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Author: HazenNetworkSolutions
Network: Gnoland Pearl Testnet (Chain ID: pearl-1)
Branch: chain/pearl
Last Updated: August 2026

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Table of Contents

• Hardware Requirements
• Network Endpoints
• Step 1 — System Verification
• Step 2 — System Update and Dependencies
• Step 3 — Install Go
• Step 4 — Get the Binaries
• Step 5 — Initialize, Download Genesis and Config
• Step 6 — Configure the Node
• Step 7 — Create Systemd Service
• Step 8 — Sync Speed Note
• Step 9 — Start the Node
• Step 10 — Create a Wallet
• Step 11 — Register as a Validator
• Useful Commands
• Firewall
• What's New Since Sapphire
• Staying Updated

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Hardware Requirements

ℹ️ Pearl is a fresh chain (not a hardfork) with a ~2.6–2.7 MB genesis (85 curated packages) — disk and sync requirements stay light, same spirit as Topaz and Sapphire.

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Network Endpoints

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Step 1 — System Verification

After SSH-ing into your server, verify the system meets requirements:

lsb_release -a
uname -r
lscpu | grep -E "Model name|CPU\(s\)|Thread|Socket|Core"
free -h
df -h

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Step 2 — System Update and Dependencies

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y curl git wget htop tmux build-essential jq make lz4 gcc unzip \
  screen btop iotop nethogs hdparm cmake perl automake autoconf libtool libssl-dev zstd pv

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Step 3 — Install Go

Pearl requires Go 1.25+ (its go.mod pins go 1.25.9, same pin as Topaz and Sapphire). This step installs Go 1.25.12 and configures the PATH:

cd $HOME
VER="1.25.12"
wget "https://golang.org/dl/go$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 ~/.bash_profile ] && touch ~/.bash_profile
echo 'export PATH=/usr/local/go/bin:$HOME/go/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bash_profile
echo 'export GNOROOT=$HOME/gno' >> ~/.bash_profile
source $HOME/.bash_profile
[ ! -d ~/go/bin ] && mkdir -p ~/go/bin
export PATH="$HOME/go/bin:$PATH"

Verify the installation:

go version

Expected output:

go version go1.25.12 linux/amd64

ℹ️ If your installed Go is older than 1.25 but at least 1.21, GOTOOLCHAIN=auto (the default) will transparently download and use go1.25.9 the first time you build — but installing 1.25+ directly avoids relying on that.

ℹ️ Like Sapphire (and unlike Topaz), the chain/pearl release assets are built with CGO_ENABLED=0, so the prebuilt gnoland/gnokey/gnoweb binaries don't carry the newer-glibc dependency that forced Topaz operators to build from source. You can use either path in Step 4 below.

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Step 4 — Get the Binaries

You have two options: use the prebuilt release binaries, or build from source. Everything is built from the chain/pearl branch.

Option A — Prebuilt binaries (recommended)

Download the binaries matching your OS/arch from the chain/pearl release page (gnoland, gnokey, gnoweb, gno — linux_amd64, linux_arm64, darwin_amd64, darwin_arm64), then verify against the release's CHECKSUMS.txt:

cd $HOME
wget https://github.com/gnolang/gno/releases/download/chain/pearl/gno_linux_amd64
wget https://github.com/gnolang/gno/releases/download/chain/pearl/gnoland_linux_amd64
wget https://github.com/gnolang/gno/releases/download/chain/pearl/gnokey_linux_amd64
wget https://github.com/gnolang/gno/releases/download/chain/pearl/gnoweb_linux_amd64
wget https://github.com/gnolang/gno/releases/download/chain/pearl/CHECKSUMS.txt

sha256sum -c CHECKSUMS.txt --ignore-missing

sudo install -m 0755 gno_linux_amd64 /usr/local/bin/gno
sudo install -m 0755 gnoland_linux_amd64 /usr/local/bin/gnoland
sudo install -m 0755 gnokey_linux_amd64 /usr/local/bin/gnokey
sudo install -m 0755 gnoweb_linux_amd64 /usr/local/bin/gnoweb

