Prerequisites for Offboarding¶

Introduction¶

Operator offboarding is the formal process by which node operators safely and transparently exit the Tanssi protocol. It ensures network integrity, security, and stability by providing clear steps for operators who wish to cease participation.

Operators play a critical role in consensus and network operations. Abruptly shutting down a node without following the proper procedures can negatively impact operators, potentially resulting in slashing.

This guide outlines the prerequisites for offboarding, and subsequent guides will walk you through the process.

If you have questions during any part of the offboarding process, the Tanssi team can support you on Discord.

Prerequisites¶

Before starting the offboarding process, ensure you have the following:

• Access to the Ethereum (EVM) wallet that controls your operator account
• Sufficient ETH in your wallet to cover gas fees for transactions

Why Smart Contract Interaction is Required¶

Like many decentralized systems, the Tanssi protocol utilizes smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain to manage critical operations, including operator registration and staking. When an operator decides to offboard, they change their status and relationship with these core protocol contracts. Key offboarding steps, such as signaling your intent to exit or formally unregistering, involve transactions that update the state recorded in these smart contracts.

Interaction Methods¶

There are several ways to interact with the smart contracts:

• Using the Symbiotic CLI
• Using Etherscan
• Using Safe for multisig setups

In any case, you'll need to sign the transaction using the account you intend to use for the node. You can choose between different options to do so:

• Using the account's private key directly (although this method is not recommended)
• Using a hot wallet, such as MetaMask
• Using a cold wallet, such as Ledger

The following section outlines the steps for installing the Symbiotic CLI, if that's your method of preference.

Set Up the Symbiotic CLI¶

The Symbiotic CLI is a tool for interacting with Symbiotic's core smart contracts. It is written in Python, so you'll need to install the Python interpreter and pip, Python's package installer:

 sudo apt-get install python3 && \
 sudo apt install python3-pip

brew install python3

Now, with Python installed, download the Symbiotic CLI and its dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/symbioticfi/cli.git && \
cd cli && \
pip3 install -r requirements.txt

Run the following command to check if the installation was successful:

python3 symb.py --help

The terminal should show a long list of the CLI available commands: