Slv Validator

Deploys and manages Solana validators on mainnet and testnet using Ansible playbooks and Jinja2 templates for multiple validator types including jito, agave,...

SLV Validator Skill

Ansible playbooks and Jinja2 templates for deploying and managing Solana validators (mainnet and testnet).

Supported Validator Types

Type	Description
jito	Jito MEV client (default for mainnet)
jito-bam	Jito with Block Awareness Module
agave	Standard Agave validator
firedancer-agave	Firedancer with Agave consensus
firedancer-jito	Firedancer with Jito consensus

Directory Structure

text

ansible/
  mainnet-validator/   — Mainnet validator playbooks
  testnet-validator/   — Testnet validator playbooks
  cmn/                 — Shared common playbooks
jinja/
  mainnet-validator/   — Mainnet Jinja2 templates
  testnet-validator/   — Testnet Jinja2 templates
  cmn/                 — Shared templates

CLI Command ↔ Playbook Mapping

The slv v CLI commands map directly to these playbooks. {net} = mainnet-validator or testnet-validator.

CLI Command	Playbook	Description
slv v deploy	{net}/init.yml	Full node initialization and deployment
slv v start	{net}/start_node.yml	Start validator
slv v stop	{net}/stop_node.yml	Stop validator
slv v restart	{net}/restart_node.yml	Restart validator
slv v build:solana	{net}/install_solana.yml	Build Solana from source
slv v install:solana	cmn/install_solana.yml	Install Solana binary (deprecated, prefer build)
slv v setup:firedancer	{net}/setup_firedancer.yml	Setup/update Firedancer
slv v update:firedancer	{net}/update_firedancer.yml	Update Firedancer binary
slv v update:script	{net}/update_startup_config.yml	Update start-validator.sh from template
slv v set:identity	{net}/set_identity_key.yml	Set validator identity key
slv v set:unstaked	{net}/set_unstaked_key.yml	Switch to unstaked identity
slv v get:snapshot	{net}/wget_snapshot.yml	Download snapshot via aria2c
slv v cleanup	cmn/rm_ledger.yml	Remove ledger/snapshot files
slv v switch	{net}/nodowntime_migrate.yml	Zero-downtime identity migration
slv v list	(no playbook)	List validators (CLI only)
slv v gen:vote-account	(no playbook)	Create vote account (solana CLI)

All Playbooks

Mainnet Validator (mainnet-validator/)

Playbook	Description
init.yml	Full node initialization (Agave/Jito)
init-jito.yml	Jito-specific initialization
init-firedancer.yml	Firedancer initialization
restart_node.yml	Restart validator
start_node.yml	Start validator
stop_node.yml	Stop validator
install_solana.yml	Build Solana from source
install_agave.yml	Build Agave from source
install_jito.yml	Build Jito from source
install_rust.yml	Install Rust toolchain
setup_firedancer.yml	Setup Firedancer binary and config
update_firedancer.yml	Update Firedancer binary
update_startup_config.yml	Update start-validator.sh from Jinja template
deploy-start-validator-sh.yml	Deploy start script to remote
create-start-validator-sh.yml	Generate start script from template
nodowntime_migrate.yml	Zero-downtime identity migration between nodes
set_identity_key.yml	Set validator identity key
set_identity_to_active.yml	Activate identity key
set_unstaked_key.yml	Switch to unstaked identity
switch_on_identity.yml	Enable identity (tower copy + key deploy)
switch_off_identity.yml	Disable identity (tower backup)
switch_on_firedancer_identity.yml	Enable Firedancer identity
switch_off_firedancer_identity.yml	Disable Firedancer identity
copy_keys.yml	Copy validator keys to node
copy_restart_sh.yml	Copy restarter script
create_overrides.yml	Generate overrides.yml from template
setup_solv_service.yml	Setup systemd service
start-solv-service.yml	Start systemd service
setup_ufw.yml	Configure UFW firewall
setup_fb_ufw.yml	Configure Firedancer-specific UFW rules
setup_logrotate.yml	Setup log rotation
configure_hugetlbfs.yml	Configure hugepages for Firedancer
fail2ban_solana_rate_limit.yml	Setup fail2ban rate limiting
run_snapshot_finder.yml	Find and download best snapshot

Testnet Validator (testnet-validator/)

Playbook	Description
init.yml	Full initialization (Jito)
init-agave.yml	Agave-specific initialization
init-firedancer.yml	Firedancer initialization
restart_node.yml	Restart validator
start_node.yml	Start validator
stop_node.yml	Stop validator
install_solana.yml	Build Solana from source
install_agave.yml	Build Agave from source
install_jito.yml	Build Jito from source
install_firedancer.yml	Build Firedancer from source
setup_firedancer.yml	Setup Firedancer
setup_firedancer_agave.yml	Setup Firedancer with Agave
setup_firedancer_jito.yml	Setup Firedancer with Jito
update_firedancer.yml	Update Firedancer binary
update_startup_config.yml	Update start script from template
deploy-start-validator-sh.yml	Deploy start script
create-start-validator-sh-agave.yml	Generate Agave start script
create-start-validator-sh-jito.yml	Generate Jito start script
nodowntime_migrate.yml	Zero-downtime identity migration
set_identity_key.yml	Set identity key
set_identity_to_active.yml	Activate identity
set_unstaked_key.yml	Switch to unstaked identity
switch_on_identity.yml / switch_off_identity.yml	Toggle identity
switch_on_firedancer_identity.yml / switch_off_firedancer_identity.yml	Toggle Firedancer identity
change_identity_and_restart.yml	Change identity and restart in one step
copy_keys.yml	Copy keys to node
rm_ledger.yml	Remove ledger data
restart_agave_with_rm_ledger.yml	Restart with ledger removal
restart_firedancer.yml	Restart Firedancer
restart_firedancer_with_rm_ledger.yml	Restart Firedancer with ledger removal
restart_solv.yml	Restart solv service
setup_agave.yml	Setup Agave
setup_agave_ufw.yml	Agave UFW rules
setup_solv_service.yml	Setup systemd service
setup_solv_service_init.yml	Initialize systemd service
setup_snapshot_finder.yml	Setup snapshot finder
add_solv.yml	Add solv user

