Besu

Updating Besu

Download Besu and configure the service

Download the latest version of Besu and run the checksum verification process to ensure that the downloaded file has not been tampered with.

cd
curl -LO https://hyperledger.jfrog.io/artifactory/besu-binaries/besu/24.1.2/besu-24.1.2.tar.gz
echo "082db8cf4fb67527aa0dd757e5d254b3b497f5027c23287f9c0a74a6a743bf08 besu-24.1.2.tar.gz" | sha256sum --check

Each downloadable file comes with it's own checksum (see below). Replace the actual checksum and URL of the download link in the code block above.

Make sure to verify the correct checksum according to the downloaded version. Right click on the linked text and select "copy link address" to get the URL of the download link to curl.

Expected output: Verify output of the checksum verification

besu-24.1.2.tar.gz: OK

If checksum is verified, extract the files and move them into the (/usr/local/bin) directory for neatness and best practice. Then, clean up the duplicated copies.

tar xvf besu-24.1.2.tar.gz
sudo cp -a besu-24.1.2 /usr/local/bin/besu
sudo rm -r besu-24.1.2.tar.gz besu-24.1.2

Restart the Besu service

Reload the systemd daemon to register the changes made, start Besu, and check its status to make sure its running.

sudo systemctl start besu.service
sudo systemctl status besu.service

Use the following command to check the logs of Besu’s syncing process. Watch out for any warnings or errors.

sudo journalctl -fu besu -o cat | ccze -A

Press CTRL-C to exit.

Pruning Besu

Besu does not provide a pruning mode and requires a full resync when your node runs out of space. Disk consumption grows by ~8GB/week.

Fortunately, Besu is able to sync in a very short time (~1.5 days) if you have at least 32GB of RAM by enabling the --Xplugin-rocksdb-high-spec-enabled flag.

To resync, simply delete the existing Besu database and restart the service.

sudo systemctl stop besu.service
sudo rm -r /var/lib/besu/*
sudo systemctl start besu.service

Monitor logs for errors.

sudo journalctl -fu besu -o cat | ccze -A