The rest of this guide runs its gnoland/gnokey commands from a $HOME/gno working directory (that's where Step 5 downloads genesis.json and where the systemd service's WorkingDirectory/GNOROOT point). Option B gets this directory for free from git clone; on the prebuilt-binary path you need to create it yourself:

mkdir -p $HOME/gno

Option B — Build from source

Clone the official gno repository and checkout the pearl branch:

cd $HOME
git clone https://github.com/gnolang/gno.git
cd gno
git checkout chain/pearl

Build and install all binaries:

make -C gno.land install.gnoland install.gnokey
make install
make -C contribs/gnogenesis install

Copy binaries to system path and set permissions:

for bin in gno gnokey gnodev gnoland gnogenesis gnoweb; do
  sudo cp /root/go/bin/$bin /usr/local/bin/
  sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/$bin
done

Verify the installation (either option)

gno version
gnoland version

Expected output (or similar):

gnoland version: chain/pearl

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Step 5 — Initialize, Download Genesis and Config

Run a quick start to generate the default data directory structure, then stop with Ctrl+C:

cd $HOME/gno
gnoland start --lazy

ℹ️ Wait until you see the node start printing output, then press Ctrl+C to stop it.

Remove the default data and genesis to prepare for a clean setup:

rm -rf gnoland-data/ genesis.json

Download the official Pearl genesis file:

wget -O genesis.json \
  https://github.com/gnolang/gno/releases/download/chain/pearl/genesis.json

Verify the genesis checksum — the hash must match exactly:

shasum -a 256 genesis.json

Expected output:

c45fe60c8c8a1f859d9e4d5aad7ce4d100ff0eb78302e71318ba0de481a8dc91  genesis.json

⚠️ If the checksum does not match, do not continue. Re-download the genesis file.

Initialize node secrets and config:

gnoland secrets init
gnoland config init

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Step 6 — Configure the Node

Set your moniker (replace with your own node name):

MONIKER="YOUR_MONIKER"

Apply all required configuration settings:

cd $HOME/gno

gnoland config set moniker "$MONIKER"
gnoland config set application.prune_strategy syncable
gnoland config set consensus.timeout_commit 3s
gnoland config set consensus.peer_gossip_sleep_duration 10ms
gnoland config set p2p.flush_throttle_timeout 10ms
gnoland config set p2p.pex true
gnoland config set p2p.max_num_outbound_peers 40
gnoland config set mempool.size 10000
gnoland config set telemetry.metrics_enabled false
gnoland config set p2p.laddr "tcp://0.0.0.0:26656"
gnoland config set rpc.laddr "tcp://127.0.0.1:26657"
gnoland config set p2p.external_address "YOUR-SERVER-IP:26656"
gnoland config set p2p.persistent_peers \
  "g1m37xukfq6yl555k93fcyzns83qnmgyax9zm875@seed-1.pearl.testnets.gno.land:26656,g1ngukqd3khekaqjf90k45cglzm0l25wwzl2fkn2@seed-2.pearl.testnets.gno.land:26656"

ℹ️ Replace YOUR-SERVER-IP with your actual server's public IP address.

ℹ️ Pearl's own official VALIDATOR.md lists these addresses directly under p2p.persistent_peers (the field the node actually reads), same as Sapphire — no p2p.seeds workaround needed, unlike Topaz.

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Step 7 — Create Systemd Service

Create the systemd service file to run the node as a managed background process:

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/gnoland.service > /dev/null << EOF
[Unit]
Description=Gnoland pearl-1 Node
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
User=root
WorkingDirectory=/root/gno
Environment=GNOROOT=/root/gno
Environment=HOME=/root
ExecStart=$(which gnoland) start \
  --chainid pearl-1 \
  --genesis /root/gno/genesis.json \
  --skip-genesis-sig-verification
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5s
LimitNOFILE=65535
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal
SyslogIdentifier=gnoland

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable gnoland

⚠️ --skip-genesis-sig-verification is required — some genesis transactions carry placeholder/patched signatures (e.g. the r/sys/names.Enable bootstrap call, whose caller field is jq-patched to the admin address at genesis), and the node panics on startup without this flag.

