> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.infradao.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.infradao.com/archive-nodes-101/moonbeam/baremetal.md).

# Baremetal

Authors: \[man4ela | catapulta.eth]

## System Requirements

|                CPU               |           OS           |  RAM  |    DISK    |
| :------------------------------: | :--------------------: | :---: | :--------: |
| 8 Cores (Fastest per core speed) | Debian 12/Ubuntu 22.04 | 16 GB | 1TB+ (SSD) |

{% hint style="info" %}
*The Moonbeam tracing node has a size of 1.5TB on May 2, 2024*
{% endhint %}

## Run a tracing node

{% hint style="success" %}
Geth's `debug` and `txpool` APIs and OpenEthereum's `trace` module provide non-standard RPC methods for getting a deeper insight into transaction processing. Supporting these RPC methods is important because many protocols, such as [The Graph](https://thegraph.com/), rely on them to index blockchain data.

To use the supported RPC methods, you need to run a **tracing node.** This guide covers the steps of how to set up and sync a tracing node on Moonbeam.
{% endhint %}

### Pre-Requisites

```bash
sudo apt update -y && sudo apt upgrade -y && sudo apt autoremove -y

sudo apt install -y git make wget gcc pkg-config libusb-1.0-0-dev libudev-dev jq gcc g++ curl libssl-dev screen apache2-utils build-essential pkg-config
```

### Setting up Firewall

Set explicit default UFW rules

```bash
sudo ufw default deny incoming
sudo ufw default allow outgoing
```

Allow SSH

```bash
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp
```

Allow remote RPC connections with Moonbeam node (*The default port for parachains is `9944` and `9945` for the embedded relay chain*)

```bash
sudo ufw allow from ${REMOTE.HOST.IP} to any port 9944 9945
```

{% hint style="warning" %}
Not advised to allow all or unknown IP address to RPC port
{% endhint %}

Enable Firewall

```bash
sudo ufw enable
```

## Building a Node on Moonbeam

Download the Latest Release Binary

Check [release binary](https://github.com/moonbeam-foundation/moonbeam/releases) page and take the following steps to download the latest version:

Create a directory to store the binary and chain data (you might need `sudo`)

```
mkdir /var/lib/moonbeam-data
```

Use `wget` to grab the latest [release binary](https://github.com/moonbeam-foundation/moonbeam/releases) and output it to the directory created in the previous step:

```bash
wget https://github.com/moonbeam-foundation/moonbeam/releases/download/v0.37.2/moonbeam \
-O /var/lib/moonbeam-data/moonbeam
```

To verify that you have downloaded the correct version, you can run the following command in your terminal

```bash
sha256sum /var/lib/moonbeam-data/moonbeam
```

You should receive the following output:

`71242b8cdf2b97fba4aadb7d6050e0b46eaacafae6bcde9b5f5534aff620d144`

### Setup the Wasm Overrides (required for a tracing node) <a href="#setup-the-wasm-overrides" id="setup-the-wasm-overrides"></a>

You'll need to create a directory for the Wasm runtime overrides and obtain them from the [Moonbeam Runtime Overrides repository](https://github.com/moonbeam-foundation/moonbeam-runtime-overrides) on GitHub

```bash
git clone https://github.com/moonbeam-foundation/moonbeam-runtime-overrides.git
```

Move the Wasm overrides into your on-chain data directory:

```bash
mv moonbeam-runtime-overrides/wasm /var/lib/moonbeam-data
```

Delete the override files for the networks that you aren't running

```bash
rm /var/lib/moonbeam-data/wasm/moonriver-runtime-* &&  rm /var/lib/moonbeam-data/wasm/moonbase-runtime-*
```

Set permissions for the overrides

```bash
chmod +x /var/lib/moonbeam-data/wasm/*
```

### Create the Configuration File <a href="#create-the-configuration-file" id="create-the-configuration-file"></a>

The next step is to create the systemd configuration file, you'll need to:

* Replace`INSERT_YOUR_NODE_NAME` in two different places with the preffered name (it specifies a human-readable name for the node, which can be seen on [telemetry](https://telemetry.polkadot.io/), if enabled)
* **`--db-cache`** specifies the memory the database cache is limited to use. It is recommended to set it to 50% of the actual RAM your server has. For example, for 128 GB RAM, the value must be set to `64000`. The minimum value is `2000`, but it is below the recommended specs
* Double-check that the binary is in the proper path as described below (*ExecStart*)
* Double-check the base path if you've used a different directory
* Name the file `/etc/systemd/system/moonbeam.service`

