3a · Self-service boot

The boot-bundle is a third gated artifact (same one-time token). It contains vordium.env — auto-stamped from the live cluster (peers, VRF pubkeys, and the correct binary + genesis sha), regenerated at every relaunch so it can never go stale — plus a prebuilt vrf-keygen and vordium-up.sh. You do not need to be in the validator set to boot. Run ./vordium-up.sh right after download and the node comes up as an observer (a non-validator full node) and syncs to the live head — there is no “re-download after seed” step. So the sequence is — (1) run ./vordium-up.sh to boot as an observer and sync to head, (2) once synced + reachable, give the operator your vrf_pubkey (from the running node, or from ./vrf-keygen) + operator address + endpoint; (3) the operator clicks Seed 1M — one action that funds the 1,000,000 VORD bond from the treasury AND registers AND activates you (you pay nothing; no self-register step). The running validators then pick you up automatically from the on-chain registry (they dial you within ~15s and swap you into consensus at the next epoch boundary) — no restart or re-download on your side and no config change on theirs. Because the node binds 0.0.0.0, you MUST set BFT_ADVERTISE=<reachable host:port> (e.g. your-ip:9000) so the incumbents can serve it snapshots and dial it back — without it the node boots as an observer but never syncs. Because vordium-up.sh reads your operator key, verify the bundle’s own sha256 against the published boot_bundle_sha256 before you extract it — the checksum is returned alongside your download link and surfaced in the panel, the same as the binary and genesis; the current value is d31117b3a4f0ced9713801480b4594537ed2b3c7a4b26d88f231ccc78112791e. The script’s own binary + genesis checks hard-fail (abort on mismatch), and it only reads your key locally to launch the node — it is never transmitted anywhere.

sha256sum boot-bundle.tar.gz   # must equal the published boot_bundle_sha256
tar xzf boot-bundle.tar.gz && cd _bundle
# 1) put your validator key (64 hex, no 0x) at /root/validator.key
# 2) set BFT_ADVERTISE so incumbents can reach you (node binds 0.0.0.0):
export BFT_ADVERTISE=your-ip:9000
# 3) boot NOW - comes up as an observer (non-validator) and syncs to head:
./vordium-up.sh
# 4) once synced, get your vrf_pubkey (from the running node, or ./vrf-keygen)
#    and register with the operator - Accept & seed auto-joins you next epoch.
#    (No re-download: the same running node is swapped into the set in place.)
./vrf-keygen /root/vordium-vrf-seed   # if you need the vrf_pubkey without the node