# Set up the Pigeon Relayer

Pigeon is a Golang cross-chain message relayer system for Paloma validators to deliver messages to any blockchain. Pigeon is actively maintained by the Volume Finance team.

Validators must run Pigeon

palomad requires pigeon to be running. If you're a validator with stake you additionally need to keep the minimum amount of the native token of each supported target chain to avoid getting jailed. This ensures that all validators maintain the core functionality of cross-chain messaging.

Validators running pigeon are expected to support all chains that Paloma is targeting. Target chains are added when they pass governance. Pigeons must have a wallet for each supported chain and have a balance in the native denomination for each chain high enough to pay gas for remote message execution on the target chains. Validators who don’t have a sufficient balance will be jailed. However, Pigeons are reimbursed for their gas expenses.

# Installation

Start by installing the binary on your validator environment:

# Mainnet

On mainnet tumbler the latest tag is v2.3.1

wget -O - https://github.com/palomachain/pigeon/releases/download/v2.3.1/pigeon_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz | \
tar -C /usr/local/bin -xvzf - pigeon
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/pigeon
mkdir ~/.pigeon

# Testnet

On testnet paloma-testnet-16 the latest tag is v2.1.0

wget -O - https://github.com/palomachain/pigeon/releases/download/v2.1.0/pigeon_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz | \
tar -C /usr/local/bin -xvzf - pigeon
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/pigeon
mkdir ~/.pigeon

# Set up your keys

Next, set up your EVM keys. You will need a different key for each supported live target chain.

# Create a new key

Ethereum mainnet

pigeon evm keys generate-new ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/eth-main

Binance Smart Chain mainnet

pigeon evm keys generate-new ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/bnb-main

Polygon mainnet

pigeon evm keys generate-new ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/matic-main

Optimism Mainnet

pigeon evm keys generate-new ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/op-main

Base Mainnet

pigeon evm keys generate-new ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/base-main

Gnosis Mainnet

pigeon evm keys generate-new ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/gnosis-main

Arbitrum Mainnet

pigeon evm keys generate-new ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/arbitrum-main

Blast Mainnet

pigeon evm keys generate-new ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/blast-main

# Import existing EVM private keys:

Ethereum mainnet

pigeon evm keys import ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/eth-main

Binance Smart Chain mainnet

pigeon evm keys import ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/bnb-main

Polygon mainnet

pigeon evm keys import ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/matic-main

Optimism Mainnet

pigeon evm keys import ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/op-main

Kava Mainnet

pigeon evm keys import ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/kava-main

Base Mainnet

pigeon evm keys import ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/base-main

Gnosis Mainnet

pigeon evm keys import ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/gnosis-main

Arbitrum Mainnet

pigeon evm keys import ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/arbitrum-main

Blast Mainnet

pigeon evm keys import ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/blast-main

Ensure that your keys are stored safe and securly.

# Configuration

Ensure your Paloma Cosmos-SDK keys are stored and available on your environment.

palomad keys add "$VALIDATOR" --recover

Set the VALIDATOR env variable:

export VALIDATOR="$(palomad keys list --list-names | head -n1)"

In the pigeon directory, create your validator's configuration file ~/.pigeon/config.yaml.

loop-timeout: 5s
health-check-port: 5757

paloma:
  chain-id: <paloma chain id>
  call-timeout: 20s
  keyring-dir: ~/.paloma
  keyring-pass-env-name: PALOMA_KEYRING_PASS
  keyring-type: os
  signing-key: ${VALIDATOR}
  base-rpc-url: http://localhost:26657
  gas-adjustment: 3.0
  gas-prices: 0.01ugrain
  account-prefix: paloma

evm:
  eth-main:
    chain-id: 1
    base-rpc-url: ${ETH_RPC_URL}
    keyring-pass-env-name: ETH_PASSWORD
    signing-key: ${ETH_SIGNING_KEY}
    keyring-dir: ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/eth-main
    gas-adjustment: 2
    tx-type: 2

  bnb-main:
    chain-id: 56
    base-rpc-url: ${BNB_RPC_URL}
    keyring-pass-env-name: BNB_PASSWORD
    signing-key: ${BNB_SIGNING_KEY}
    keyring-dir: ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/bnb-main
    gas-adjustment: 1
    tx-type: 0

  matic-main:
    chain-id: 137
    base-rpc-url: ${MATIC_RPC_URL}
    keyring-pass-env-name: MATIC_PASSWORD
    signing-key: ${MATIC_SIGNING_KEY}
    keyring-dir: ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/matic-main
    gas-adjustment: 2
    tx-type: 2
  
