Zugchain | Install

System Specs

Hardware	Requirement
CPU	4 Cores
RAM	8 GB
Disk	200 GB

Install Zugchain Testnet Validator

1. System Preparation

sudo apt update && apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install curl iptables build-essential git wget jq make gcc nano tmux htop nvme-cli pkg-config libssl-dev libleveldb-dev tar clang bsdmainutils ncdu unzip -y

2. Install Go V1.25.1 (if use debian os)

cd $HOME
VER="1.25.1"
wget "https://golang.org/dl/go$VER.linux-amd64.tar.gz"
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/go
sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf "go$VER.linux-amd64.tar.gz"
rm "go$VER.linux-amd64.tar.gz"

[ ! -f $HOME/.bash_profile ] && touch $HOME/.bash_profile
echo "export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin:$HOME/go/bin" >> $HOME/.bash_profile
echo "export GOROOT=$(go1.25.1 env GOROOT) PATH=$GOROOT/bin:$PATH" >> $HOME/.bash_profile
source $HOME/.bash_profile
[ ! -d $HOME/go/bin ] && mkdir -p $HOME/go/bin

3. Install Geth

#if debian os
git clone https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum.git
cd go-ethereum
make geth

cd build/bin
cp geth /usr/local/bin/
cp geth /usr/bin/
geth version

#if ubuntu os
sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:ethereum/ethereum
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ethereum -y

geth version

4. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/ZugChainLabs/zugchain-validator-configs.git
cd zugchain-validator-configs

5. Initialize the Node

cd validator
chmod +x join_network.sh
sudo ./join_network.sh

6. Check logs

sudo journalctl -fu zugchain-geth
sudo journalctl -fu zugchain-beacon

Key Management & Activation

7. Download ZugChain Deposit CLI

wget https://github.com/ZugChainLabs/zugchain-deposit-cli/releases/download/v1.1.0/zugchain-deposit-cli-v1.1.0-linux-amd64.tar.gz
tar -xvzf zugchain-deposit-cli-v1.1.0-linux-amd64.tar.gz
chmod +x deposit
./deposit --help

8. Run the generator (dont forget save your wallet, mnemonic)

./deposit new-mnemonic --num_validators=1 --chain=zugchain

9. Create a folder for your keys

mkdir -p ~/zug_keys
cp -R $HOME/validator_keys/* $HOME/zug_keys/
ls $HOME/zug_keys/

10. Create password file (password same at step 8)

echo "YOUR_NEW_WALLET_PASSWORD" > $HOME/zug_keys/password.txt
echo "YOUR_NEW_WALLET_PASSWORD" > /opt/zugchain/data/validators/wallet-password.txt

11. Accounts import

/usr/local/bin/validator accounts import \
    --keys-dir=$HOME/zug_keys \
    --wallet-dir=/opt/zugchain/data/validators \
    --account-password-file=$HOME/zug_keys/password.txt

12. Start the Validator Service

sudo systemctl start zugchain-validator

13. Check all logs

sudo journalctl -fu zugchain-geth
sudo journalctl -fu zugchain-beacon
sudo journalctl -fu zugchain-validator

Deposit

14. Deposit your validator (self stake min 32k zug)

testnet.zugchain.org/launchpad

lastUpdated: 2026-03-01