NEAR Testnet Validator Guide

Testnet mirrors mainnet mechanics: neard runs the node, each epoch the validator set is decided by a stake auction, and a validator that misses the seat price simply does not validate that epoch. It is the right place to rehearse the rhythm — pool creation, ping, key rotation, upgrades — because falling out of the set is a normal event rather than an incident.

What differs from mainnet

	Mainnet	Testnet
Chain ID	mainnet	testnet
Release channel	latest stable tag	latest release candidate
Staking-pool factory	poolv1.near	pool.f863973.m0
Pool account	<name>.poolv1.near	<name>.pool.f863973.m0
Owner account suffix	.near	.testnet
Tokens	bought	faucet
Public RPC	https://free.rpc.fastnear.com	https://test.rpc.fastnear.com, https://rpc.testnet.near.org
Explorer	nearblocks.io	testnet.nearblocks.io

Epoch length is the same in blocks, so the feedback loop for "did my change work" is still hours, not minutes. Plan rehearsals accordingly.

Hardware

Role	CPU	RAM	Storage
Chunk/block producer (recommended)	8+ physical cores	32 GB	1 TB SSD, 15k IOPS
Chunk validator (recommended)	8+ physical cores	16 GB	512 GB SSD
Chunk validator (minimum)	8+ physical cores	8 GB	1.5 TB NVMe

Source: near-nodes.io archival/validator hardware.

1. Build the release candidate

Testnet runs RC builds ahead of mainnet. Check nearcore releases and pick the latest RC tag.

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y git curl jq build-essential pkg-config \
  libssl-dev clang cmake protobuf-compiler llvm

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y
source "$HOME/.cargo/env"

git clone https://github.com/near/nearcore && cd nearcore
git fetch origin --tags
git tag -l --sort=-v:refname | head -10
git checkout tags/<latest-rc-tag> -b testnet-node
make neard
sudo install -m 0755 target/release/neard /usr/local/bin/neard
neard --version

2. Initialise

neard --home ~/.near init --chain-id testnet --download-genesis --download-config validator

The testnet genesis file is large (6 GB+) and the download runs for a long time with no progress output. That is expected.

Confirm the chain ID before starting. A node initialised against the wrong chain runs perfectly and is on the wrong network:

jq -r '.chain_id' ~/.near/genesis.json

Use --download-config rpc instead if this host is an RPC node rather than a validator, or archival for full history.

3. Refresh boot nodes and start

BOOT_NODES=$(curl -s -X POST https://rpc.testnet.near.org \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"network_info","params":[],"id":"dontcare"}' \
  | jq -r '.result.active_peers as $active | .result.known_producers as $known |
      $active[] as $peer | $known[] | select(.peer_id == $peer.id) |
      "\(.peer_id)@\($peer.addr)"' | paste -sd "," -)

cp ~/.near/config.json ~/.near/config.json.backup
jq --arg newBootNodes "$BOOT_NODES" '.network.boot_nodes = $newBootNodes' \
  ~/.near/config.json > ~/.near/config.tmp && mv ~/.near/config.tmp ~/.near/config.json

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/neard.service > /dev/null <<'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=NEAR testnet node
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
User=near
Group=near
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/neard --home /home/near/.near run
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=30
KillSignal=SIGINT
TimeoutStopSec=45
LimitNOFILE=1000000
Environment=RUST_LOG=info

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now neard
journalctl -u neard -f

sudo ufw allow 22/tcp
sudo ufw allow 24567/tcp comment 'NEAR P2P'
sudo ufw enable

Keep 3030 on loopback. It serves both RPC and Prometheus metrics.

4. Verify sync

curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:3030 -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"status","params":[]}' \
  | jq '{chain: .result.chain_id, version: .result.version.version,
         height: .result.sync_info.latest_block_height,
         syncing: .result.sync_info.syncing}'

curl -s -X POST https://rpc.testnet.near.org -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"status","params":[]}' \
  | jq -r '.result.sync_info.latest_block_height'

syncing must be false and the two heights must be close before you go further.

