Launching the block producer

Configure and launch the block producer as a systemd service.

With keys and certificates generated, transfer them to your BP server and start the node.

1) Transfer keys to the BP server

Copy these files to /home/cardano/cnode/keys/ on your block producer:

Source file	Destination
myPool.kes-000.skey	myPool.kes.skey
myPool.vrf.skey	myPool.vrf.skey
myPool.node-000.opcert	myPool.node.opcert

Rename and secure the files:

cd ~/cnode/keys
mv myPool.kes-000.skey myPool.kes.skey
mv myPool.node-000.opcert myPool.node.opcert
chmod 400 *

2) Create the systemd service

Systemd service (recommended)

Create the service file:

cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/cardano-node.service
[Unit]
Description=Cardano Block Producer
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=cardano
Group=cardano
WorkingDirectory=/home/cardano/cnode
ExecStart=/home/cardano/.local/bin/cardano-node run \\
    --config /home/cardano/cnode/config/config.json \\
    --topology /home/cardano/cnode/config/topology.json \\
    --database-path /home/cardano/cnode/db \\
    --socket-path /home/cardano/cnode/sockets/node.socket \\
    --host-addr 0.0.0.0 \\
    --port 3001 \\
    --shelley-kes-key /home/cardano/cnode/keys/myPool.kes.skey \\
    --shelley-vrf-key /home/cardano/cnode/keys/myPool.vrf.skey \\
    --shelley-operational-certificate /home/cardano/cnode/keys/myPool.node.opcert
KillSignal=SIGINT
RestartKillSignal=SIGINT
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal
SyslogIdentifier=cardano-bp
LimitNOFILE=1048576
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

Enable and start:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable cardano-node.service
sudo systemctl start cardano-node.service

If updating an existing service, reload and restart:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart cardano-node.service

Check the logs:

journalctl -u cardano-node.service -f -o cat

Script with tmux (testnet only)

---

KES key rotation

KES (Key Evolving Signature) keys expire after a set number of periods (typically 62 periods, approximately 93 days). When they expire, your BP stops producing blocks.

Check your current KES status:

cardano-cli query kes-period-info --mainnet \
  --op-cert-file ~/cnode/keys/myPool.node.opcert

To rotate, generate new KES keys and operational certificate on your offline machine:

cd ~/cnode/keys
04c_genKESKeys.sh myPool cli
04d_genNodeOpCert.sh myPool

Transfer the new myPool.kes.skey and myPool.node.opcert to your BP server and restart the node.

Set a calendar reminder to rotate KES keys every 80 days to stay ahead of expiration.