Erigon Segment Retire Command

The erigon seg retire command prepares snapshot files for publication by performing build, merge, and cleanup operations on segment files.

Prerequisites

1. Erigon must be stopped - The command requires exclusive access to the datadir
2. Binary must be built - Run /erigon-build first if the binary doesn't exist
3. Datadir must exist - A synced Erigon datadir with blockchain data

Command

./build/bin/erigon seg retire --datadir=<path>

Replace <path> with the actual path to your Erigon data directory.

What the Command Does

The retire command performs these operations in sequence:

1. Build Missing Indices - Creates any missing indices for block and Caplin snapshots
2. Retire Blocks - Freezes blocks from the database into snapshot files
3. Remove Overlaps - Cleans up overlapping snapshot files
4. Prune Ancient Blocks - Removes block data from the database that has been successfully snapshotted
5. Build State History - Creates missing accessors and builds state history snapshot files
6. Prune State History - Removes state history that has been snapshotted
7. Merge and Cleanup - Merges smaller snapshot files into larger ones and removes overlaps

Usage in Snapshot Release Workflow

This command is part of the "Publishable v2" snapshot release flow:

1. Shutdown Erigon
2. Run seg retire (this command)
3. Optionally run seg clearIndexing
4. Run seg index
5. Create torrent files
6. Run integrity check
7. Run publishable command

Example

# Build the binary first (if needed)
make erigon

# Ensure Erigon is stopped, then run seg retire
./build/bin/erigon seg retire --datadir=/data/erigon

Important Notes

• File Lock: If Erigon is running, the command will fail due to file lock
• Long running: This command can take significant time on mainnet
• Disk I/O intensive: Performs extensive read/write operations
• Resource intensive: Designed to maximize resource utilization