Stop your existing node + remove old chain data
If this is a fresh server, skip the rm — just make the directory.
sudo systemctl stop blockdag-node sudo rm -rf /var/lib/bdagStack/node
Pre-validated chain data, weekly refresh, SHA256 verified. Skip the 24–30 hour initial sync. Free for any community operator who wants to run their own L1 node.
Three commands. ~10 minutes total instead of 28 hours of cold-sync.
If this is a fresh server, skip the rm — just make the directory.
sudo systemctl stop blockdag-node sudo rm -rf /var/lib/bdagStack/node
Always check SHA256 — protects you if the file is corrupted or tampered.
cd /tmp curl -LO https://snapshots.blockdag.builders/latest.tar.gz EXPECTED=$(curl -s https://snapshots.blockdag.builders/latest.json | jq -r .sha256) echo "$EXPECTED latest.tar.gz" | sha256sum -c # Should print: "latest.tar.gz: OK"
jq? Install with sudo apt install jq (Debian/Ubuntu) or brew install jq (Mac).Tarball expands to /var/lib/bdagStack/node/. Once started, the node only catches up the small gap since snapshot — usually a few minutes.
sudo tar xzf /tmp/latest.tar.gz -C /var/lib/bdagStack/ sudo chown -R bdagStack:bdagStack /var/lib/bdagStack/ sudo systemctl start blockdag-node # Watch the catch-up sync sudo journalctl -u blockdag-node -f | grep -i imported
Once the import log slows down to ~1 block/sec (matching network rate), you're caught up.
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:9198/metrics | grep -E "^bdag_node_(block_height|is_synced|peer_count)" # bdag_node_block_height 5363833.0 # bdag_node_is_synced 1.0 ← you're synced # bdag_node_peer_count 25.0
Everything in /var/lib/bdagStack/node/ — full pre-validated chain state, peerstore, and DAG database. No EVM keys, no wallets, no secrets — those stay yours and live in /etc/bdagStack/ on your machine.
latest.tar.gz always points to the most recent. Last 2 dated snapshots are kept for rollback if needed.Direct file listing — pick a specific dated snapshot or use latest.tar.gz for the most recent.
→ /latest.tar.gz # symlink → most recent dated snapshot → /latest.json # metadata: size, sha256, block height, created timestamp → /snapshot-YYYY-MM-DD.tar.gz # weekly dated snapshots (last 2 kept)
If every BlockDAG operator has to do a full 28-hour cold sync to spin up a node, very few people will. That centralizes the network into the hands of whoever already has full nodes running.
Free, verified bootstrap snapshots remove that friction. Anyone can spin up a real validating full node in 10 minutes and become an independent operator.
If you operate a node: consider hosting your own snapshots once you're stable. The more independent operators offering bootstrap data, the more resilient the network. We can't rely on a single source — including this one.