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Use prysmctl

prysmctl is a command-line utility for common and one-off Ethereum proof-of-stake tasks, like helping users with validator exits or withdrawals. Most prysmctl commands require access to a fully synced beacon node.

Run via binaries​

Binaries for the latest prysmctl tool can be found on the latest prysm release page. Each binary is a unique version with its own set of features. New releases may include new features for prysmctl that will need to be downloaded separately. The installed binaries will need to be renamed to prysmctl to use the example below.

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Some users will need to give permissions to the the downloaded binaries to be executable. Linux users can do this by right clicking the file, going to permissions, and clicking the Allow executing file as program checkmark. This may be different for each operating system.

Example of running prysmctl by opening a terminal at the installed location after renaming.

./prysmctl --help

The binaries can be run through a terminal directly and won't need installation. Please refer to the list commands section for additional information.

Install via source​

Dependencies:

  • Bazelisk - this will automatically manage the version of Bazel required.
  • golang installed
  • The cmake package installed
  • The git package installed
  • libssl-dev installed
  • libgmp-dev installed
  • libtinfo5 installed
  • libprotoc version 3.14 installed

Install Bazelisk​

caution
Windows users should run through binaries as some users may have issues building through bazel.

Bazelisk is a launcher for Bazel which automatically downloads and installs the version of Bazel that you need. There are several ways to install Bazelisk:

  • Using a binary release for Linux, macOS, or Windows
  • Using npm: npm install -g @bazel/bazelisk
  • Using Homebrew on macOS: brew install bazelisk
  • By compiling from source using Go: go install github.com/bazelbuild/bazelisk@latest

Clone the Prysm project locally​

Clone Prysm's main repository. Switch to the latest version (the latest version number can be found on the releases page). Once cloned, enter the directory:

git clone https://github.com/prysmaticlabs/prysm && cd prysm

Build prysmctl​

bazel build //cmd/prysmctl --config=release

Bazel will automatically pull and install any dependencies as well, including Go and necessary compilers.

List commands​

./prysmctl --help

Using Docker

docker run -it gcr.io/prysmaticlabs/prysm/cmd/prysmctl:latest --help

The —help flag will provide a list of commands, subcommands, and flags to use.

Commands can also be found in our Prysm parameter documentation

Frequently asked questions​

Q: One of the Prysm guides tells me to use a prysmctl command that isn't available. What do I do?

A: You may be using an older version of prysmctl and are required to download a newer version.

Q: Is prysmctl accessible from prysm.sh, prysm.s1, or prysm.bat?

A: No. This utility will only be accessible by building from source or by downloading binaries for specific versions of Prysm.