Backups and restore

Critical files to back up

File	Backup frequency	Risk if lost or misused
`config/priv_validator_key.json`	Once — offline encrypted	Cannot sign blocks
`data/priv_validator_state.json`	Before every upgrade or migration	Double-sign risk if old copy restored
`config/node_key.json`	Once	P2P identity lost
Operator key mnemonic	Once — offline encrypted	Cannot recover operator account
`config/app.toml`	After each change	Restorable from defaults
`config/config.toml`	After each change	Restorable from defaults

Never restore from an older copy of priv_validator_state.json. Signing a block at a height already signed results in slashing and permanent tombstoning.

Creating a node snapshot

Always stop the node before creating a snapshot:

sudo systemctl stop autheod
tar -czf autheo-snapshot-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).tar.gz \
  -C /path/to/node-home data/
sudo systemctl start autheod

Automated daily snapshots

# Add to crontab -e
0 2 * * * systemctl stop autheod && \
  tar -czf /backups/autheo-snapshot-$(date +\%Y\%m\%d).tar.gz \
    -C /path/to/node-home data/ && \
  systemctl start autheod && \
  find /backups -name 'autheo-snapshot-*.tar.gz' -mtime +7 -delete

Restoring from a snapshot

Stop the node

sudo systemctl stop autheod

Remove old data

rm -rf /path/to/node-home/data/

Extract the snapshot

tar -xzf autheo-snapshot-<timestamp>.tar.gz -C /path/to/node-home/

Restore your state file

cp /your/secure/backup/priv_validator_state.json \
  /path/to/node-home/data/priv_validator_state.json

Restart

sudo systemctl start autheod
sudo journalctl -u autheod -f

Download official snapshot

wget https://snapshot.autheo.com/data_backup_latest.tar.gz
sudo systemctl stop autheod
rm -rf /path/to/node-home/data/
tar xzvf data_backup_latest.tar.gz
mv data/ /path/to/node-home/data/
cp /secure/backup/priv_validator_state.json /path/to/node-home/data/
sudo systemctl start autheod

Recovery runbooks

Runbook A: Data corruption

Restore from your most recent snapshot. Verify sync:

autheod status | jq '.SyncInfo.catching_up'

Runbook B: Full hardware failure (migration to new host)

Provision new host meeting hardware requirements
Install autheod
Copy key files and config from backup
Restore latest data/priv_validator_state.json
Download a fresh snapshot for data/
Power off the old host completely
Start autheod on the new host

Runbook C: Validator jailed

Fix the cause of jailing
Verify Sovereign license is not REVOKED
Submit unjail: autheod tx slashing unjail --from mykey --chain-id autheo_2127-1 --keyring-backend file
If license stays BOUND, re-delegate to reactivate

Runbook D: License revoked

See License lifecycle for the full reinstatement sequence.

Start Here

Getting Started

Web Apps

Developers

APIs

Node operations

SDKs

Papers

Critical files to back up

Creating a node snapshot

Automated daily snapshots

Restoring from a snapshot

Download official snapshot

Recovery runbooks

Runbook A: Data corruption

Runbook B: Full hardware failure (migration to new host)

Runbook C: Validator jailed

Runbook D: License revoked

​Critical files to back up

​Creating a node snapshot

​Automated daily snapshots

​Restoring from a snapshot

​Download official snapshot

​Recovery runbooks

​Runbook A: Data corruption

​Runbook B: Full hardware failure (migration to new host)

​Runbook C: Validator jailed

​Runbook D: License revoked

Critical files to back up

Creating a node snapshot

Automated daily snapshots

Restoring from a snapshot

Download official snapshot

Recovery runbooks

Runbook A: Data corruption

Runbook B: Full hardware failure (migration to new host)

Runbook C: Validator jailed

Runbook D: License revoked