Timelords

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 A timelord is what keeps the blockchain moving and honest. It runs 24/7, validating blocks and updating the height. If there is only one timelord on a blockchain and it goes down, then the entire blockchain will screech to a halt until someone turns the timelord back on.
 

To run a timelord, you will need a computer with a decent processor. In our experience, the minimum we will run here is 4 cores at 4GHZ, with no less than a 100 MB internet connection. Don't get me wrong, a timelord will run on less than those requirements, but you may be asking for trouble.
 

To run a timelord for a fork, you will first have to install the timelord. A timelord can not natively run on Windows operating systems. You can only run them on Linux or WSL if on Windows. For this example, we will be installing a timelord on WSL for Tad Coin.

The first thing we will need to do is install WSL on our system if it isn't already installed.  Please follow the instructions provided by Microsoft on how to install WSL. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install

Now that you have installed WSL on your system, let's update Ubuntu. Open your Ubuntu terminal and type the command sudo apt update. Your terminal will ask you for your password. After putting in your password, hit enter to continue. After downloading the update, type in sudo apt upgrade and choose "Y" when prompted. Congratulations! You have successfully installed WSL and updated the client. 

 Now that we have installed and updated WSL, it is time to install Tad Coin. Please navigate to Tads repo located on GitHub. Once there, in the top right hand corner, you will see a green button that says "code." Click on it, and then click and copy the code link. 

Open your Ubuntu terminal and type in git clone and paste the link, then hit enter. It should look something like this.

git clone https://github.com/Tad-Network/tad-blockchain

After you have cloned the tad repo, it's now time to install it. This is done by typing sh install.sh
 
Your terminal will go through the process of installing the repo in your WSL home directory.
 

Do not attempt to install the GUI as it doesn't work with WSL.
 

Next, we will activate the program by typing in . ./activate
 

After we have activated the program, type in tad init
 
This will begin the process of setting up your files in Tad.
 

Now we must not either generate new keys or enter the mnemonics you would like to use. We suggest you simply generate new keys by typing in tad keys generate. You can view your key and new mnemonics by typing in tad keys show --show-mnemonic-seed

With Tad installed and our keys set up, we will install the timelord. On the next line in your terminal, type in sh install-timelord.sh and please enter your password when prompted. 

Wait for the program to finish the installation. This can take a few minutes, so be patient. 

Once the timelord has finished installing, let's check your IPS quickly. Enter /vdf_bench square_asm 400000 and push enter.

This will tell you how fast your timelord is. Generally, you are going to want your IPS to be over 120 for a decent timelord. This Timelord we just installed is at 208.8 IPS, which is relatively fast. Anything over 230 IPS is crazy fast.
 

Finally, we can start with the Timelord. Do this by typing in the command tad start timelord
 

Because this is your first time running the timelord for Tad, the database will need to fully sync up before your timelord will start processing proofs. This can take a long time, even days, depending on the fork and size of the database. The syncing process can be drastically sped up by installing an updated database.
 

To do this, you will first need to download an updated database, or perhaps you already have one because you are farming the same fork. An updated database for Tad can be found here on our website.

Shut down your timelord by typing in tad stop timelord

Now deactivate Tad by typing in deactivate

Navigate to your .tad folder and locate your database in \\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home\admin\.tad\mainnet\db. 

Delete the current database and replace it with the updated database that you downloaded.
 

It is good practice to reboot your PC at this point. After a reboot, open Ubuntu and turn your timelord back on. You can check your connections and the state of your timelord with the following commands.
 

tad show -c will show your active connections.
 

tad show -s will show you the state of your timelord and the blockchain.
 

tad -h will list the available commands.

Good thing you are on forsdata.com because we have all the up to date databases and links to active nodes for most of the forks.