# Downloading the blockchain

Syncing from genesis can take days. Use a snapshot service to bootstrap the database in minutes instead.

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Mithril (Mainnet)" %}
Auto-detects architecture and fetches the latest Mithril release:

```bash
cd /home/cardano/cnode

rm -rf db

ARCH=$(uname -m)
if [ "$ARCH" = "x86_64" ]; then MARCH=x64; elif [ "$ARCH" = "aarch64" ]; then MARCH=arm64; else echo "Unsupported arch: $ARCH"; exit 1; fi

MITHRIL_VERSION=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/input-output-hk/mithril/releases/latest | jq -r '.tag_name')
echo "Installing mithril-client ${MITHRIL_VERSION} (${MARCH})"

curl -L -o mithril.tar.gz \
  "https://github.com/input-output-hk/mithril/releases/download/${MITHRIL_VERSION}/mithril-${MITHRIL_VERSION}-linux-${MARCH}.tar.gz"
tar -xzf mithril.tar.gz
install -m 755 mithril-client $HOME/.local/bin/
rm -f mithril.tar.gz mithril-client mithril-signer mithril-aggregator mithril-relay

export CARDANO_NETWORK=mainnet
export AGGREGATOR_ENDPOINT=https://aggregator.release-mainnet.api.mithril.network/aggregator
export GENESIS_VERIFICATION_KEY=$(wget -q -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/input-output-hk/mithril/main/mithril-infra/configuration/release-mainnet/genesis.vkey)
export ANCILLARY_VERIFICATION_KEY=$(wget -q -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/input-output-hk/mithril/main/mithril-infra/configuration/release-mainnet/ancillary.vkey)

mithril-client cardano-db download --include-ancillary latest
```

{% hint style="info" %}
`--include-ancillary` downloads the last ledger state and immutable file, significantly speeding up initial sync. The ancillary data is verified against a separate Ed25519 key.
{% endhint %}
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Mithril (Testnet / pre-prod)" %}

```bash
cd /home/cardano/cnode

rm -rf db

ARCH=$(uname -m)
if [ "$ARCH" = "x86_64" ]; then MARCH=x64; elif [ "$ARCH" = "aarch64" ]; then MARCH=arm64; else echo "Unsupported arch: $ARCH"; exit 1; fi

MITHRIL_VERSION=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/input-output-hk/mithril/releases/latest | jq -r '.tag_name')
echo "Installing mithril-client ${MITHRIL_VERSION} (${MARCH})"

curl -L -o mithril.tar.gz \
  "https://github.com/input-output-hk/mithril/releases/download/${MITHRIL_VERSION}/mithril-${MITHRIL_VERSION}-linux-${MARCH}.tar.gz"
tar -xzf mithril.tar.gz
install -m 755 mithril-client $HOME/.local/bin/
rm -f mithril.tar.gz mithril-client mithril-signer mithril-aggregator mithril-relay

export CARDANO_NETWORK=preprod
export AGGREGATOR_ENDPOINT=https://aggregator.release-preprod.api.mithril.network/aggregator
export GENESIS_VERIFICATION_KEY=$(wget -q -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/input-output-hk/mithril/main/mithril-infra/configuration/release-preprod/genesis.vkey)
export ANCILLARY_VERIFICATION_KEY=$(wget -q -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/input-output-hk/mithril/main/mithril-infra/configuration/release-preprod/ancillary.vkey)

mithril-client cardano-db download --include-ancillary latest
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="csnapshots.io" %}
[csnapshots.io](https://csnapshots.io/) provides compressed database archives streamed and extracted on the fly.

Install dependencies:

```bash
sudo apt update && sudo apt install liblz4-tool jq curl -y
```

Remove any existing database:

```bash
rm -rf /home/cardano/cnode/db
```

Download and extract:

**Mainnet** (archive is 100+ GB):

```bash
wget -c -O - "https://downloads.csnapshots.io/mainnet/$(wget -qO- https://downloads.csnapshots.io/mainnet/mainnet-db-snapshot.json | jq -r .[].file_name)" | lz4 -c -d - | tar -x -C /home/cardano/cnode/
```

**Pre-prod testnet** (archive is under 10 GB):

```bash
curl -o - "https://downloads.csnapshots.io/snapshots/testnet/$(curl -s https://downloads.csnapshots.io/snapshots/testnet/testnet-db-snapshot.json | jq -r .[].file_name)" | lz4 -c -d - | tar -x -C /home/cardano/cnode/
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://cardano-node-installation.stakepool247.eu/cardano-relay-configuration/downloading-cardano-blockchain.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.