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Step 8 — Sync Speed Note

Like Topaz and Sapphire, Pearl starts from a fresh, empty ~2.6–2.7 MB genesis (85 curated packages) instead of replaying history — built from the repo's examples/ tree in about a minute, booting in seconds. In practice a full sync from height 0 to chain tip takes well under an hour on a normal VPS once peers are connected (Step 6).

If you still want to check progress instead of waiting blind, see the sync-status command in Step 9 or Useful Commands.

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Step 9 — Start the Node

Start the gnoland service:

sudo systemctl restart gnoland

Follow the live logs to confirm the node is running:

sudo journalctl -u gnoland -f --no-hostname -o cat

Verify the service status:

sudo systemctl status gnoland --no-pager

Expected output:

● gnoland.service - Gnoland pearl-1 Node
     Active: active (running) since ...

Check sync status:

curl -s http://localhost:26657/status | jq .result.sync_info

Expected output when fully synced:

{
  "latest_block_height": "XXXXXX",
  "catching_up": false
}

⚠️ Wait until catching_up is false before proceeding to validator registration.

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Step 10 — Create a Wallet

Create a new wallet:

gnokey add wallet

⚠️ CRITICAL: You will be shown a mnemonic phrase. Save it in a secure location immediately. Without it, you cannot recover your wallet.

To recover an existing wallet from mnemonic:

gnokey add wallet --recover

List your wallets and get your g1... address:

gnokey list

Expected output:

* wallet (local) - addr: g1xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx pub: gpub1...

Get testnet GNOT from the faucet: https://pearl.testnets.gno.land/faucet

ℹ️ Pearl balances start from zero for everyone — nothing carries over from Sapphire, even if you reuse the same wallet/mnemonic.

Verify your balance:

gnokey query \
  -remote "https://rpc.pearl.testnets.gno.land" \
  auth/accounts/YOUR-G1-ADDRESS

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Step 11 — Register as a Validator

⚠️ Gnoland uses a GovDAO-based validator registration system. Registration is done by calling a realm (smart contract). Becoming active in the validator set requires a GovDAO governance proposal to pass — registration alone only lists you as a candidate.

ℹ️ Pearl launches with 3 founding validators (gno-core-validator-1/-2/-3, power 60 each). At 3 × 60 power, a single validator going offline sits exactly at the one-third halt boundary — accepted for launch until additional validator partners join via the process below.

Get your Validator Public Key

Run from the /root/gno directory:

cd /root/gno && gnoland secrets get validator_key

Expected output:

{
  "address": "g1xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
  "pub_key": "gpub1xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
}

⚠️ In Pearl, only the pub_key is used for registration. The address here is the consensus key address — do not use it as the operator address. Use your wallet address from gnokey list instead.

Submit Validator Registration

Replace all placeholder values before running. The registration must be signed by your operator key — the gnokey account whose g1... address you pass as the operator address; the realm rejects the call if the signer doesn't control that address:

gnokey maketx call \
  --pkgpath gno.land/r/gnops/valopers \
  --func Register \
  --args "MONIKER" \
  --args "DESCRIPTION" \
  --args "cloud|on-prem|data-center" \
  --args "OPERATOR_ADDRESS" \
  --args "VAL_PUBKEY" \
  --gas-fee 1000000ugnot \
  --gas-wanted 50000000 \
  --chainid pearl-1 \
  --remote https://rpc.pearl.testnets.gno.land \
  --broadcast \
  WALLETNAME

ℹ️ After a successful transaction you can view your profile at:
https://pearl.testnets.gno.land/r/gnops/valopers

Registering only lists you as a candidate — a GovDAO member must then create and pass a proposal (via r/sys/validators/v3) to add you to the active validator set. Once that proposal executes, your node joins the valset. Pearl launches with aeddi as the sole GovDAO T1 member; additional members join via GovDAO proposals.