  op-main:
    chain-id: 10
    base-rpc-url: ${OP_RPC_URL}
    keyring-pass-env-name: OP_PASSWORD
    signing-key: ${OP_SIGNING_KEY}
    keyring-dir: /root/.pigeon/keys/evm/op-main
    gas-adjustment: 2
    tx-type: 2

  kava-main:
    chain-id: 2222
    base-rpc-url: ${KAVA_RPC_URL}
    keyring-pass-env-name: KAVA_PASSWORD
    signing-key: ${KAVA_SIGNING_KEY}
    keyring-dir: /root/.pigeon/keys/evm/kava-main
    gas-adjustment: 2
    tx-type: 2

  base-main:
    chain-id: 8453
    base-rpc-url: ${BASE_RPC_URL}
    keyring-pass-env-name: BASE_PASSWORD
    signing-key: ${BASE_SIGNING_KEY}
    keyring-dir: /root/.pigeon/keys/evm/base-main
    gas-adjustment: 2
    tx-type: 2

  arbitrum-main:
    chain-id: 42161
    base-rpc-url: ${ARB_RPC_URL}
    keyring-pass-env-name: ARB_PASSWORD
    signing-key: ${ARB_SIGNING_KEY}
    keyring-dir: /root/.pigeon/keys/evm/arbitrum-main
    gas-adjustment: 2
    tx-type: 2

 gnosis-main:
    chain-id: 100
    base-rpc-url: ${GNOSIS_RPC_URL}
    keyring-pass-env-name: GNOSIS_PASSWORD
    signing-key: ${GNOSIS_SIGNING_KEY}
    keyring-dir: /root/.pigeon/keys/evm/gnosis-main
    gas-adjustment: 2
    tx-type: 2
    
 blast-main:
  chain-id: 81457
  base-rpc-url: ${BLAST_RPC_URL}
  keyring-pass-env-name: BLAST_PASSWORD
  signing-key: ${BLAST_SIGNING_KEY}
  keyring-dir: ~/.pigeon/keys/evm/blast-main
  gas-adjustment: 2
  tx-type: 2

Once the setup of Pigeon is successful, you can start sending messages. Before that, Pigeon must know the actor relaying message across the network by defining its keys:

cat <<EOT >~/.pigeon/env.sh
PALOMA_KEYRING_PASS=<your Paloma key password>
ETH_RPC_URL=<Your Ethereum mainnet RPC URL>
ETH_PASSWORD=<Your ETH Key Password>
ETH_SIGNING_KEY=<Your ETH SIGNING KEY>
BNB_RPC_URL=<Your Ethereum mainnet RPC URL>
BNB_PASSWORD=<Your ETH Key Password>
BNB_SIGNING_KEY=<Your ETH SIGNING KEY>
MATIC_RPC_URL=<Your Binance mainnet RPC URL>
MATIC_PASSWORD=<Your BNB Key Password>
MATIC_SIGNING_KEY=<Your BNB SIGNING KEY>
BASE_RPC_URL=<Your Base mainnet RPC URL>
BASE_PASSWORD=<Your Base Key Password>
BASE_SIGNING_KEY=<Your Base SIGNING KEY>
GNOSIS_RPC_URL=<Your Gnosis mainnet RPC URL>
GNOSIS_PASSWORD=<Your Gnosis Key Password>
GNOSIS_SIGNING_KEY=<Your Gnosis SIGNING KEY>
VALIDATOR=<VALIDATOR NAME>
EOT

Ensure that the new variables are avaible for use:

source ~/.pigeon/env.sh

You can then, start pigeon with:

pigeon start

# Register pigeon as a service

You can run Pigeon as a systemd process on your node so that it will automatically restart on server reboots or crashes. Validators are responsible for actively maintaining relayed messages and verifying the state of the chain.

Make sure you have configured ~/.pigeon/env.sh as above. Then create a systemctl configuration:

cat <<EOT >/etc/systemd/system/pigeond.service
[Unit]
Description=Pigeon daemon
After=network-online.target
ConditionPathExists=/usr/local/bin/pigeon

[Service]
Type=simple
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
User=${USER}
WorkingDirectory=~
EnvironmentFile=${HOME}/.pigeon/env.sh
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/pigeon start
ExecReload=

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOT

Start Pigeon:

service pigeond start

# Check that it's running successfully:
service pigeond status
# Or watch the logs:
journalctl -u pigeond.service -f -n 100

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