Ansible Playbook to deploy Near Validator Node

This Ansible playbook automates the deployment and configuration of Near Validator Node. It ensures that the necessary dependencies, configuration files, and services are properly set up and running.

Table of Contents

• Requirements
• Prerequisites
• Setup
• Variables
• Usage

Requirements

Before using this playbook, ensure the following requirements are met:

1. Ansible version: Make sure you have Ansible 2.15+ installed.
2. SSH Access: Passwordless SSH access to all target servers.
3. Python: Python 3.x installed on the control node and all target hosts.
4. Privileges: The user running the playbook must have sudo privileges on the target machines.

Prerequisites

Install HashiCorp Vault

This playbook relies on HashiCorp Vault to securely retrieve sensitive files, such as validator and node keys. Follow the HashiCorp Vault Installation Guide to set up Vault on your infrastructure.

Note on Secrets Management

The playbook dynamically retrieves secret environment file from HashiCorp Vault. The keys are expected to follow a structured path format: <environment>/<project>/<organization>/<type>/<file_name>

For example:

• near/encapsulate/validator/node_key.json
• near/encapsulate/validator/validator_key.json

This structure ensures easy organization and secure retrieval of secrets.

Setup

1. Install Ansible

If Ansible is not installed, visit the official documentation for detailed instructions on how to install Ansible on various Linux distributions:

Ansible Installation Guide

2. Clone the repository

Clone this repository to your Ansible control node:

git clone https://github.com/encapsulate-xyz/near-ansible.git
cd near-ansible

3. Inventory

Define your target servers' IP address or DNS in the inventory folder, and select either mainnet.yml or testnet.yml to update.

Example for mainnet.yml

---
# maintains mainnet inventory grouped by project names
all:
  vars:
    env: mainnet
  children:
    near:
      hosts:
        validator.near.mainnet.encapsulate.xyz:
          type: validator

Variables

This playbook allows customization through several variables. You can define these variables in the following locations:

• group_vars/all.yml: Contains all the source urls and configurations.
• group_vars/mainnet.yml or group_vars/testnet.yml: Contains version-specific variables.
• group_vars/vault.yml: Store secret variables, such as jwtsecret, in this file.

Usage

1. First, install the dependencies:

 ansible-galaxy install -r collections/requirements.yml

2. Create a ansible_vault_password file containing ansible-vault password

3. Then run the playbook:

ansible-playbook setup_node.yml

After you run the playbook, it will ask for confirmation, displaying all the variables and the IP address or DNS of the server you are going to deploy.

Example output:

TASK [Display environment being deployed to] ***************************************************************************************************
ok: [validator.near.mainnet.encapsulate.xyz] => {
    "msg": [
        "Deploying to Host: validator.near.mainnet.encapsulate.xyz",
        "Groups: ['near']",
        "Project: near",
        "Environment: mainnet",
        "Type: validator",
        "Version: 2.8.0",
        "Username: near",
        "Service Name: near",
        "Operating System: linux",
        "System Architecture: amd64"
    ]
}

TASK [Confirm deployment details] ********************************************************************************************************************
Pausing for 40 seconds
(ctrl+C then 'C' = continue early, ctrl+C then 'A' = abort)
ok: [validator.near.mainnet.encapsulate.xyz]

TASK [Please confirm again] ********************************************************************************************************************
ok: [validator.near.mainnet.encapsulate.xyz] => {
    "msg": [
        "Deploying to Host: validator.near.mainnet.encapsulate.xyz",
        "Project: near",
        "Environment: mainnet",
        "Type: validator"
    ]
}

TASK [Confirm deployment details] **************************************************************************************************************
Pausing for 20 seconds
(ctrl+C then 'C' = continue early, ctrl+C then 'A' = abort)
ok: [validator.near.mainnet.encapsulate.xyz]