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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.

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.

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

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.

NextCreating the cardano user

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