Update Description (Optional)

Description limit is 2048 characters. To update after registration:

gnokey maketx call \
  --pkgpath gno.land/r/gnops/valopers \
  --func UpdateDescription \
  --args "YOUR-G1-OPERATOR-ADDRESS" \
  --args "YOUR-NEW-DESCRIPTION" \
  --gas-fee 1000000ugnot \
  --gas-wanted 50000000 \
  --chainid pearl-1 \
  --remote https://rpc.pearl.testnets.gno.land \
  --broadcast \
  WALLETNAME

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Useful Commands

Service Management

sudo systemctl start gnoland
sudo systemctl stop gnoland
sudo systemctl restart gnoland
sudo systemctl status gnoland

Logs & Sync

# Live logs
sudo journalctl -u gnoland -f --no-hostname -o cat

# Logs from last hour
sudo journalctl -u gnoland --since "1 hour ago"

# Sync status
curl -s http://localhost:26657/status | jq .result.sync_info

# Connected peers
curl -s http://localhost:26657/net_info | jq .result.n_peers

Node Info

ℹ️ Run secrets commands from /root/gno directory:

cd /root/gno && gnoland secrets get node_id
cd /root/gno && gnoland secrets get validator_key
cd /root/gno && gnoland secrets get

Wallet & Balance

# List wallets
gnokey list

# Check balance
gnokey query \
  -remote "https://rpc.pearl.testnets.gno.land" \
  auth/accounts/YOUR_ADDRESS

Send Tokens

gnokey maketx send \
  -send "1000000ugnot" \
  -to "RECIPIENT_ADDRESS" \
  -gas-fee 1000000ugnot \
  -gas-wanted 10000000 \
  -broadcast \
  -chainid "pearl-1" \
  -remote "https://rpc.pearl.testnets.gno.land" \
  wallet

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Firewall

# P2P — must be open to the public
sudo ufw allow 26656/tcp comment "gnoland P2P"

# RPC — open only if you serve public endpoints
sudo ufw allow 26657/tcp comment "gnoland RPC"

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What's New Since Sapphire

Pearl carries the fix for the gnolang/gno#6011 AppHash-mismatch race condition in its baseline, same as Sapphire — no equivalent "Disaster Recovery" workaround section is needed here (see the Sapphire guide for the history). Keep regular off-server backups of secrets/ and config/ as routine hygiene regardless.

Notable additions in this release (see the chain/pearl release notes for the full changelog):

• Genesis vesting accounts — the genesis builder now supports a VESTED_ACCOUNTS list (continuous linear-unlock or delayed/cliff schedules). Pearl ships ten vested test accounts covering the schedule matrix; this has no effect on validator/full-node setup.
• grc721 rewritten on a Token/PrivateLedger/Teller axis, with stackable metadata, royalty, and enumerable extensions (#6072, #6073).
• AddPackage now type-checks production files only — test files (_test.gno) are stored and syntax-parsed but not type-checked at deploy time (#6025).
• p2p.seeds is now actually wired into the switch (#6023) — the field that was silently ignored back in Topaz (Step 6 note above) is functional as of this release, though this guide continues to use p2p.persistent_peers per Pearl's own VALIDATOR.md.
• Three separate cases where coins could be lost or over-authorized around the send envelope were fixed (#6062).
• GovDAO allowlist lockdown, proposal-page escaping, and executor disclosure (#6068).

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Staying Updated

• Discord: Gnoland Discord
• GitHub: gnolang/gno
• Official Docs: docs.gno.land
• Explorer: pearl.testnets.gno.land
• Gnockpit: gnockpit.pearl.testnets.gno.land
• Status: status.pearl.testnets.gno.land

Upgrade to a New Version

sudo systemctl stop gnoland

cd $HOME/gno
git fetch --all --tags
git checkout chain/NEXT_TAG
make -C gno.land install.gnoland install.gnokey
make install
make -C contribs/gnogenesis install

sudo cp /root/go/bin/gnoland /usr/local/bin/
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/gnoland

sudo systemctl restart gnoland
sudo journalctl -u gnoland -f --no-hostname -o cat

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About the Author

This guide was prepared by HazenNetworkSolutions.
🌐 hazennetworksolutions.com