> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.aultblockchain.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Snapshots and Sync

This guide describes how to synchronize an Ault node using official snapshots.

## Sync Methods

| Method           | Sync Time    | Storage     | Use Case         |
| ---------------- | ------------ | ----------- | ---------------- |
| Pruned Snapshot  | \~10 minutes | \<5 GiB     | Full / RPC nodes |
| Archive Snapshot | \~1 hour     | 200–500 GiB | Archive nodes    |

Actual time depends on CPU, disk IOPS, and bandwidth.

## Using Pruned Snapshot

Stop node:

```bash theme={null}
sudo systemctl stop ault
```

Back up existing data (optional):

```bash theme={null}
mkdir -p ~/ault-backup
cp -r ~/.aultd/data ~/ault-backup
```

Download snapshot:

```bash theme={null}
mkdir -p ~/snapshot && cd ~/snapshot
wget -c "<PRUNED_SNAPSHOT_URL>" -O ault_pruned.tar.zst
```

Remove old data:

```bash theme={null}
rm -rf ~/.aultd/data/*
```

Extract:

```bash theme={null}
pv ault_pruned.tar.zst | zstd -d -c | tar -xvf - -C ~/.aultd/
```

Cleanup:

```bash theme={null}
rm -f ault_pruned.tar.zst
```

Restart:

```bash theme={null}
sudo systemctl start ault
```

## Using Archive Snapshot

```bash theme={null}
wget -c "<ARCHIVE_SNAPSHOT_URL>" -O ault_archive.tar.zst

rm -rf ~/.aultd/data/*

pv ault_archive.tar.zst | zstd -d --long=31 --memory=2048MB -c | tar -xvf - -C ~/.aultd/

sudo systemctl start ault
```

## Best Practices

* Always back up validator keys before replacing data
* Ensure you have at least 2× the snapshot size free during extraction
* Prefer official snapshots
* Test procedures in non-production environments first