Agave Client
Agave 4.1.1 is Anza's Solana validator client - the mainline implementation for voting, ledger replay, and RPC. Run it when operating a standard staking validator or private RPC node.
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Agave 4.1.1 is Anza's Solana validator client - the mainline implementation for voting, ledger replay, and RPC. Run it when operating a standard staking validator or private RPC node.
Quick-reference recipe card - copy-paste ready.
agave-install init 4.1.1
agave-validator --ledger /mnt/ledger \
--identity ~/.config/solana/identity.json \
--vote-account <VOTE_ACCOUNT_PUBKEY> \
--rpc-port 8899 \
--full-rpc-api \
--no-voting # omit --no-voting for validators that voteWhen to reach for this:
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Minimal Agave validator startup (adjust paths)
LEDGER=/mnt/nvme/ledger
ACCOUNTS=/mnt/nvme/accounts
IDENTITY=~/.config/solana/identity.json
VOTE_ACCOUNT=Vote111111111111111111111111111111111111111
mkdir -p "$LEDGER" "$ACCOUNTS"
agave-validator \
--ledger "$LEDGER" \
--accounts "$ACCOUNTS" \
--identity "$IDENTITY" \
--vote-account "$VOTE_ACCOUNT" \
--known-validator <TRUSTED_ENTRYPOINT> \
--entrypoint entrypoint.mainnet-beta.solana.com:8001 \
--expected-genesis-hash <MAINNET_GENESIS_HASH> \
--full-rpc-api \
--rpc-bind-address 127.0.0.1 \
--rpc-port 8899 \
--dynamic-port-range 8000-8020 \
--limit-ledger-size 50000000What this demonstrates:
--vote-account enables consensus voting (omit for RPC-only with --no-voting).--full-rpc-api enabled.| Flag | Purpose |
|---|---|
--ledger | Block store path |
--accounts | Accounts DB path |
--vote-account | On-chain vote pubkey |
--no-voting | RPC node without voting |
--limit-ledger-size | Disk cap pruning |
agave-validator --ledger /mnt/ledger monitor # watch catchup
solana catchup --our-localhost--limit-ledger-size + monitoring.| Alternative | Use When | Don't Use When |
|---|---|---|
| Frankendancer hybrid | Max performance | Early setup simplicity |
| Jito-Solana | MEV infrastructure | Non-MEV operator preference |
| Hosted validator | No ops team | Full self-custody requirement |
Agave is validator client; Solana CLI 3.0.10 remains operator tooling from Anza distribution.
Run with --no-voting and omit vote account requirement - still syncs full ledger.
Stop validator, agave-install init <version>, restart with same ledger path after backup.
New machine or snapshot restore - use --only-known-rpc bootstrap or official snapshots.
Discouraged on mainnet - resource contention; separate hardware per vote account.
Stake on vote account improves scheduling - see SWQoS page.
Default stderr; redirect to journald or file for monitoring stack.
Same flags with devnet entrypoints and genesis - fund vote account on devnet first.
Match manifest pin across CLI, validator, and local test-validator in CI.
Optional networking layer for validator interconnect - see hardware page.
Stack versions: This page was written for Agave 4.1.1, Solana CLI 3.0.10, Anchor 0.32.1, anchor-lang 0.32.1, Rust 1.91.1, @solana/kit 7.0.0, Surfpool 0.12.0, and LiteSVM 0.6.x.
Reviewed by Chris St. John·Last updated Jul 16, 2026