Skip to main content

Getting started

Current versions

Runtime dependencies

  • MacOS or Linux (arm64 or amd64)
  • PostgreSQL >= 15.x
  • Access to an Ethereum archive node (execution client)

Installation

1. Download the Sidecar binary

VERSION="v2.9.0"
curl -s -L "https://github.com/Layr-Labs/sidecar/releases/download/${VERSION}/sidecar-darwin-amd64-${VERSION}.tar.gz" | tar xvz -C /usr/local/bin

2. Create a database for your sidecar

Assuming that you have PostgreSQL installed locally, or access to a remote PostgreSQL instance, you can create a database for your sidecar:

psql --host <host> --port 5432 --user <username> --password

CREATE DATABASE sidecar;

Please see the "Advanced PostgreSQL Config" for more information on setting up your PostgreSQL database.

Using a snapshot

If you are launching a Sidecar for Holesky, you will need to use a snapshot to intialize your database. Detailed directions can be found on the "restore from snapshot" page.

curl -LO https://eigenlayer-sidecar.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/snapshots/testnet-holesky/sidecar-testnet-holesky_v3.0.0-rc.1_public_20250122.dump

sidecar restore-snapshot \ (sm-fixManifest✱)
--ethereum.rpc-url="<rpc url>" \
--chain="mainnet" \
--database.host="<hostname>" \
--database.port="5432" \
--database.user="<username>" \
--database.password="<password>" \
--database.db_name="<database name>" \
--kind="full"

3. Launch your Sidecar

/usr/local/bin/sidecar
--ethereum.rpc-url="http://<your-ethereum-rpc-url>" \
--chain="mainnet" \
--database.host="<postgres host>" \
--database.port="5432" \
--database.user="<postgres user>" \
--database.password="<postgres password>" \
--database.db_name="sidecar"