Operate a Stake Pool

There are excellent guides on how to get cardano-node as a stake pool up and running. You could even get one up without much Linux knowledge or worrying about best practices. Just copy the commands from the instructions and paste them into your shell.

Unfortunately, getting your node just up and running is not enough. You need to be able to maintain it, update it and keep it safe. To achieve this, you have to understand what you are doing.

After you have mastered these basics, you also have to market your stake pool well to make it a success.

What requirements should people meet who want to learn how to operate a stake pool?

Server administration skills. You need to know how to operate, maintain and secure your server with the operating system of your choice.
This includes a good understanding of how networks work, how to backup and restore systems.
Familiar with reading documentation and adopting best practices.
Have a basic understanding of Cardano, blockchain, wallets and key pairs.

What if I don't meet the requirements?

If you don't meet all of of the requirements, you need a strong will to learn and expect that you won't know it all in a few weeks.

We saw people who had no idea about Linux, shells, networking, but they had commitment and enough time to deal with it properly and they run a successful stake pool today. It's not for everyone and it won't be easy. A few links to get you started:

Start playing around with Linux.: https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/command-line-for-beginners#1-overview
Have a look at nix and NixOS. :https://nixos.org/
Choose security over comfort. : https://developers.cardano.org/docs/operate-a-stake-pool/#choose-security-over-comfort
Complete the stake pool course.: https://developers.cardano.org/docs/operate-a-stake-pool/#stake-pool-course
Stake pool operator forum.: https://forum.cardano.org/c/staking-delegation/156

Choose security over comfort

When operating a stake pool, best practices should always be a top priority. Security is not a switch you can flip or a setting you make in a configuration file. It is a mindset and a lifestyle.

Discuss security related topics with stake pool operators. :https://forum.cardano.org/c/staking-delegation/stake-pool-security/157
Learn to understand which keys there are, which are hot, sensitive and which you should never store on a server, even if it is convenient.

Read about Cardano key pairs. : https://developers.cardano.org/docs/operate-a-stake-pool/cardano-key-pairs/

Stake pool course

A walk through how to set up manage and maintain your stake pool to ensure optimal performance and profitability.

Start today with the stake pool course.: https://developers.cardano.org/docs/stake-pool-course/

Marketing your stake pool

If you are a stake pool operator, you may have already noticed that it is not enough to have a technically flawless stake pool running.

You also have to build your pool around a brand that manages to attract enough stake (delegators) within the Cardano community.

Read here for a few ideas on how you can do that.: https://developers.cardano.org/docs/operate-a-stake-pool/marketing-stake-pool/

Stake pool operator resources

Guild Operators: https://cardano-community.github.io/guild-operators/, famous for their CNTools:https://cardano-community.github.io/guild-operators/#/Scripts/cntools and top-notch content.
Topology Updater: https://cardano-community.github.io/guild-operators/#/Scripts/topologyupdater is intended to be a temporary solution to allow everyone to activate their relay nodes without having to postpone and wait for manual topology completion requests.
CNCLI : https://github.com/AndrewWestberg/cncli is a collection of utilities to enhance and extend cardano-cli.
Jormanager: https://bitbucket.org/muamw10/jormanager/src/develop/ a Cardano stake pool management software.
Stake Pool Operator Scripts : https://github.com/gitmachtl/scripts a collection of scripts to manage your stake pool step-by-step.
Coin Cashew Guides: https://www.coincashew.com/coins/overview-ada/guide-how-to-build-a-haskell-stakepool-node for stake pool operators.
Pool: https://pool.vet/ Veterinary will help you see if your Cardano stake pool is working and find out why it may not be.
SPOCRA:https://members.spocra.io/ includes the Stake Pool installation guide from the registered trade guild - Stake Pool Operator Collective Representation Assembly
RaspberryPi with Docker :https://github.com/speedwing/cardano-staking-pool-edu Full guide to build and run both testnet and mainnet Cardano Stake Pool with Docker on Raspberry Pi. Youtube Playlisthttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBhbLwOuj0DfTnneuG3vyoDHY7Dv_aiyq

This content is from (https://developers.cardano.org/docs/operate-a-stake-pool/) and is included here so it can be translated.