# Install Waves Node

The methods to install Waves node are explained in this article.

# System Requirements

Minimal requirements for	CPU	RAM	SSD
Validating node Light node*	2	4GB	175** GB SSD
Generating node	2+	4+ GB	175+ GB SSD

* A light node with the same hardware resources as a validating one provides higher performance when processing transactions received via the Node REST API or gRPC Server.

** You can store blockchain data on several logical or even physical partitions.

More details

The directory where the node database is stored contains subdirectories:

api: ~22 GB;
default: all the main data that is used to validate the consensus, ~31 GB;
tx: ~47 GB;
tx-meta: ~8 GB
tx-snapshots: ~38 GB.

This separation allows for optimized data storage. For example, data of the default subdirectory (and also api if the node API is supposed to be actively used) can be stored on a fast but small-sized physical device, while everything related to transactions can be stored on a slower, but cheaper device. In this case, the partitions need to be mounted or linked. Make sure the user running the node has permissions to all subdirectories.

By default, the database is stored in the data subdirectory of the base application directory (in particular, in /var/lib/waves/data for a node installed from a DEB package).

# Docker Container

The easiest way to run Waves node on macOS, Windows or Linux machine is by means of Waves Docker container. You install the Docker app and then use console commands to run the node or change the node settings. For details, see Deploy Node in Docker article.

# JAR or DEB Package

The other way is to download the latest version of JAR or DEB package (depending on your OS) and the required .conf configuration file to your machine and run the app with console commands.

More specific steps depend on your operating system:

For details about configuration file, see Node Configuration article.

# SBT Package

You can install Waves node from your own DEB or JAR package. Such package can be built from Waves node source files (from Git repository) by means of SBT (Scala Build Tool). For details, see Install from Source (Building SBT) article.