replace-operator

name	replace-operator
description	Replace a single operator in a Charon distributed validator cluster
user-invokable	true

Replace Operator

Warning: This is an alpha feature and is not yet recommended for production use.

Replace a single operator in a Charon cluster with a new one. All participating operators (remaining + new) run a charon alpha edit replace-operator ceremony together (P2P via relay). The new operator must receive the current cluster-lock.json before the ceremony begins.

Prerequisites

Read scripts/edit/replace-operator/README.md for full details if needed.

Common prerequisites:

1. .env file exists with NETWORK and VC variables set
2. .charon directory with cluster-lock.json and charon-enr-private-key
3. Docker is running
4. jq installed

Role Selection

Ask the user: "Are you a remaining operator (performing the replacement) or the new operator joining as a replacement?"

If Remaining Operator

Script: scripts/edit/replace-operator/remaining-operator.sh

Additional prerequisites:

• .charon/cluster-lock.json and .charon/charon-enr-private-key must exist
• The script will automatically stop the VC container for ASDB export (unless --skip-export is used)

Arguments to gather:

• --new-enr: ENR of the new replacement operator
• --old-enr: ENR of the operator being replaced
• --skip-export (optional): Skip ASDB export if already done
• Whether to use --dry-run first

Run:

./scripts/edit/replace-operator/remaining-operator.sh \
    --new-enr "enr:-..." \
    --old-enr "enr:-..." \
    [--skip-export] \
    [--dry-run]

Set WORK_DIR env var to override the repository root directory if running from a custom location.

After completion, the script will print commands to start containers manually. Remind the user to wait ~2 epochs before starting containers.

If New Operator

Script: scripts/edit/replace-operator/new-operator.sh

This is a two-step process:

Step 1: Generate ENR

Ask if the user needs to generate an ENR:

./scripts/edit/replace-operator/new-operator.sh --generate-enr

This creates .charon/charon-enr-private-key and displays the ENR. Tell the user to share this ENR with the existing operators. The existing operators, in turn, need to share the cluster-lock.json with the new operators, which contains the current cluster configuration and is required for the P2P ceremony.

Step 2: Run the Ceremony

After receiving the current cluster-lock.json from remaining operators:

• --cluster-lock: Path to the received cluster-lock.json
• --old-enr: ENR of the operator being replaced
• Whether to use --dry-run first

./scripts/edit/replace-operator/new-operator.sh \
    --cluster-lock ./received-cluster-lock.json \
    --old-enr "enr:-..." \
    [--dry-run]

Set WORK_DIR env var to override the repository root directory if running from a custom location.

The new operator runs this at the same time as the remaining operators run their ceremony. All operators must participate together.

After the ceremony completes, the script automatically:

• Backs up the old .charon directory
• Moves the output directory to .charon (contains complete configuration)
• Prints commands to start containers

Note: the new operator does NOT have slashing protection history (fresh start).