How to run a pruning node with leveldb Pruning nodes use a lightweight database to store address histories. Only unspent coins are kept in that database; spent outputs are pruned. As of November 2013 all public servers operate this way. Please see HOWTO.md for more detailled information. The following is a short outline: __________________________________________________________ 1. Run novacoind. Install version 0.4.4.6u5 or higher. Previous versions won't provide sufficient getblock/getblockbynumber functionality. __________________________________________________________ 2. Install python-leveldb: Starting at Ubuntu 12.10 you can use apt to install leveldb. If you rather stay on 12.04 LTS you can use the backport and add "deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-backports main restricted universe" to your sources file. Install the package with: sudo apt-get install python-leveldb alternatively build yourself, see http://code.google.com/p/py-leveldb/ and http://peter-hoffmann.com/2011/installation-leveldb-ubuntu-python.html make sure you have libtool, automake and pkg-config __________________________________________________________ 3. edit /etc/electrum.conf : [server] backend = leveldb [leveldb] path = /path/to/your/database pruning_limit = 10 ______________________________________________________________ 4. catch up with the blockchain. In order to speed up the initial catch_up phase, it is recommended to locate your database in shared memory: path = /run/shm/electrum_db Once your server has finished catching up, copy your database to disk and update the path in /etc/electrum.conf During the catch_up phase, you can interrupt the server with Ctrl-C; it will safely write the current status in the database and exit. _________________________________ 5. enjoy! Once the server is synchronized, it will listen to ports, and the normal way to stop it is to use the 'stop' script. This script will wait until the database is closed. Other commands are available: ./server info : view connections ./server load : view the size of the queue ______________________ Troubleshooting: * if your server or novacoind is killed because is uses too much memory, configure novacoind to limit the number of connections * if you see "Too many open files" errors, you may need to increase your user's File Descriptors limit. For this, see http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-increase-the-maximum-number-of-open-files/