How to set up DoubleZero
By connecting to the DoubleZero I agree to the DoubleZero Terms of Service
Prerequisites
Warning
DoubleZero needs to be installed directly on your validator host, not in a container.
- Internet connectivity with a public IP address (no NAT)
- x86_64 server
- Supported OS: Ubuntu 22.04+ or Debian 11+, or Rocky Linux / RHEL 8+
- Root or sudo privileges on the server where DoubleZero will run
- Solana CLI installed and on $PATH
- Permission to access to the validator identity keypair file (e.g., validator-keypair.json) under the sol user
- Verify the Identity key of Solana validator being connected has at least 1 SOL on it
- Firewall rules permit outbound connections for DoubleZero and Solana RPC as needed including GRE (ip proto 47) and BGP (169.254.0.0/16 on tcp/179)
- Optional but useful: jq and curl for debugging
Steps
Connecting a Solana Validator to DoubleZero
When onboarding a Solana validator onto DoubleZero, start by establishing identities. On your server, generate a DoubleZero identity, represented by a public key called the DoubleZero ID. This key is how DoubleZero recognizes your server.
Next, focus on the validator itself. Each Solana validator has its own identity keypair; from this, extract the public key known as the node ID. This is the validator's unique fingerprint on the Solana network.
With the DoubleZeroID and node ID identified, prove ownership. Create a message that includes the DoubleZeroID and sign it with the validator's identity key. The resulting cryptographic signature serves as verifiable proof that you control the validator.
Finally, submit a connection request to DoubleZero. This request communicates: "Here is my identity, here is proof of ownership, and here is how I intend to connect." DoubleZero validates this information, accepts the proof, and provisions network access for the validator on DoubleZero.
1. Install DoubleZero Packages
Follow these steps depending on your operating system:
Ubuntu / Debian
The current recomended deployment for Mainnet-Beta is:
curl -1sLf https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/malbeclabs/doublezero/setup.deb.sh | sudo -E bash
sudo apt-get install doublezero=0.6.9-1
The current recomended deployment for Testnet is:
curl -1sLf https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/malbeclabs/doublezero/setup.deb.sh | sudo -E bash
sudo apt-get install doublezero=0.7.1-1
Rocky Linux / RHEL
The current recomended deployment for Mainnet-Beta is:
curl -1sLf https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/malbeclabs/doublezero/setup.rpm.sh | sudo -E bash
sudo yum install doublezero-0.6.9
The current recomended deployment for Testnet is:
curl -1sLf https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/malbeclabs/doublezero/setup.rpm.sh | sudo -E bash
sudo yum install doublezero-0.7.1
After installation, verify the daemon is running:
sudo systemctl status doublezerod
sudo journalctl -u doublezerod
Check the status of doublezerod
After the package is installed, a new systemd unit is installed, activated and started. To see the status:
sudo systemctl status doublezerod
sudo journalctl -u doublezerod
Create doublezero config directory
mkdir -p ~/.config/doublezero
Add your Solana id.json to the doublezero config directory and check balance
Copy or link the id.json you want to use with DoubleZero to the doublezero config directory.
