Constellation Network Official Discord. You must wait for the next cluster restart that includes a seed list update before continuing.

⬆️ Perform a Node Upgrade

Use the upgrade command to prepare your node for the cluster connection:

The -ni flag enables non-interactive mode, accepting default values automatically.

⚙️ For Single Layer1 Nodes

If you're operating a Layer1-only Metagraph Validator, you may skip directly to the Join Layer1 step at the bottom of this guide.

🧬 For Hybrid Nodes

Hybrid nodes must reach a Ready state on Layer0 before joining Layer1.

⚠️ Expected Behavior:

After your node completes Layer0 connection steps, it will attempt to join the Layer1 profile and fail. This is expected and not a concern at this stage.

This happens because Layer1 participation is blocked until your node fully syncs the Layer0 snapshot chain.

During this period, your node will transition through the following statuses:

• SessionStarted

• DownloadInProgress

📥 Monitor for DownloadInProgress State

After upgrading, verify your node has reached the correct syncing phase:

Expected Output:

If you see SessionStarted, continue running the command periodically until it transitions to DownloadInProgress.

⏳ Wait for Ready State

Your node will now download the entire snapshot chain from the Layer0 cluster. This process may take several days.

You have two options:

• Wait for your node to reach the Ready state.

• Proceed to the optional next step to speed up the snapshot process using the Starchiver utility.

🚀 Optional: Execute Starchiver to Speed Up Sync

To accelerate snapshot syncing:

👀 Monitor your node closely to ensure the process completes without error.

🚧 Caution: Starchiver is a community-supported tool and not officially supported by Constellation Network. Use at your own risk. For issues, contact the tool's maintainer via GitHub or seek help on the Constellation Discord.

📊 Verify Node Status

Once your node has completed downloading the snapshot chain, it will enter the Ready state and begin participating in consensus.

To verify:

Look for the following:

For Layer1:

🔄 To monitor the transition in real time:

Use the q key to exit the watch command gracefully.

🔗 Join Layer1 (For Hybrid Nodes Only)

If Layer1 displays ReadyToJoin, you may initiate the join process:

If your node is in any other state, restart the profile before retrying:

Once the above steps are complete and your node is fully synced and participating in consensus, your first-time connection process is complete.

🧠 Understanding the Issue

The EdgePointDown status typically indicates a failure in establishing communication between your node and the network’s edge points.

A known root cause is the system resolving outbound connections using IPv6 instead of IPv4, which can happen in scenarios such as:

• The cloud provider defaults to IPv6 or uses IPv6-to-IPv4 translation

• The network infrastructure between your VPS and Constellation’s edge points mishandles IPv6

• DNS resolution or routing forces IPv6 where IPv4 is required for compatibility

Check IPv6 Status

⚠️ If either status is already disabled, your issue is not IPv6-related. Stop here and seek assistance from a Team Lead via the .

Restart Auto Restart (Optional)

To ensure the monitoring service is in sync with the updated configuration:

Conclusion

✅ Your node should now resume connection attempts using IPv4.

If the EdgePointDown issue was caused by IPv6, it should be resolved.

If problems persist, please reach out to the Constellation Network support team or a Team Lead in Discord.

Introduction

As nodectl evolves, the upgrade process also changes.

This guide helps bring your outdated nodectl installation up to the current recommended version using a versioned, step-by-step upgrade path.

Introduction

This guide provides a streamlined process to upgrade your nodectl utility to the latest supported version, while following the recommended upgrade path.

Introduction

One of the lesser defining characteristics of a Constellation Network Validator Node is its ephemeral nature. This means that nodes are designed to be easily rebuildable, making re-deployment a cleaner and often more efficient solution compared to deep troubleshooting.

Whether you're:

Before we begin

Please make sure you created your SSH key pairs prior to starting these steps.

VPS Build Procedure

Creating your account on AWS is a simple process similar to all other SaaS model services. At the current time, we will leave this process up to you.

Complete

You have successfully launched a VPS instance in AWS, Congratulations

You are now ready to continue to connect to your node for the first time, install nodectl and turn your EC2 instance (VPS) into a Constellation Network Validator Node!

This guide walks you through the fully automated “quick-install” of a Constellation validator node using nodectl’s --quick-install mode. All defaults are recommended settings, and you’ll see a live progress bar throughout.

Begin Quick Install

This guide will walk you through the steps required to convert a VPS or bare-metal server into a Constellation Validator Node.

A normal installation provides more customization options during setup, whereas the quick installation only prompts for essential inputs and uses recommended defaults for all other settings outlined in this guide.

Begin Installation

Introduction

This guide provides a series of basic troubleshooting steps to help you resolve issues with the alerting module associated with the auto_restart feature in nodectl.