Updating Consensus Clients

Procedure for upgrading Prysm, Lighthouse, Teku, etc.

Updating Consensus Clients

The update process for Consensus Clients (CL) generally involves downloading the new binary, stopping the service, swapping the files, and restarting.

⚠️ Critical: Always check the specific release notes before updating. Some releases remove deprecated flags — if your systemd service file references a removed flag, the client will fail to start. Review your service configuration after major version upgrades.

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💎 Prysm

Download the new binary and replace the existing file.

⚠️ Note: Prysm's repository has moved from prysmaticlabs/prysm to OffchainLabs/prysm. Make sure to use the new URL.

# 1. Stop service
sudo systemctl stop prysm

# 2. Download new binary (Check https://github.com/OffchainLabs/prysm/releases)
curl -L https://github.com/OffchainLabs/prysm/releases/download/v<VERSION>/beacon-chain-v<VERSION>-linux-amd64 -o beacon-chain

# 3. Move and set permissions
chmod +x beacon-chain
sudo mv beacon-chain /usr/local/lib/prysm/beacon-chain
sudo chown ethereum:ethereum /usr/local/lib/prysm/beacon-chain

# 4. Restart service
sudo systemctl start prysm

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🗼 Lighthouse

Extract the new binary and overwrite.

# 1. Stop service
sudo systemctl stop lighthouse

# 2. Download new release (Check https://github.com/sigp/lighthouse/releases)
wget https://github.com/sigp/lighthouse/releases/download/v<VERSION>/lighthouse-v<VERSION>-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz -O lighthouse.tar.gz

# 3. Extract and replace
sudo tar -xvzf lighthouse.tar.gz -C /usr/local/lib/lighthouse
sudo chown ethereum:ethereum /usr/local/lib/lighthouse/lighthouse
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/lib/lighthouse/lighthouse

# 4. Cleanup and restart service
rm lighthouse.tar.gz
sudo systemctl start lighthouse

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🔷 Teku

Download the new tarball and extract it over the existing installation.

# 1. Stop service
sudo systemctl stop teku

# 2. Download new release (Check https://github.com/Consensys/teku/releases)
wget https://artifacts.consensys.net/public/teku/raw/names/teku.tar.gz/versions/<VERSION>/teku-<VERSION>.tar.gz -O teku.tar.gz

# 3. Extract and overwrite
sudo tar -xvzf teku.tar.gz -C /usr/local/lib/teku --strip-components=1
sudo chown -R ethereum:ethereum /usr/local/lib/teku

# 4. Cleanup and restart service
rm teku.tar.gz
sudo systemctl start teku

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☁️ Nimbus

Download the new tarball and extract the binary.

# 1. Stop service
sudo systemctl stop nimbus

# 2. Download new release (Check https://github.com/status-im/nimbus-eth2/releases)
wget https://github.com/status-im/nimbus-eth2/releases/download/v<VERSION>/nimbus-eth2_Linux_amd64_<VERSION>.tar.gz -O nimbus.tar.gz

# 3. Extract and replace
sudo tar -xvzf nimbus.tar.gz -C /usr/local/lib/nimbus --strip-components=1
sudo chown -R ethereum:ethereum /usr/local/lib/nimbus

# 4. Cleanup and restart service
rm nimbus.tar.gz
sudo systemctl start nimbus

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⭐ Lodestar

Download the new binary and replace the existing one.

# 1. Stop service
sudo systemctl stop lodestar

# 2. Download new release (Check https://github.com/ChainSafe/lodestar/releases)
wget https://github.com/ChainSafe/lodestar/releases/download/v<VERSION>/lodestar-v<VERSION>-linux-amd64.tar.gz -O lodestar.tar.gz

# 3. Extract and replace
sudo tar -xvzf lodestar.tar.gz -C /usr/local/lib/lodestar
sudo chown -R ethereum:ethereum /usr/local/lib/lodestar
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/lib/lodestar/lodestar

# 4. Cleanup and restart service
rm lodestar.tar.gz
sudo systemctl start lodestar