diff --git a/beacon_chain/nimbus_beacon_node.nim b/beacon_chain/nimbus_beacon_node.nim
index 7e772037cd..4b2f78fdc3 100644
--- a/beacon_chain/nimbus_beacon_node.nim
+++ b/beacon_chain/nimbus_beacon_node.nim
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ declareGauge sync_committee_active,
 declareCounter db_checkpoint_seconds,
   "Time spent checkpointing the database to clear the WAL file"
 
-proc fetchGenesisState(
+proc fetchGenesisState*(
     metadata: Eth2NetworkMetadata,
     genesisState = none(InputFile),
     genesisStateUrl = none(Uri)
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ proc fetchGenesisState(
   else:
     nil
 
-proc doRunTrustedNodeSync(
+proc doRunTrustedNodeSync*(
     db: BeaconChainDB,
     metadata: Eth2NetworkMetadata,
     databaseDir: string,
@@ -1891,7 +1891,7 @@ proc onSlotStart(node: BeaconNode, wallTime: BeaconTime,
 
 proc onSecond(node: BeaconNode, time: Moment) =
   # Nim GC metrics (for the main thread)
-  updateThreadMetrics()
+  # updateThreadMetrics()
 
   if node.config.stopAtSyncedEpoch != 0 and
       node.dag.head.slot.epoch >= node.config.stopAtSyncedEpoch:
@@ -2350,7 +2350,7 @@ when not defined(windows):
 
     asyncSpawn statusBarUpdatesPollingLoop()
 
-proc doRunBeaconNode(config: var BeaconNodeConf, rng: ref HmacDrbgContext) {.raises: [CatchableError].} =
+proc doRunBeaconNode*(config: var BeaconNodeConf, rng: ref HmacDrbgContext) {.raises: [CatchableError].} =
   info "Launching beacon node",
       version = fullVersionStr,
       bls_backend = $BLS_BACKEND,
@@ -2369,7 +2369,7 @@ proc doRunBeaconNode(config: var BeaconNodeConf, rng: ref HmacDrbgContext) {.rai
   ignoreDeprecatedOption validatorMonitorTotals
   ignoreDeprecatedOption web3ForcePolling
 
-  createPidFile(config.dataDir.string / "beacon_node.pid")
+  # createPidFile(config.dataDir.string / "beacon_node.pid")
 
   config.createDumpDirs()
 
@@ -2386,7 +2386,7 @@ proc doRunBeaconNode(config: var BeaconNodeConf, rng: ref HmacDrbgContext) {.rai
 
   # Nim GC metrics (for the main thread) will be collected in onSecond(), but
   # we disable piggy-backing on other metrics here.
-  setSystemMetricsAutomaticUpdate(false)
+  # setSystemMetricsAutomaticUpdate(false)
 
   # There are no managed event loops in here, to do a graceful shutdown, but
   # letting the default Ctrl+C handler exit is safe, since we only read from
@@ -2398,26 +2398,26 @@ proc doRunBeaconNode(config: var BeaconNodeConf, rng: ref HmacDrbgContext) {.rai
   for node in metadata.bootstrapNodes:
     config.bootstrapNodes.add node
 
-  ## Ctrl+C handling
-  proc controlCHandler() {.noconv.} =
-    when defined(windows):
-      # workaround for https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/issues/4057
-      try:
-        setupForeignThreadGc()
-      except Exception as exc: raiseAssert exc.msg # shouldn't happen
-    notice "Shutting down after having received SIGINT"
-    bnStatus = BeaconNodeStatus.Stopping
-  try:
-    setControlCHook(controlCHandler)
-  except Exception as exc: # TODO Exception
-    warn "Cannot set ctrl-c handler", msg = exc.msg
-
-  # equivalent SIGTERM handler
-  when defined(posix):
-    proc SIGTERMHandler(signal: cint) {.noconv.} =
-      notice "Shutting down after having received SIGTERM"
-      bnStatus = BeaconNodeStatus.Stopping
-    c_signal(ansi_c.SIGTERM, SIGTERMHandler)
+  # ## Ctrl+C handling
+  # proc controlCHandler() {.noconv.} =
+  #   when defined(windows):
+  #     # workaround for https://github.com/nim-lang/Nim/issues/4057
+  #     try:
+  #       setupForeignThreadGc()
+  #     except Exception as exc: raiseAssert exc.msg # shouldn't happen
+  #   notice "Shutting down after having received SIGINT"
+  #   bnStatus = BeaconNodeStatus.Stopping
+  # try:
+  #   setControlCHook(controlCHandler)
+  # except Exception as exc: # TODO Exception
+  #   warn "Cannot set ctrl-c handler", msg = exc.msg
+
+  # # equivalent SIGTERM handler
+  # when defined(posix):
+  #   proc SIGTERMHandler(signal: cint) {.noconv.} =
+  #     notice "Shutting down after having received SIGTERM"
+  #     bnStatus = BeaconNodeStatus.Stopping
+  #   c_signal(ansi_c.SIGTERM, SIGTERMHandler)
 
   block:
     let res =
@@ -2570,7 +2570,7 @@ proc handleStartUpCmd(config: var BeaconNodeConf) {.raises: [CatchableError].} =
 
 {.pop.} # TODO moduletests exceptions
 
-programMain:
+when isMainModule:
   var config = makeBannerAndConfig(clientId, copyrights, nimBanner,
                                    SPEC_VERSION, [], BeaconNodeConf).valueOr:
     stderr.write error