5. Accounts and tokens

npm install -g near-cli-rs@latest near-validator

# create a testnet account funded by the faucet
near account create-account sponsor-by-faucet-service <you>.testnet \
  autogenerate-new-keypair save-to-keychain network-config testnet create

Top it up at near-faucet.io. You need 30 NEAR for pool storage plus gas plus the stake you intend to self-bond.

6. Generate the staking key

near generate-keypair save-to-file ~/near-staking-key.json
chmod 600 ~/near-staking-key.json

This is the key neard signs with. It is not a full-access key on any account and must never be confused with the owner key.

7. Deploy the staking pool

export OWNER=<you>.testnet
export POOL=<pool-name>
export STAKE_PUBKEY=ed25519:<public-key-from-step-6>

near contract call-function as-transaction pool.f863973.m0 create_staking_pool \
  json-args "{\"staking_pool_id\": \"$POOL\",
              \"owner_id\": \"$OWNER\",
              \"stake_public_key\": \"$STAKE_PUBKEY\",
              \"reward_fee_fraction\": {\"numerator\": 5, \"denominator\": 100}}" \
  prepaid-gas '300.0 Tgas' \
  attached-deposit '30 NEAR' \
  sign-as "$OWNER" \
  network-config testnet \
  sign-with-keychain \
  send

Your pool is now <pool-name>.pool.f863973.m0.

8. Install validator_key.json

{
  "account_id": "<pool-name>.pool.f863973.m0",
  "public_key": "ed25519:<public-key>",
  "secret_key": "ed25519:<secret-key>"
}

chmod 600 ~/.near/validator_key.json
sudo systemctl restart neard

account_id is the pool, not the owner. The private field is secret_key, not private_key. A running neard does not reload this file — restart, never start.

9. Stake and ping

near contract call-function as-transaction "$POOL.pool.f863973.m0" deposit_and_stake \
  json-args '{}' prepaid-gas '300.0 Tgas' attached-deposit '<amount> NEAR' \
  sign-as "$OWNER" network-config testnet sign-with-keychain send

near contract call-function as-transaction "$POOL.pool.f863973.m0" ping \
  json-args '{}' prepaid-gas '300.0 Tgas' attached-deposit '0 NEAR' \
  sign-as "$OWNER" network-config testnet sign-with-keychain send

Ping every epoch. Set the same systemd timer you will use on mainnet — testnet is where you find out it silently fails.

10. Confirm you are in the set

Proposals apply two epochs out.

near-validator proposals network-config testnet
near-validator validators network-config testnet next
near-validator validators network-config testnet now

curl -s -X POST https://rpc.testnet.near.org -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"validators","params":[null]}' \
  | jq --arg p "$POOL.pool.f863973.m0" '.result.current_validators[] | select(.account_id==$p) |
      {stake, blocks: "\(.num_produced_blocks)/\(.num_expected_blocks)",
       chunks: "\(.num_produced_chunks)/\(.num_expected_chunks)",
       endorsements: "\(.num_produced_endorsements)/\(.num_expected_endorsements)"}'

Produced close to expected is the real health signal. A validator in the set producing far less than expected is being penalised, and the cause is almost always the host.

What to rehearse here before touching mainnet

• Staking-key rotation: update_staking_key on the pool, then replace validator_key.json and restart — in that order, at the start of an epoch.
• A neard version upgrade, including any database migration in the release notes, and the rollback path.
• The ping timer failing, and whether your monitoring notices.
• Commission change and its visibility to delegators.
• Full host rebuild from backed-up keys.

Related guides

The mainnet guides apply unchanged except for the factory and network name: Installation guide, Create validator, Keys & custody, Security, Monitoring, State sync, Upgrades.

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Created by POSTHUMAN validators — https://posthuman.digital