vex-fd Commands¶

Docs-site note: Grounded directly in vex-fd --help output and the command-dispatch code (src/main.zig). Only commands and flags that actually exist are documented here — nothing aspirational.

vex-fd is Vexor's single binary. It dispatches on its first argument to one of a small set of commands.

Usage: vex-fd <command> [options]

Commands¶

Command	What it does
`run`, `validator`	Start the validator in its default role: vote on the cluster and, when leader, produce blocks. `run` and `validator` are aliases for the same thing.
`rpc`	Start as an RPC node (non-voting). Internally equivalent to `run` with `--no-voting --full-rpc-api` injected. See Validator or RPC Node?.
`version`	Show version information.
`help`, `--help`, `-h`	Show the built-in usage message. Also triggered by `--help`/`-h` appearing anywhere after a subcommand (e.g. `vex-fd run --help`) — it always prints usage and exits rather than falling through to launching the validator.

Network selection¶

Flag	Effect
`--mainnet-beta`	Connect to Mainnet Beta. (Vexor is testnet-only in practice — see the honesty note below.)
`--testnet`	Connect to Testnet (default).
`--devnet`	Connect to Devnet.
`--localnet`	Local test cluster.

Testnet only

The flag exists in the binary's argument parser, but Vexor as a project is testnet-only, version 0.9.x pre-production. Nothing on this site should be read as mainnet guidance.

Validator options¶

Flag	Effect
`--identity <KEYPAIR>`	Path to the validator identity keypair.
`--vote-account <KEYPAIR>`	Path to the vote account keypair.
`--ledger <DIR>`	Ledger directory.
`--accounts <DIR>`	Accounts directory.
`--snapshots <DIR>`	Snapshots directory.
`--bootstrap`, `--production`	Enable full production bootstrap.
`--public-ip <IP>`	Public IP for gossip advertisement.
`--entrypoint <HOST:PORT>`	Cluster entrypoint (repeatable).
`--expected-shred-version <VER>`	Expected shred version.
`--rpc-url <URL>`	Override RPC URL.

See Staking Setup for what --identity/--vote-account mean operationally, and Deploying Vexor for a full launch command.

Performance¶

Flag	Effect
`--enable-af-xdp`	Enable AF_XDP kernel-bypass networking (receive-only — see Running with AF_XDP).
`--xdp-zero-copy`	Enable AF_XDP zero-copy mode. Paired with `--enable-af-xdp`; `deploy.sh` sets both together from `VEX_ENABLE_AFXDP=1`.
`--enable-parallel-snapshot`	Parallel snapshot loading.
`--no-voting`	Run as a non-voting node. This is what the `rpc` command injects automatically.

BPF stack selection (Wave 4)¶

An advanced, in-development flag group for selecting which sBPF execution stack handles program execution. These are not part of a normal deploy — the default (v1) is what Vexor's proven, deployed configuration runs.

Flag	Effect
`--bpf-stack=v1`	Use the legacy BPF executor (default).
`--bpf-stack=v2`	Use the newer `vex_bpf2` stack. Gated: the binary runs an internal smoke test at startup and refuses to engage v2 (demoting to `v1` and continuing boot) if that smoke test doesn't pass.
`--bpf-stack=shadow`	Shadow mode: `v1` commits the actual execution result; `v2` runs alongside and logs diff lines for comparison. Same smoke-test gate as `v2`.
`--bpf-stack-shadow-log=<path>`	Override the shadow-mode diff log path.
`--bpf-stack-trace={off,on-error,verbose}`	BPF2 trace verbosity (default: `on-error`).

Examples (from `--help`)¶

vex-fd validator --testnet \
  --identity ~/keypair.json \
  --vote-account ~/vote.json \
  --ledger /mnt/ledger \
  --bootstrap

vex-fd rpc --testnet --ledger /mnt/ledger

Additional diagnostic subcommand¶

One further subcommand exists in the dispatch code but is not listed in --help — it's an internal diagnostic tool, not part of normal operation:

xdp-selftest — drives the real AF_XDP receive path on one interface/queue for a fixed duration and reports packets delivered, for validating the AF_XDP pipeline in isolation. Explicitly documented in source as "NOT part of the validator run path." Takes --interface <name> (required), --queue <n>, --port <n>, --duration <seconds>, --driver/--skb (XDP attach mode), and --zero-copy/--copy.

This is a low-level hardware/driver diagnostic, not something a normal deploy uses — mentioned here for completeness rather than as an operator workflow. See Running with AF_XDP for the actual AF_XDP enablement path.