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Sentry Architecture and Connectivity (Testnet)

This guide is for partners who want to run their own validator (optionally with their own sentries) and connect safely to Verana testnet.

Why sentries​

  • Protect your validator from DDoS by keeping it off the public internet.
  • Control and limit inbound peers to a known, trusted set.
  • Keep RPC/API usage on public endpoints or your own sentries instead of validator hosts.

Topology overview (Verana ↔ Partner)​

           Private Verana network (private P2P):
           +----------------------------------------------+
           | Verana Validators (private P2P, no public)   |
           | Val 1   Val 2   Val 3 (and others)           |
           +----------------------------------------------+
            ^                     ^                     ^
           /                      |                      \
          /                       |                       \
  +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
  |                           Public Internet                                |
  |  +------------------+    +------------------+    +------------------+    |
  |  | Verana Sentry 1  |    | Verana Sentry 2  |    | Verana Sentry 3  |    |
  |  | (public P2P)     |    | (public P2P)     |    | (public P2P)     |    |
  |  +------------------+    +------------------+    +------------------+    |
  |        |                      |                      |                +---------------------+
  |        |                      |                      |                | Verana RPC/API      |
  |        |                      |                      |                | (public endpoints)  |
  |        |                      |                      |                +---------------------+
  |        |                      |                      |                   |
  |        |  P2P between sentry groups (over Internet)  |                   |
  |        |                      |                      |                   |
  |  +------+-------+       +------+-------+       +------+-------+          |
  |  | Partner S1   |       | Partner S2   |       | Partner S3   |          |
  |  | (public P2P) |       | (public P2P) |       | (public P2P) |          |
  |  +------+-------+       +------+-------+       +------+-------+          |
  +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
           \                      |                      /
            \                     |                     /
             v                    v                    v
          +------------------------------+  +-------------------------------------------------+
          | Partner RPC/API nodes        |  |        Partner Validators (private P2P)         |
          | (public or partner-managed)  |  |   Val A (no public RPC/API)   Val B (private)   |
          +------------------------------+  +-------------------------------------------------+

Interpretation: Validators connect only to sentries. Sentries peer across the public internet. The consensus layer allows validators to gossip without requiring direct IP connectivity between every validator.

PEX and persistent peers (dense reference)​

Partner validators

  • pex = false
  • persistent_peers = "<partner-sentry-peers>"
  • Do not expose validator RPC/API publicly.

Partner sentries

  • pex = true
  • persistent_peers = "<verana-sentry-peers>"
  • Optionally allow RPC/API on sentries if you need public access.

Verana testnet sentry peers (P2P)​

Use these peer IDs when connecting to Verana sentries:

  • ecc3e46c37da5bc4c8a1e691dbb8237844a7ea38@sentry1.testnet.verana.network:26656
  • 0db8a040a40d9eaacce8f1a030bfd19b50cbf761@sentry2.testnet.verana.network:26656
  • a15f404f7a5c4bae791f75886cad45001957c6c3@sentry3.testnet.verana.network:26656

Pattern A: Validator only (no partner sentries)​

Your validator connects directly to Verana sentries for P2P.

Validator P2P settings

[p2p]
pex = false
persistent_peers = "<verana-sentry-peers>"

How to get Verana sentry peers

curl -s https://utc-public-bucket.s3.bhs.io.cloud.ovh.net/vna-testnet-1/persistent_peers/sentry_peers.json \
  | jq -r '.persistent_peers'

Use the output as persistent_peers. Keep pex = false on validators.

Pattern B: Validator + partner sentries (recommended)​

Your validator peers only with your own sentries. Your sentries peer with Verana sentries.

Validator P2P settings

[p2p]
pex = false
persistent_peers = "<your-sentry-peers>"

Sentry P2P settings

[p2p]
pex = true
persistent_peers = "<verana-sentry-peers>"

Use the same Verana sentry peer list command above to populate <verana-sentry-peers>.

RPC/API usage for client apps​

  • Preferred (canonical):
    • https://rpc.testnet.verana.network
    • https://api.testnet.verana.network
  • Sentry pool (fallback):
    • https://rpc-test.testnet.verana.network
    • https://api-test.testnet.verana.network

The canonical endpoints are intended for bootstrap and public testing. They may be traffic-shaped to protect network stability. For long-term production-like usage, partners are encouraged to run their own full stack (validator + sentries + client apps like visualizer/resolver/front-end).

Operational checklist​

  1. Fetch persistent_peers from S3 and prefer Verana sentry hostnames for P2P.
  2. Keep validators off public RPC/API; expose RPC/API only via sentries or your own stack.
  3. Use canonical RPC/API endpoints for client apps until your own stack is available.