Shared Common (cmn/)

Playbook	Description
build_solana.yml	Build Solana from source (dispatches to build_agave/build_jito)
build_agave.yml	Build Agave from GitHub source
build_jito.yml	Build Jito from GitHub source
install_solana.yml	Install Solana binary (deprecated)
install_package.yml	Install system packages
install_rust.yml	Install Rust toolchain
mount_disks.yml	Mount and format disks
optimize_system.yml	Optimize system settings (sysctl, limits)
disable_swap.yml	Disable swap
setup_logrotate.yml	Configure log rotation
setup_node_exporter.yml	Setup Prometheus node exporter
setup_norestart.yml	Disable auto-restart
setup_ufw.yml	Configure UFW firewall
setup_unstaked_identity.yml	Setup unstaked identity keypair
restart_solv.yml	Restart solv service
copy_restart_sh.yml	Copy restarter script
update_ubuntu.yml	Update Ubuntu packages
wget_snapshot.yml	Download snapshot
add_solv.yml	Add solv user
rm_ledger.yml	Remove ledger data
fix_permissions.yml	Fix file permissions

Key Variables (extra_vars)

Variable	Description	Default
validator_type	Validator type (jito, jito-bam, agave, firedancer-agave, firedancer-jito)	jito
solana_version	Solana/Agave version to build	—
jito_version	Jito version to build	—
firedancer_version	Firedancer version	—
snapshot_url	Snapshot download URL	—
identity_account	Validator identity pubkey	—
vote_account	Vote account pubkey	—
block_engine_url	Jito block engine URL	https://frankfurt.mainnet.block-engine.jito.wtf
shred_receiver_address	Jito shred receiver address	64.130.50.14:1002
commission_bps	Commission in basis points	0
dynamic_port_range	Validator port range	8000-8025
limit_ledger_size	Ledger size limit	200000000
expected_shred_version	Expected shred version (testnet, epoch-dependent)	—
expected_bank_hash	Expected bank hash (testnet, optional)	—
wait_for_supermajority	Wait for supermajority slot (testnet, optional)	—
source_host	Source host for nodowntime migration	—
target_host	Target host for nodowntime migration	—

Usage

All playbooks are designed to be run via ansible-playbook with extra_vars:

bash

ansible-playbook -i inventory mainnet-validator/init.yml \
  -e '{"validator_type":"jito","solana_version":"3.1.8","snapshot_url":"https://..."}'

No versions.yml required — all variables can be passed via extra_vars.

Interactive Deployment Flow

When deploying a new validator, the agent should guide the user through variable collection in this order. See AGENT.md for the full step-by-step flow and examples/inventory.yml for the generated output format.

Required Variables (must collect)

Variable	Prompt	Validation
server_ip	"Target server IP?"	Valid IPv4
network	"Mainnet or testnet?"	mainnet or testnet
region	"Server region? (amsterdam, frankfurt, tokyo, ny, ...)"	String
validator_type	"Which validator type?"	jito, jito-bam, agave, firedancer-agave, firedancer-jito
solana_version	"Solana version? (default: 3.1.8)"	Semver
jito_version	"Jito version?" (if jito/jito-bam)	Semver
firedancer_version	"Firedancer version?" (if firedancer)	String
identity_account	"Validator identity pubkey? (or generate)"	Base58 pubkey or generate
vote_account	"Vote account pubkey? (or generate)"	Base58 pubkey or generate
snapshot_url	"Snapshot URL? (auto-detected for ERPC nodes)"	URL (cannot be empty for init)

Optional Variables (show defaults, confirm)

Variable	Default	When Required
ssh_user	solv (ubuntu for fresh servers)	Always
commission_bps	0	Always
dynamic_port_range	8000-8025	Always
limit_ledger_size	200000000	Always
allowed_ssh_ips	—	Strongly recommended (UFW)
allowed_ips	—	Optional (UFW)
block_engine_url	Auto by region	Jito types only
shred_receiver_address	Auto by region	Jito types only
expected_shred_version	Epoch-dependent	Testnet only
expected_bank_hash	Epoch-dependent	Testnet (optional)
wait_for_supermajority	Epoch-dependent	Testnet (optional)

Optional: Reference RPC

Variable	Description	Default
reference_rpc_url	Reference RPC endpoint for slot sync comparison (e.g., ERPC)	—

ERPC API keys are free at https://erpc.global — enables full slot sync monitoring during deployment and updates.

Pre-flight: Fresh Server Setup

If the target is a new server without a solv user:

bash

ansible-playbook -i inventory.yml cmn/add_solv.yml \
  -e '{"ansible_user":"ubuntu"}' --become

Deployment Command

All paths relative to skill's ansible/ directory:

bash

cd /path/to/slv-validator/ansible/
ansible-playbook -i inventory.yml {network}-validator/init.yml \
  -e '{"validator_type":"<type>","solana_version":"<version>","snapshot_url":"<url>"}'

Dry-Run First

Always offer --check mode before actual deployment:

bash

ansible-playbook -i inventory.yml {network}-validator/init.yml \
  -e '{"validator_type":"jito","solana_version":"3.1.8"}' --check