Setting Up a Fullnode

A Sui fullnode stores and validates the blockchain state, providing access to the network through JSON-RPC and WebSocket interfaces.

System Requirements

Before setting up a fullnode, ensure your system meets the minimum requirements. See System Requirements for details.

Prerequisites

Access to the genesis blob for your target network (mainnet, testnet, or devnet)
Sufficient disk space for blockchain data (4TB+ recommended)
Network connectivity with open required ports

Installation Methods

Using Pre-built Binaries

Download the latest sui-node binary from S3:

export SUI_SHA=<target-version>
wget https://releases.sui.io/$SUI_SHA/sui-node
chmod +x sui-node
sudo mv sui-node /opt/sui/bin/

Using Docker

Pull the official Docker image:

docker pull mysten/sui-node:mainnet-v1.19.1

Building from Source

Clone and build the Sui repository:

git clone https://github.com/MystenLabs/sui.git && cd sui
git checkout [SHA|BRANCH|TAG]
cargo build --release --bin sui-node

The binary will be located at ./target/release/sui-node.

Configuration

Download Required Files

Download the fullnode configuration template

wget https://github.com/MystenLabs/sui/raw/main/crates/sui-config/data/fullnode-template.yaml

Download the genesis blob

For mainnet:

wget https://github.com/MystenLabs/sui-genesis/raw/main/mainnet/genesis.blob

For testnet:

wget https://github.com/MystenLabs/sui-genesis/raw/main/testnet/genesis.blob

For devnet:

wget https://github.com/MystenLabs/sui-genesis/raw/main/devnet/genesis.blob

Update the configuration

Edit fullnode-template.yaml to match your setup:

# Update this value to the location you want Sui to store its database
db-path: "/opt/sui/db"

# For ipv4, update this to "/ip4/X.X.X.X/tcp/8080/http"
network-address: "/dns/localhost/tcp/8080/http"
metrics-address: "0.0.0.0:9184"
# this address is also used for web socket connections
json-rpc-address: "0.0.0.0:9000"
enable-event-processing: true

p2p-config:
  listen-address: "0.0.0.0:8084"
  # add state-sync seed peers below
  # seed-peers:

genesis:
  # Update this to the location of where the genesis file is stored
  genesis-file-location: "/opt/sui/config/genesis.blob"

authority-store-pruning-config:
  num-latest-epoch-dbs-to-retain: 3
  epoch-db-pruning-period-secs: 3600
  num-epochs-to-retain: 1
  max-checkpoints-in-batch: 10
  max-transactions-in-batch: 1000
  pruning-run-delay-seconds: 60

state-archive-read-config:
    # Use https://checkpoints.mainnet.sui.io for mainnet
    # Use https://checkpoints.testnet.sui.io for testnet
    - ingestion-url: "https://checkpoints.mainnet.sui.io"
      concurrency: 5

Deployment Options

Using Docker Compose

Create a docker-compose.yaml file:

version: "3.9"
services:
  fullnode:
    image: mysten/sui-node:mainnet-v1.19.1
    ports:
    - "8080:8080"
    - "8084:8084/udp"
    - "9000:9000"
    - "9184:9184"
    volumes:
    - ./fullnode-template.yaml:/opt/sui/config/fullnode.yaml:ro
    - ./genesis.blob:/opt/sui/config/genesis.blob:ro
    - ./suidb:/opt/sui/db:rw
    command: ["/opt/sui/bin/sui-node", "--config-path", "/opt/sui/config/fullnode.yaml"]
volumes:
  suidb:

Start the fullnode:

docker compose up -d

Using Systemd

Create the sui user and directories

sudo useradd sui
sudo mkdir -p /opt/sui/bin
sudo mkdir -p /opt/sui/config
sudo mkdir -p /opt/sui/db
sudo chown -R sui:sui /opt/sui

Copy configuration files

sudo cp fullnode-template.yaml /opt/sui/config/fullnode.yaml
sudo cp genesis.blob /opt/sui/config/
sudo chown -R sui:sui /opt/sui/config

Create systemd service

Create /etc/systemd/system/sui-node.service:

[Unit]
Description=Sui Node

[Service]
User=sui
WorkingDirectory=/opt/sui/
Environment=RUST_BACKTRACE=1
Environment=RUST_LOG=info,sui_core=info,jsonrpsee=error
ExecStart=/opt/sui/bin/sui-node --config-path /opt/sui/config/fullnode.yaml
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and start the service

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable sui-node
sudo systemctl start sui-node

Network Configuration

Ensure the following ports are accessible:

Port	Protocol	Purpose
8080	TCP	Transaction and protocol interface
8084	UDP	P2P state sync
9000	TCP	JSON-RPC interface
9184	TCP	Metrics (localhost only)

Verification

Check that the fullnode is running:

# For systemd
sudo systemctl status sui-node

# For Docker
docker compose ps

Test the JSON-RPC interface:

curl -X POST http://localhost:9000 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 1,
    "method": "sui_getLatestCheckpointSequenceNumber",
    "params": []
  }'

Monitor synchronization progress:

curl -s http://localhost:9184/metrics | grep highest_synced_checkpoint

Next Steps

Configure monitoring for your fullnode
Set up snapshots and backups
Review the troubleshooting guide for common issues

Running Nodes

Operations

Validator Guide

Setting Up a Fullnode

System Requirements

Prerequisites

Installation Methods

Using Pre-built Binaries

Using Docker

Building from Source

Configuration

Download Required Files

Deployment Options

Using Docker Compose

Using Systemd

Network Configuration

Verification

Next Steps

​System Requirements

​Prerequisites

​Installation Methods

​Using Pre-built Binaries

​Using Docker

​Building from Source

​Configuration

​Download Required Files

​Deployment Options

​Using Docker Compose

​Using Systemd

​Network Configuration

​Verification

​Next Steps

System Requirements

Prerequisites

Installation Methods

Using Pre-built Binaries

Using Docker

Building from Source

Configuration

Download Required Files

Deployment Options

Using Docker Compose

Using Systemd

Network Configuration

Verification

Next Steps