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

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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
Make sure backup is created before starting migration. You can use the skale node backup . command to create a backup of your current node and save sgx_data folder for SGX wallet as well as sgxwallet_backup_key.txt

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Migration Steps

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Migrate SGX

  1. Setup new SGX 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 SGX 
    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 processor supports Intel SGX 
    cpuid | grep SGX:
    After installing docker make sure that live-restore option is enabled in /etc/docker/daemon.json. See more info in the docker docs.
  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: 
    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: 
    Unattended-Upgrade::Package-Blacklist {
        "linux-generic";
        "linux-image-generic";
        "linux-headers-generic";
};
    Output 
    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: 
    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: 
    sudo ./sgx_enable
    Install SGX driver: 
    cd scripts
sudo ./sgx_linux_x64_driver_2.11.b6f5b4a.bin
cd ..
    System Reboot:
    Reboot your machine after driver install!
    Check driver installation: To check that isgx device is properly installed run this command: 
    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: 
    # 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
    After uploading backup to the new server make sure that sgxwallet_backup_key.txt is stored in sgx_data
  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 
    cd sgxwallet/run_sgx
docker-compose up -d

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

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Migrate Node

  1. Setup new node server Prepare a new server with:
    • Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)
    • 8 physical cores
    • 32 GB RAM
    • 100 GB disk mounted as /
    • 2Tb additional disk (not mounted)
  2. Install packages required for the node 
    sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y
sudo apt-get install -y docker.io docker-compose-plugin nftables
    After installing docker make sure that live-restore option is enabled in /etc/docker/daemon.json. See more info in the docker docs.
  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: 
    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: 
    Unattended-Upgrade::Package-Blacklist {
        "linux-generic";
        "linux-image-generic";
        "linux-headers-generic";
};
  4. Run node backup on old server 
    # 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 
    # 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 
    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 
    # 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
Keep the old server running until you’ve fully verified the new setup is working correctly. This allows for quick rollback if needed.