DB Sync Errors

These errors appear when you perform a transaction using cardano-cli

Database Gets Stuck in Starting

This error usually means the inputs and outputs don't add up. It may be caused by many factors including the ones below:

Reason 1: Insufficient Resources

There may not be enough system resources which causes the node to stall the database sync.

Solution: Monitor if there is no improvement for a day. If it is still the same, add the needed resources to your node and restart. Resources can be memory, disk or CPU. Check utilization with gLiveview or with the unix commands free, df and vmstat.

Reason 2: Bootstrap Peers

In your topology file, you either have no bootstrap peers or the bootstrap peers configured do not meet the high density requirements of GenesisMode.

Solution: Add the official bootstrap peers to your topology file. As an example the following are the current bootstrap peers in the preview environment:

Address: "preview-node.world.dev.cardano.org", Port 3001

Address: "preview-node.play.dev.cardano.org", Port 3001

Add in the correct bootstrap peers for the environment you are working on.

Reason 3: GenesisMode too restrictive

As of January 2026, the ConsensusMode in the config file should be GenesisMode. This is a more secure mode and gives faster recovery times compared to PraosMode. However, the GenesisMode is also more strict to keep the chain secure. Because of this, there may be rare instances when the db sync may get stuck.

Solution: Do this solution only if the prior 2 solutions do not work.

In the config file, change the value of ConsensusMode to PraosMode then restart the node. Once the db completes syncing, put back ConsensusMode to GenesisMode and restart the node again.

This will ensure the db completes syncing after it gets stuck but will also ensure that you are in the more secure and robust GenesisMode after the issue is resolved.