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Migrate SKALE Node with SGXWallet to New Server

This guide provides instructions for migrating a SKALE node and SGXWallet to a new server following the recommended migration process.

Prerequisites

Section titled “Prerequisites”

Before starting the migration, ensure you have:

  • Access to both the current and new servers

  • Administrative privileges on both systems

  • Secure network connection between servers

Migration Steps

Section titled “Migration Steps”

Migrate SGX

Section titled “Migrate SGX”

  1. Setup new server

    Prepare a new server with:

    • Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)
    • SGX-enabled Intel processor
    • 8 physical cores
    • 16 GB RAM
    • 200 GB disk mounted as /
    • Swap size equals to half (1/2) of RAM size

  2. Install packages required for the node

    Terminal window
    sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y
    sudo apt-get install -y docker.io docker-compose-plugin
    sudo apt-get install -y build-essential make cmake gcc g++ yasm  python libprotobuf10 flex bison automake libtool texinfo libgcrypt20-dev libgnutls28-dev
    sudo apt-get install -y docker
    sudo apt-get install -y libelf-dev cpuid

  3. Verify your processor supports Intel SGX with:

    Terminal window
    cpuid | grep SGX:

  4. Disable automatic updates

    It’s recommended to only update the SGXWallet server if there are critical security fixes. This is because SGXWallet is based on low level technology, and kernel updates may break the system. Currently SGX is tested on 5.15* kernels. It’s best to avoid minor version updates too.

    To make sure apt update won’t update the kernel you should use apt-mark hold command:

    Terminal window
    sudo apt-mark hold linux-generic linux-image-generic linux-headers-generic

    Also if you configured unattended upgrades, you should make sure kernel won’t update automatically. To do this, add the following lines to /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades file:

    Terminal window
    Unattended-Upgrade::Package-Blacklist {
            "linux-generic";
            "linux-image-generic";
            "linux-headers-generic";
    };

    Output

    Terminal window
    SGX: Software Guard Extensions supported = true

  5. Configure firewall between SGX and node servers

  6. Download SGXWallet source code

    Clone SGX Wallet Repository to your machine:

    Terminal window
    git clone https://github.com/skalenetwork/sgxwallet/
    cd sgxwallet
    git checkout stable

  7. Enable SGX on the new server SGX Wallet repository includes the sgx_enable utility. To enable SGX run:

    Terminal window
    sudo ./sgx_enable

    Install SGX driver:

    Terminal window
    cd scripts
    sudo ./sgx_linux_x64_driver_2.11.b6f5b4a.bin
    cd ..

    System Reboot:

    Check driver installation: To check that isgx device is properly installed run this command:

    Terminal window
    ls /dev/isgx /dev/sg0

    If you don’t see the isgx device, you need to troubleshoot your driver installation from here.

  8. Copy sgx_data folder to the new server

    From your old server, securely transfer the SGX data:

    Terminal window
    # On old server - create backup
    tar -czf sgx_data_backup.tar.gz -C sgxwallet/run_sgx sgx_data
    

    # Transfer to new server (use scp, rsync, or secure method)
    scp sgx_data_backup.tar.gz user@new-server:/path/to/transfer/
    

    # On new server - extract to correct location
    cd sgxwallet/run_sgx
    tar -xzf /path/to/transfer/sgx_data_backup.tar.gz

  9. Set the version and -b flag in docker-compose.yml Edit the sgxwallet/run_sgx/docker-compose.yml file:

    • Change the image version to: skalenetwork/sgxwallet:1.9.0-stable.4
    • Add -b to the existing command section (don’t replace the entire command, just add -b to it)

  10. Run docker-compose up -d

    Terminal window
    cd sgxwallet/run_sgx
    docker-compose up -d
    

    # Verify SGXWallet is running
    docker-compose ps
    docker-compose logs

Migrate Node

Section titled “Migrate Node”

  1. Setup new server

    Prepare a new server with:

    • Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)
    • 8 physical cores
    • 32 GB RAM
    • 16 GB RAM
    • 100 GB disk mounted as /
    • 2Tb additional disk (not mounted)

  2. Install packages required for the node

    Terminal window
    sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y
    sudo apt-get install -y docker.io docker-compose-plugin nftables

  3. Disable automatic updates

    Currently SKALE Node is tested on 5.15* kernels. It’s best to avoid minor version updates too.

    To make sure apt update won’t update the kernel you should use apt-mark hold command:

    Terminal window
    sudo apt-mark hold linux-generic linux-image-generic linux-headers-generic

    Also if you configured unattended upgrades, you should make sure kernel won’t update automatically. To do this, add the following lines to /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades file:

    Terminal window
    Unattended-Upgrade::Package-Blacklist {
            "linux-generic";
            "linux-image-generic";
            "linux-headers-generic";
    };

  4. Run node backup on old server

    Terminal window
    # On old server
    skale node backup .

    This will create a backup tarball (e.g., skale-node-backup-YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS.tar.gz)

  5. Copy backup tarball and .env config to the new server

    Terminal window
    # Transfer backup and configuration files
    scp skale-node-backup-*.tar.gz user@new-server:/path/to/new/location/
    scp .env user@new-server:/path/to/new/location/

  6. Download node-CLI version

    Terminal window
    curl -L https://github.com/skalenetwork/node-cli/releases/download/2.6.2/skale-2.6.2-Linux-x86_64 > /usr/local/bin/skale
    chmod +x /usr/local/bin/skale
    

    # Verify installation
    skale --version

  7. Restore node from backup

    Terminal window
    # Navigate to your working directory
    cd backup tarball location
    

    # Restore node using backup and environment file
    skale node restore skale-node-backup-*.tar.gz .env