diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 93e382cde3..2888c085be 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 ### Bug Fixes
 
+* (testground)[1649](https://github.com/crypto-org-chain/cronos/pull/1649) Fix running single validator benchmark locally.
 * (cli)[#1647](https://github.com/crypto-org-chain/cronos/pull/1647) Fix node can't shutdown by signal.
 
 ### Improvements
diff --git a/testground/benchmark/benchmark/stateless.py b/testground/benchmark/benchmark/stateless.py
index 1aac7554a7..8ac87f20b8 100644
--- a/testground/benchmark/benchmark/stateless.py
+++ b/testground/benchmark/benchmark/stateless.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import shutil
 import socket
 import subprocess
+import sys
 import tarfile
 import tempfile
 import time
@@ -175,7 +176,7 @@ def patchimage(toimage, src, dst, fromimage):
 @click.option("--outdir", default="/outputs")
 @click.option("--datadir", default="/data")
 @click.option("--cronosd", default=CONTAINER_CRONOSD_PATH)
-@click.option("--global-seq", default=None)
+@click.option("--global-seq", default=None, type=int)
 def run(outdir: str, datadir: str, cronosd, global_seq):
     datadir = Path(datadir)
     cfg = json.loads((datadir / "config.json").read_text())
@@ -194,14 +195,19 @@ def run(outdir: str, datadir: str, cronosd, global_seq):
     finally:
         # collect outputs
         output = Path("/data.tar.bz2")
-        with tarfile.open(output, "x:bz2") as tar:
-            tar.add(home, arcname="data", filter=output_filter(group, group_seq))
-        outdir = Path(outdir)
-        if outdir.exists():
-            assert outdir.is_dir()
-            filename = outdir / f"{group}_{group_seq}.tar.bz2"
-            filename.unlink(missing_ok=True)
-            shutil.copy(output, filename)
+        try:
+            with tarfile.open(output, "x:bz2") as tar:
+                tar.add(home, arcname="data", filter=output_filter(group, group_seq))
+        except OSError:
+            # ignore if the file is not writable when running in bare metal
+            pass
+        else:
+            outdir = Path(outdir)
+            if outdir.exists():
+                assert outdir.is_dir()
+                filename = outdir / f"{group}_{group_seq}.tar.bz2"
+                filename.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+                shutil.copy(output, filename)
 
 
 @cli.command()
@@ -221,6 +227,22 @@ def generic_gen_txs(options: dict):
     return _gen_txs(**options)
 
 
+@cli.command()
+@click.option("--datadir", default="/data", type=Path)
+@click.option("--global-seq", default=0)
+def generate_load(datadir: Path, global_seq: int):
+    """
+    manually generate load to an existing node
+    """
+    cfg = json.loads((datadir / "config.json").read_text())
+    txs = prepare_txs(cfg, datadir, global_seq)
+    asyncio.run(transaction.send(txs))
+    print("sent", len(txs), "txs")
+    print("wait for 20 idle blocks")
+    detect_idle_halted(cfg["num_idle"], 20)
+    dump_block_stats(sys.stdout)
+
+
 def _gen_txs(
     outdir: str,
     nodes: int = 10,
@@ -248,14 +270,7 @@ def do_run(
     datadir: Path, home: Path, cronosd: str, group: str, global_seq: int, cfg: dict
 ):
     if group == FULLNODE_GROUP or cfg.get("validator-generate-load", True):
-        txs = transaction.load(datadir, global_seq)
-        if txs:
-            print("loaded", len(txs), "txs")
-        else:
-            print("generating", cfg["num_accounts"] * cfg["num_txs"], "txs")
-            txs = transaction.gen(
-                global_seq, cfg["num_accounts"], cfg["num_txs"], cfg["tx_type"]
-            )
+        txs = prepare_txs(cfg, datadir, global_seq)
     else:
         txs = []
 
@@ -415,5 +430,17 @@ def wait_for_peers(home: Path):
         wait_for_port(ECHO_SERVER_PORT, host=host, timeout=2400)
 
 
+def prepare_txs(cfg, datadir, global_seq):
+    txs = transaction.load(datadir, global_seq)
+    if txs:
+        print("loaded", len(txs), "txs")
+    else:
+        print("generating", cfg["num_accounts"] * cfg["num_txs"], "txs")
+        txs = transaction.gen(
+            global_seq, cfg["num_accounts"], cfg["num_txs"], cfg["tx_type"]
+        )
+    return txs
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     cli()
diff --git a/testground/benchmark/benchmark/transaction.py b/testground/benchmark/benchmark/transaction.py
index c54d944e92..78c77a3804 100644
--- a/testground/benchmark/benchmark/transaction.py
+++ b/testground/benchmark/benchmark/transaction.py
@@ -11,11 +11,10 @@
 import ujson
 
 from .erc20 import CONTRACT_ADDRESS
-from .utils import gen_account, split
+from .utils import LOCAL_JSON_RPC, gen_account, split
 
 GAS_PRICE = 1000000000
 CHAIN_ID = 777
-LOCAL_JSON_RPC = "http://localhost:8545"
 CONNECTION_POOL_SIZE = 1024
 TXS_DIR = "txs"
 RECIPIENT = "0x1" + "0" * 39
@@ -128,7 +127,7 @@ async def async_sendtx(session, raw):
 
 
 async def send(txs):
-    connector = aiohttp.TCPConnector(limit=1024)
+    connector = aiohttp.TCPConnector(limit=CONNECTION_POOL_SIZE)
     async with aiohttp.ClientSession(
         connector=connector, json_serialize=ujson.dumps
     ) as session:
diff --git a/testground/benchmark/benchmark/utils.py b/testground/benchmark/benchmark/utils.py
index 421c7d1ccd..5a0c033c98 100644
--- a/testground/benchmark/benchmark/utils.py
+++ b/testground/benchmark/benchmark/utils.py
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@
 from web3._utils.transactions import fill_nonce, fill_transaction_defaults
 
 CRONOS_ADDRESS_PREFIX = "crc"
-LOCAL_RPC = "http://localhost:26657"
+LOCAL_RPC = "http://127.0.0.1:26657"
+LOCAL_JSON_RPC = "http://127.0.0.1:8545"
 
 
 def patch_toml_doc(doc, patch):
@@ -93,7 +94,7 @@ def wait_for_block(cli, target: int, timeout=40):
 def wait_for_w3(timeout=40):
     for i in range(timeout):
         try:
-            w3 = web3.Web3(web3.providers.HTTPProvider("http://localhost:8545"))
+            w3 = web3.Web3(web3.providers.HTTPProvider(LOCAL_JSON_RPC))
             w3.eth.get_balance("0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000001")
         except:  # noqa
             time.sleep(1)