Ensure that you grant execute permission to the binary file

```bash
sudo chmod +x /var/lib/moonbeam-data/moonbeam
```

```bash
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/moonbeam.service
```

Copy/Paste and edit `INSERT_YOUR_NODE_NAME` and `--db-cache` according to your parameters:

```bash
[Unit]
Description="Moonbeam service"
After=network.target
StartLimitIntervalSec=0

[Service]
Type=simple
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10
User=root
SyslogIdentifier=moonbeam
SyslogFacility=local7
KillSignal=SIGHUP
ExecStart=/var/lib/moonbeam-data/moonbeam \
--rpc-port 9944 \
--execution wasm \
--wasm-execution compiled \
--state-pruning archive \
--trie-cache-size 1073741824 \
--runtime-cache-size 64 \
--ethapi debug,trace,txpool \
--wasm-runtime-overrides /var/lib/moonbeam-data/wasm \
--unsafe-rpc-external \
--rpc-cors all \
--db-cache 64000 \
--base-path /var/lib/moonbeam-data \
--chain moonbeam \
--name "INSERT_YOUR_NODE_NAME" \
-- \
--name "INSERT_YOUR_NODE_NAME (Embedded Relay)"

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
```

***Ctrl+X and Y to save changes***

{% hint style="info" %}
*`--rpc-port`* sets the unified port for both HTTP and WS connections. The default port for parachains is `9944` and `9945` for the embedded relay chain
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="info" %}
We run an RPC endpoint so we must use the `--unsafe-rpc-external` flag to run the Moonbeam node with external access to the RPC ports
{% endhint %}

```bash
systemctl enable moonbeam.service #enable moonbeam service at system startup

sudo systemctl daemon-reload #refresh systemd configuration when changes made

sudo systemctl start moonbeam.service #start moonbeam

sudo systemctl stop moonbeam.service #stop moonbeam
```

{% hint style="info" %}
To check or modify `moonbeam.service` parameters simply run&#x20;

`sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/moonbeam.service`

Ctrl+X and Y to save changes
{% endhint %}

```bash
journalctl -f -u moonbeam.service  #follow logs of moonbeam service
```

{% hint style="success" %}

```
The logs should look like the below example and indicate that your node syncs and is expected to reach chainhead in 3-4 days

Syncing 27.0 bps, target=#6051603 (30 peers), best: #3053702 (0xe669…1876), finalized #918931 (0x6587…f763), ⬇ 484.9kiB/s ⬆ 0.5kiB/s
```

{% endhint %}

### Maintain Your Node <a href="#maintain-your-node" id="maintain-your-node"></a>

As Moonbeam development continues, it will sometimes be necessary to upgrade your node software.

{% hint style="warning" %}
IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure you update your tracing runtime overrides each time there is a new runtime upgrade, otherwise you won't be able to support the trace/debug/txpool API properly
{% endhint %}

#### For trace/debug/txpool API support

```bash
cd /root/moonbeam-runtime-overrides
git fetch && git pull

sudo systemctl stop moonbeam.service

rm -rf /var/lib/moonbeam-data/wasm

mv moonbeam-runtime-overrides/wasm /var/lib/moonbeam-data

rm /var/lib/moonbeam-data/wasm/moonbase-runtime-* &&  rm /var/lib/moonbeam-data/wasm/moonriver-runtime-*

sudo chmod ugo+x /var/lib/moonbeam-data/wasm/*

sudo systemctl restart moonbeam.service
```

To update **moonbeam** client, you can keep your existing chain data in tact, and only update the binary by following these steps:

1. *Stop the systemd service*

```bash
sudo systemctl stop moonbeam.service
```

2. *Remove the old binary file*

```bash
rm /var/lib/moonbeam-data/moonbeam
```

3. *Get the latest version of the* [*Moonbeam release binary on GitHub*](https://github.com/moonbeam-foundation/moonbeam/releases/) *and run the following command to update to that version (ensure to replace `INSERT_NEW_VERSION_TAG`with actual version)*

```bash
wget https://github.com/moonbeam-foundation/moonbeam/releases/download/INSERT_NEW_VERSION_TAG/moonbeam \
-O /var/lib/moonbeam-data/moonbeam
```

4. *Update permissions*

```bash
chmod +x /var/lib/moonbeam-data/moonbeam
```

5. *Start moonbeam service*

```bash
systemctl start moonbeam.service
```

## References

{% embed url="<https://docs.moonbeam.network/node-operators/networks/run-a-node/systemd/#introduction>" %}

{% embed url="<https://docs.moonbeam.network/node-operators/networks/tracing-node/#introduction>" %}