web/apps/base-docs/tutorials/docs/0_run-a-base-node.md

title, slug, description, author, keywords, displayed_sidebar

title	slug	description	author	keywords	displayed_sidebar
Running a Base Node	/run-a-base-node	A tutorial that teaches how to set up and run a Base Node.	taycaldwell	Base Node setup running a node Base node run a Base node hardware requirements node synchronization node snapshots Base chain Base blockchain Base network node deployment Ethereum node	null

This tutorial will walk you through setting up your own Base Node.

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Objectives

By the end of this tutorial you should be able to:

• Deploy and sync a Base node

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Prerequisites

:::caution

Running a node is time consuming, resource expensive, and potentially costly. If you don't already know why you want to run your own node, you probably don't need to.

If you're just getting started and need an RPC URL, you can use our free endpoints:

• Mainnet: https://mainnet.base.org
• Testnet (Sepolia): https://sepolia.base.org

Note: Our RPCs are rate-limited, they are not suitable for production apps.

If you're looking to harden your app and avoid rate-limiting for your users, please check out one of our partners.

:::

Hardware requirements

We recommend you have this configuration to run a node:

• 8-Core CPU
• at least 16 GB RAM
• an SSD drive with at least 2.5 TB free

:::info

If utilizing Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS), ensure timing buffered disk reads are fast enough in order to avoid latency issues alongside the rate of new blocks added to Base during the initial synchronization process.

:::

Docker

This tutorial assumes you are familiar with Docker and have it running on your machine.

L1 RPC URL

You'll need your own L1 RPC URL. This can be one that you run yourself, or via a third-party provider, such as our partners.

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Running a Node

1. Clone the repo.
2. Ensure you have an Ethereum L1 full node RPC available (not Base), and set OP_NODE_L1_ETH_RPC & OP_NODE_L1_BEACON (in the .env.* file if using docker-compose). If running your own L1 node, it needs to be synced before Base will be able to fully sync.
3. Uncomment the line relevant to your network (.env.sepolia, or .env.mainnet) under the 2 env_file keys in docker-compose.yml.
4. Run docker compose up. Confirm you get a response from:

curl -d '{"id":0,"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"eth_getBlockByNumber","params":["latest",false]}' \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" http://localhost:8545

:::caution

Syncing your node may take days and will consume a vast amount of your requests quota. Be sure to monitor usage and up your plan if needed.

:::

Snapshots

If you're a prospective or current Base Node operator and would like to restore from a snapshot to save time on the initial sync, it's possible to always get the latest available snapshot of the Base chain on mainnet and/or testnet by using the following CLI commands. The snapshots are updated every week.

Mainnet

wget https://base-snapshots-mainnet-archive.s3.amazonaws.com/$(curl https://base-snapshots-mainnet-archive.s3.amazonaws.com/latest)

Testnet (Sepolia)

wget https://base-snapshots-sepolia-archive.s3.amazonaws.com/$(curl https://base-snapshots-sepolia-archive.s3.amazonaws.com/latest)

Syncing

You can monitor the progress of your sync with:

echo Latest synced block behind by: $((($(date +%s)-$( \
  curl -d '{"id":0,"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"optimism_syncStatus"}' \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" http://localhost:7545 | \
  jq -r .result.unsafe_l2.timestamp))/60)) minutes

You'll also know that the sync hasn't completed if you get Error: nonce has already been used if you try to deploy using your node.

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