Node Snapshots

This page explains how to use snapshots to quickly spin up Gate Layer nodes (full and archive), including when to use them, how to download and verify, and how to replace the data directory safely.

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1. When to use snapshots

Snapshots are useful for:

• Faster synchronization: Initialize a node from a recent official snapshot.
• Archive nodes: Restore the historical data required by archive workloads.
• Disaster recovery: Recover execution-layer data after a node or disk failure.

Gate Layer snapshots are created from the gatelayer-reth data directory.

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2. Snapshot catalog & downloads

Mainnet (Gate Layer)

Node Type	Download
Full	SNAPSHOT=$(curl -s https://gatelayer-snapshot.gatenode.cc/api/v1/snapshots/latest/full) && wget "https://gatelayer-snapshot.s3.ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/mainnet/full/reth/${SNAPSHOT}"
Archive	SNAPSHOT=$(curl -s https://gatelayer-snapshot.gatenode.cc/api/v1/snapshots/latest/archive) && wget "https://gatelayer-snapshot.s3.ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/mainnet/archive/reth/${SNAPSHOT}"

Snapshot files use the following naming convention:

chaindata-YYYY-MM-DD.tar.zst

An xxHash128 checksum file is published alongside each snapshot:

chaindata-YYYY-MM-DD.tar.zst.xxh128

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3. Usage tutorial

3.1 Download and verify

The following example downloads a full-node snapshot.

To download an archive-node snapshot, replace full with archive in the API and download URLs.

3.1.1 Get the latest Snapshot name

SNAPSHOT=$(curl -s \
  https://gatelayer-snapshot.gatenode.cc/api/v1/snapshots/latest/full)

echo "${SNAPSHOT}"

3.1.2 Download the Snapshot file

wget \
  "https://gatelayer-snapshot.s3.ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/mainnet/full/reth/${SNAPSHOT}"

3.1.3 Download the xxHash128 checksum file

wget \
  "https://gatelayer-snapshot.s3.ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/mainnet/full/reth/${SNAPSHOT}.xxh128"

3.1.4 Check the official checksum value

cat ${SNAPSHOT}.xxh128

3.1.5 Verify data integrity (recomended)

xxh128sum ${SNAPSHOT}

Note: Compare the calculated result with the hash in the .xxh128 file; they must be identical.

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3.2 Decompress

Use one of the following methods to extract the snapshot.

# Method 1
tar -I zstd -xf "${SNAPSHOT}"

# Method 2
zstd -dc "${SNAPSHOT}" | tar -xf -

After extraction, the current directory should contain:

db/
static_files/

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3.3 Install the snapshot

Set RETH_DATADIR to the data directory used by your Reth node:

RETH_DATADIR="/path/to/reth/datadir"

Stop the Reth process completely using the same method you normally use to manage it.

Move the extracted directories into RETH_DATADIR:

mv ./db "${RETH_DATADIR}/"
mv ./static_files "${RETH_DATADIR}/"

The final directory layout must be:

${RETH_DATADIR}/
├── db/
├── static_files/
├── reth.toml
└── ...

Make sure the user running Reth can read and write both directories.

Start Reth again using your normal startup method and monitor its logs to confirm that it starts successfully.

RETH_DATADIR must match the --datadir value configured for your Reth node.

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4. Important notes

• Verify the checksum before extracting or installing a snapshot.
• Restore both directories together: db and static_files must come from the same snapshot.
• Stop Reth first: never replace the database while Reth is running.
• Check directory permissions: the Reth user must be able to read and write the restored data.
• Keep node identity private: do not distribute node keys, discovery secrets, or other node-specific identity files.
• Use the correct node type: full and archive snapshots contain different amounts of historical data.
• Plan disk capacity carefully: archive snapshots require substantially more download and storage space.
• Use a compatible state scheme: the snapshot must match the state configuration used by the Gate Layer network.

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For complete node deployment instructions, see Run L2 RPC Node under Gate Layer Development.

Last updated on 2026/08/05