Cardano Stake Pool Guide

Step-by-step guide to setting up a Cardano Stake Pool on Linux — from server setup to block production.

A practical, copy-paste-ready guide for setting up and operating a Cardano stake pool on Ubuntu/Debian Linux. Maintained by the StakePool247 community.

Current version: cardano-node 10.6.2 (Mainnet)

Upgrading from an older release? See the Upgrade Guide.

Quick setup (automated)

Get a relay node installed in minutes with our interactive setup script:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y curl
curl -sL -o setup-relay.sh \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/stakepool247/gitbook-stakepool-installation-guide/main/scripts/setup-relay.sh
sudo bash setup-relay.sh

The script lets you choose your network, node version, and DB backend via a TUI menu — then handles everything: user creation, packages, binary install, config files, Mithril client, and systemd service.

Prefer to understand each step? Follow the guide below.

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What you'll need

Skills

• Basic Linux command-line experience

• Willingness to keep the node updated when new releases drop

• Security-first mindset (keys, firewall, SSH hardening, backups)

Hardware — Mainnet

Component	Minimum	Recommended
Servers	2 (1 BP + 1 relay)	3 (1 BP + 2 relays)
OS	Ubuntu 22.04 / Debian 12+	Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
CPU	2 vCPU	4 vCPU
RAM	8 GB (LMDB backend)	24 GB (InMemory backend)
Storage	300 GB SSD	350+ GB SSD
Network	10 Mbps, low packet loss	50+ Mbps

You also need:

• Offline machine — for generating and storing cold keys (never connected to internet)

• Hardware wallet — Trezor or Ledger (strongly recommended for pledge security)

Hardware — Testnet (pre-prod)

Same architecture, lighter requirements: 2 vCPU, 16 GB RAM, 150+ GB SSD.

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What this guide covers

1. Server setup — user creation, swap, packages, firewall

2. Node installation — binary install, config files, architecture detection

3. Relay configuration — topology, blockchain sync (Mithril), systemd service

4. Block producer setup — SPOS scripts, wallet keys, pool keys, registration

5. Operations — KES key rotation, upgrades, topology management

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Community & support

StakePool247 Support	t.me/StakePool247help
Cardano SPO Workgroup	t.me/CardanoStakePoolWorkgroup
Community Tech Support	t.me/CardanoCommunityTechSupport

Open source: This guide lives on GitHub. Found an error or have an improvement? PRs and issues welcome.