> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://www.coincashew.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://www.coincashew.com/coins/overview-ada/guide-how-to-build-a-haskell-stakepool-node/part-iii-operation/starting-the-nodes.md).

# Starting the Nodes

Start your stake pool with systemctl and begin syncing the blockchain!

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="block producer node" %}

```bash
sudo systemctl start cardano-node
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="relaynode1" %}

```bash
sudo systemctl start cardano-node
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

{% hint style="success" %}
Congratulations! Your nodes are running successfully. Synchronizing your local copies of the Cardano blockchain ledger with the network may take more than 24 hours. As of August 2025, the size of the Cardano Mainnet blockchain ledger is approximately 215 GB.
{% endhint %}

To monitor your Cardano nodes, install gLiveView.

{% hint style="info" %}
gLiveView displays crucial node status information and works well with systemd services.
{% endhint %}

```bash
cd $NODE_HOME
sudo apt install bc tcptraceroute jq -y
curl -s -o gLiveView.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cardano-community/guild-operators/master/scripts/cnode-helper-scripts/gLiveView.sh
curl -s -o env https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cardano-community/guild-operators/master/scripts/cnode-helper-scripts/env
chmod 755 gLiveView.sh
```

To modify **env** with the updated file locations, type the following command where `<ConfigFileName>` is `config-bp.json` on your block-producing node and `config.json` on all your relay nodes

```bash
sed -i env \
    -e "s/\#CONFIG=\"\${CNODE_HOME}\/files\/config.json\"/CONFIG=\"\${NODE_HOME}\/<ConfigFileName>\"/g" \
    -e "s/\#SOCKET=\"\${CNODE_HOME}\/sockets\/node.socket\"/SOCKET=\"\${NODE_HOME}\/db\/socket\"/g"
```

{% hint style="info" %}
For complete documentation from the developer on using the [gLiveView](https://cardano-community.github.io/guild-operators/Scripts/gliveview/) script and [env](https://cardano-community.github.io/guild-operators/Scripts/env/) file, visit [Guild Operators](https://cardano-community.github.io/guild-operators/).
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="warning" %}
A node must synchronize to epoch 208 (Shelley launch) before **gLiveView\.sh** can start tracking the synchronization process. Before your node synchronizes to epoch 208, you can track node synchronization using the following command:

```
journalctl --unit=cardano-node --follow
```

{% endhint %}

{% hint style="info" %}
\*\*\*\*:sparkles: **Pro tip**: If you synchronize a node, then you can copy the database directory to a different computer to save time synchronizing another node.
{% endhint %}

Run gLiveView to monitor the progress of the local Cardano Node synchronizing with the blockchain.

```
./gLiveView.sh
```

The following figure illustrates sample output of the gLiveView dashboard when Cardano Node is operating as a relay.

![](/files/z2NTqvKN9C0LPK5kESoy)