sudo cp </path/to/id.json> ~/.config/doublezero/
2. Create New DoubleZero Identity
Note
If you have an existing DoubleZero Identity skip to step 3
Create a DoubleZero Identity on your server with the following command:
doublezero keygen
3. Retrieve the server's DoubleZero identity
Review your DoubleZero Identity. This identity will be used to create the connection between your validator and DoubleZero
doublezero address
Output:
YourDoubleZeroAddress11111111111111111111111111111
4. Check that doublezerod has discovered DZ devices
Before connecting, be sure doublezerod has discovered and pinged each of the available DZ testnet switches:
doublezero latency
Sample output:
$ doublezero latency
pubkey | name | ip | min | max | avg | reachable
96AfeBT6UqUmREmPeFZxw6PbLrbfET51NxBFCCsVAnek | la2-dz01 | 207.45.216.134 | 0.38ms | 0.45ms | 0.42ms | true
CCTSmqMkxJh3Zpa9gQ8rCzhY7GiTqK7KnSLBYrRriuan | ny5-dz01 | 64.86.249.22 | 68.81ms | 68.87ms | 68.85ms | true
BX6DYCzJt3XKRc1Z3N8AMSSqctV6aDdJryFMGThNSxDn | ty2-dz01 | 180.87.154.78 | 112.16ms | 112.25ms | 112.22ms | true
55tfaZ1kRGxugv7MAuinXP4rHATcGTbNyEKrNsbuVLx2 | ld4-dz01 | 195.219.120.66 | 138.15ms | 138.21ms | 138.17ms | true
3uGKPEjinn74vd9LHtC4VJvAMAZZgU9qX9rPxtc6pF2k | ams-dz001 | 195.219.138.50 | 141.84ms | 141.97ms | 141.91ms | true
65DqsEiFucoFWPLHnwbVHY1mp3d7MNM2gNjDTgtYZtFQ | frk-dz01 | 195.219.220.58 | 143.52ms | 143.62ms | 143.58ms | true
9uhh2D5c14WJjbwgM7BudztdoPZYCjbvqcTPgEKtTMZE | sg1-dz01 | 180.87.102.98 | 176.66ms | 176.76ms | 176.72ms | true
If no devices are returned in the output, wait 10-20 seconds and retry.
5. Disconnect from DoubleZero
In the next sections you will set your DoubleZero Enviroment. In order to ensure success, disconnect the current session. This will avoid issues related to multiple tunnels open on your machine.
Check
doublezero status
if it is up run:
doublezero disconnect
Up Next: Enviroment and Connection
You may proceed to connecting to DoubleZero Testnet, Mainnet-Beta or multicast mode. It may take up to one minute for the tunnel to connect, and you will need to complete some steps to register your validator on the DoubleZero Network.
Optional: Enable Prometheus Metrics
Operators familiar with Prometheus metrics may want to enable them for DoubleZero monitoring. This provides visibility into DoubleZero client performance, connection status, and operational health.
What Metrics Are Available
DoubleZero exposes several key metrics: - Build Information: Version, commit hash, and build date - Session Status: Whether the DoubleZero session is active - Connection Metrics: Latency and connectivity information - Performance Data: Throughput and error rates
Enable Prometheus Metrics
To enable Prometheus metrics on the DoubleZero client follow these steps:
1. Modify the doublezerod systemd service startup command
Create or edit the systemd override configuration:
sudo mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system/doublezerod.service.d/
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/doublezerod.service.d/override.conf
Replace with this configuration:
Note that the -env flag needs to point to either testnet or mainnet-beta depending on which network you would like to gather data from. In the sample block testnet is used. You may swap this out for mainnet-beta if needed.
[Service]
ExecStart=
ExecStart=/usr/bin/doublezerod -sock-file /run/doublezerod/doublezerod.sock -env testnet -metrics-enable -metrics-addr localhost:2113
2. Reload and restart the service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart doublezerod
sudo systemctl status doublezerod
3. Verify metrics are available
Test that the metrics endpoint is responding:
curl -s localhost:2113/metrics | grep doublezero
Expected output:
# HELP doublezero_build_info Build information of the client
# TYPE doublezero_build_info gauge
doublezero_build_info{commit="0d684e1b",date="2025-09-10T16:30:25Z",version="0.6.4"} 1
# HELP doublezero_session_is_up Status of session to doublezero
# TYPE doublezero_session_is_up gauge
doublezero_session_is_up 0
Troubleshooting
If metrics are not appearing:
- Check service status:
sudo systemctl status doublezerod - Verify configuration:
sudo systemctl cat doublezerod - Check logs:
sudo journalctl -u doublezerod -f - Test endpoint:
curl -v localhost:2113/metrics - Verify port:
netstat -tlnp | grep 2113
Configure Prometheus Server
Configuration, and security are beyond the scope of this documentation. Grafana is an excellent option for visualization, and has documentation available here detailing how to collect Prometheus metrics.
Grafana Dashboard (Optional)
For visualization, you can create a Grafana dashboard using the DoubleZero metrics. Common panels include: - Session status over time - Build information - Connection latency trends - Error rate monitoring