Quickstart Cheatsheet¶

A comprehensive reference for managing the entire lifecycle of your Ethereum on ARM node, from health checks to emergency recovery.

Diagnostics & Health¶

The Ethereum on ARM Check Script is your primary tool for diagnosing issues. It analyzes hardware, network, and client status.

# Run full system diagnosis
sudo eoa_check -l

# Upload report to share with support (returns a URL)
sudo eoa_send

# Check disk space usage (vital for 2TB+ drives)
df -h

# Monitor real-time system resources (CPU/RAM)
htop

Service Management¶

Manage your Execution Layer (EL) and Consensus Layer (CL) clients. Replace <service> with your client name (e.g., geth, lighthouse-beacon, nethermind, prysm-beacon).

# Start / Stop / Restart
sudo systemctl start <service>
sudo systemctl stop <service>
sudo systemctl restart <service>

# Enable auto-start at boot
sudo systemctl enable <service>

# Check status (active/failed)
sudo systemctl status <service>

Review Logs:

# Follow logs in real-time (Ctrl+C to exit)
sudo journalctl -u <service> -f

# View logs solely from the current boot session
sudo journalctl -u <service> -b

Monitor Sync Status¶

Execution Layer (Geth example)

geth attach --exec "eth.syncing"

Consensus Layer

# Check generic sync status (JSON output)
curl -s http://localhost:5052/eth/v1/node/syncing | jq

Optimism Layer 2

curl -s -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"optimism_syncStatus","params":[],"id":1}' \
  http://localhost:8547 | jq

Network & Security¶

Firewall (UFW)

Ethereum on ARM includes custom UFW profiles. Only enable what you need.

# 1. Enable SSH (CRITICAL: Do this first!)
sudo ufw allow "OpenSSH"

# 2. Allow specific Ethereum traffic
sudo ufw allow "Ethereum EL P2P"
sudo ufw allow "Ethereum CL P2P"

# 3. Enable the firewall
sudo ufw enable

# List status and active rules
sudo ufw status verbose

Port Checks

# View all listening ports
sudo ss -tuln

System Maintenance¶

Updates

# Update all Ethereum on ARM packages (clients & tools)
update-ethereum

# Standard OS update
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Configuration Backup

Crucial before performing image upgrades. This saves your /etc/ethereum configs to the NVMe drive.

sudo ethereumonarm-config-sync.sh

Emergency: Wipe & Reset

To completely wipe the NVMe disk and reinstall a fresh node (requires a reboot):

# Trigger a reformat on next boot
touch /home/ethereum/.format_me
sudo reboot

Client Reference¶

Standard service names for common clients:

Client	Service Name	Config Path
Geth	`geth`	`/etc/ethereum/geth.conf`
Nethermind	`nethermind`	`/etc/ethereum/nethermind.conf`
Besu	`besu`	`/etc/ethereum/besu.conf`
Erigon	`erigon`	`/etc/ethereum/erigon.conf`
Reth	`reth`	`/etc/ethereum/reth.conf`
EthRex	`ethrex`	`/etc/ethereum/ethrex.conf`
Lighthouse	`lighthouse-beacon`	`/etc/ethereum/lighthouse-beacon.conf`
Prysm	`prysm-beacon`	`/etc/ethereum/prysm-beacon.conf`
Nimbus	`nimbus-beacon`	`/etc/ethereum/nimbus-beacon.conf`
Teku	`teku-beacon`	`/etc/ethereum/teku-beacon.conf`
Lodestar	`lodestar-beacon`	`/etc/ethereum/lodestar-beacon.conf`
Grandine	`grandine-beacon`	`/etc/ethereum/grandine-beacon.conf`

Need More Help?¶

Discord: Join the Community (Post your eoa_send link here)
Troubleshooting Guide: Troubleshooting