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This quickstart gets your GPU on the Livepeer network by running the go-livepeer client in orchestrator mode. You will install (or use Docker), connect to Arbitrum, set pricing, and activate. For a full install guide (binary, Docker, source), see Install go-livepeer. For connecting to Arbitrum (RPC, hosted vs self-hosted), see Connect to Arbitrum.

Prerequisites

Non-NVIDIA GPU support may be added in the future. This guide assumes NVIDIA GPUs for transcoding.
1

List your GPUs

Before starting the node, confirm your GPUs are visible. With the NVIDIA driver installed, run:
nvidia-smi -L
Example output (5 GPUs, IDs 0–4):
GPU 0: GeForce GTX 1070 Ti (UUID: GPU-fcbaffa0-...) GPU 1: GeForce GTX 1070 Ti (UUID: GPU-d46a085e-...) ...
2

Run livepeer in orchestrator mode

Start the node with the required flags. Replace placeholders with your values.
  • -ethUrl — Arbitrum RPC URL. See Connect to Arbitrum.
  • -ethAcctAddr — (Optional) ETH account address if you already have a keystore.
  • -orchestrator / -transcoder — Run as orchestrator with GPU transcoding.
  • -nvidia — Comma-separated GPU IDs (e.g. 0,1,2). Omit for CPU-only.
  • -pricePerUnit — Price in wei per pixel. Required at startup; can be changed later.
  • -serviceAddr — Public address for incoming requests (hostname:port preferred over IP).
Keystore default: ~/.lpData/arbitrum-one-mainnet/keystore. If no account exists, you will be prompted to create one and set a passphrase. Guard the private key and passphrase; they control your wallet and funds.
3

Confirm the node is listening

When the node is ready, logs should show:
Listening for RPC on :8935 Received Ping request
4

Fund your account

To activate on Livepeer you need:
  • ETH (Arbitrum) — for transaction fees. Start with a small amount; the CLI will warn if balance is low.
  • LPT — to stake and join the active set. Check the Explorer for the 100th orchestrator’s stake; you need at least that much to enter the top 100.
If your orchestrator leaves the active set (top 100 by stake), it will not be reactivated automatically unless you re-register or your stake changes so you re-enter the top 100.
5

Activate your orchestrator

Use livepeer_cli or the Explorer to bond LPT to yourself, set reward cut, fee share, price, and service address. Once transactions confirm, your orchestrator joins the active set in the next round.See Staking LPT and Rewards and fees for economics. Full activation steps are in the Install guide.

Reference pages

Last modified on February 18, 2026