Prerequisites

Prepare your server for Cardano Node 10.6.2 installation.

Prepare a clean Ubuntu/Debian server for cardano-node 10.6.2.

For most operators, installing official release binaries is the fastest and most reproducible approach. Source builds are only needed for custom patches.

1) System update and required packages

sudo apt-get update -y
sudo apt-get upgrade -y
sudo apt-get install -y \
  curl wget jq git tmux htop nload unzip xz-utils \
  build-essential pkg-config libffi-dev libgmp-dev libssl-dev \
  libsystemd-dev zlib1g-dev libncurses-dev libtool autoconf automake \
  libsodium-dev

2) Directory layout and environment variables

Run as your cardano user:

mkdir -p $HOME/.local/bin

cd $HOME
mkdir -p cnode
cd cnode
mkdir -p config db sockets keys logs scripts

grep -q 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' $HOME/.bashrc || \
  echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> $HOME/.bashrc

grep -q 'CARDANO_NODE_SOCKET_PATH' $HOME/.bashrc || \
  echo 'export CARDANO_NODE_SOCKET_PATH="$HOME/cnode/sockets/node.socket"' >> $HOME/.bashrc

source $HOME/.bashrc

3) Verify architecture

uname -m

Output	Artifact to download
x86_64	linux-amd64
aarch64	linux-arm64

If architecture and binary mismatch, the node will not start (Exec format error). Always verify before downloading.

4) Source-build prerequisites (optional)

Only needed if building from source instead of release binaries:

Dependency	Version
GHC	9.6
Cabal	3.8+ or 3.12
libblst	0.3.14

5) Firewall

Check whether UFW is active:

sudo ufw status verbose

For a production relay, enable UFW with the required ports:

sudo ufw allow 22/tcp
sudo ufw allow 3001/tcp
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw status verbose

For a block producer, do NOT expose the BP port publicly. Keep your BP reachable only from your relays (private network, WireGuard, or strict IP allowlist).

6) Sanity checks

df -h
free -h
nproc

Verify at least 300 GB of free storage (350+ GB recommended for long-term growth).

Swap can prevent OOM crashes, but it is much slower than real RAM. If your server consistently hits swap, upgrade memory rather than relying on swap as a permanent fix.