> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.lagomchain.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.lagomchain.com/lagomchain-cli/alternative-databases.md).

# Alternative Databases

To use a different database than the default one (levelDB), you may need to build the `lagomd` binary manually with specific flags and configurations.

Learn about the different options supported.

### Prerequisites[​](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP) <a href="#prerequisites" id="prerequisites"></a>

* Golang version `>=1.22.2` ([installation guide](https://go.dev/doc/install))
* Source code of the desired `lagomd` version. For example, if you want to use `v19.0.0`, execute the following command to download only the necessary code:

  ```
  git clone -b v19.0.0 --single-branch https://github.com/lagomchain/lagomchain
  ```

### Pebble DB[​](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP) <a href="#pebble-db" id="pebble-db"></a>

#### Install `lagomd` binary from source[​](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP) <a href="#install-evmosd-binary-from-source" id="install-evmosd-binary-from-source"></a>

```
# compile and install the binary
COSMOS_BUILD_OPTIONS=pebbledb make install
```

Check the binary version has the `-pebbledb` suffix

```
❯ lagomd version
v19.0.0-pebbledb
```

danger

NOTE: if using a version **before v19**, you'll need to replace the cometbft-db dependency before installing the binary:

```
# cd into the directory where you have the LagomChain protocol source code
cd lagom

# replace the cometbft-db dependency
go mod edit -replace github.com/cometbft/cometbft-db=github.com/notional-labs/cometbft-db@pebble
go mod tidy

# compile and install the binary
go install -ldflags "-w -s -X github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types.DBBackend=pebbledb \
 -X github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/version.Version=$(git describe --tags)-pebbledb \
 -X github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/version.Commit=$(git log -1 --format='%H')" -tags pebbledb ./...
```

#### Update configuration[​](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP) <a href="#update-configuration" id="update-configuration"></a>

Make sure to update the `db_backend` configuration parameter in the `config.toml`:

#### Build docker image[​](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP) <a href="#build-docker-image" id="build-docker-image"></a>

To build a docker image with the `lagomd` binary compiled to use pebbledb, run the following command:

```
make build-docker-pebbledb
```

### Rocks DB[​](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP) <a href="#rocks-db" id="rocks-db"></a>

To set up a node with rocksDB, you need to install the [corresponding library](https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb) and related dependencies.

The installation process described below applies to Ubuntu OS. For other operating systems, refer to the [rocksdb installation guide](https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/blob/v9.2.1/INSTALL.md).

#### Install dependencies[​](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP) <a href="#install-dependencies" id="install-dependencies"></a>

* `gflags`

  ```
  sudo apt-get install libgflags-dev
  ```

  If this doesn't work and you're using Ubuntu, [here's a nice tutorial](https://askubuntu.com/questions/312173/installing-gflags-12-04)
* `snappy`

  ```
  sudo apt-get install libsnappy-dev
  ```
* `zlib`

  ```
  sudo apt-get install zlib1g-dev
  ```
* `bzip2`

  ```
  sudo apt-get install libbz2-dev
  ```
* `lz4`

  ```
  sudo apt-get install liblz4-dev
  ```
* `zstandard`

  ```
  sudo apt-get install libzstd-dev
  ```
* `gcc` >= 7

  ```
  sudo apt-get install build-essential
  ```
* `clang` >= 5

  ```
  sudo apt-get install clang
  ```

Install all dependencies at once with this command:

```
sudo apt-get install libgflags-dev libsnappy-dev zlib1g-dev libbz2-dev liblz4-dev libzstd-dev build-essential clang
```

#### Install `librocksdb`[​](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP) <a href="#install-librocksdb" id="install-librocksdb"></a>

To install this library, you will need to clone the [rocksdb repository](https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb).

Clone only the required version of it. To find out which is the required version, check the tag of the `grocksdb` dependency in the `go.mod` file of the lagomchain repository. For example, if the `go.mod` has:

```
github.com/linxGnu/grocksdb v1.9.2
```

You should check in the [grocksdb repo](https://github.com/linxGnu/grocksdb/releases), which RocksDB version is supported in the `v1.9.2` tag. In this case, `v1.9.2` supports RocksDB `v9.2.1`.

To install `librocksdb v9.2.1`, run the following commands:

```
# remove rocksdb repo from your machine if you have a previous version installed
rm -rf rocksdb

# download the source code of the desired version
git clone -b v9.2.1 --single-branch https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb

# cd into the directory where the source code was downloaded
cd rocksdb

# take note of the path where you have the rocksdb code
# you will need this for building the lagomd binary
PATH_TO_ROCKSDB=$(pwd)

# install librocksdb
PORTABLE=1 WITH_JNI=0 WITH_BENCHMARK_TOOLS=0 \
WITH_TESTS=1 WITH_TOOLS=0 WITH_CORE_TOOLS=1 \
WITH_BZ2=1 WITH_LZ4=1 WITH_SNAPPY=1 WITH_ZLIB=1 \
WITH_ZSTD=1 WITH_GFLAGS=0 USE_RTTI=1 \
make static_lib
```

The installation process may take several minutes.

#### Install `lagomd` binary[​](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP) <a href="#install-evmosd-binary" id="install-evmosd-binary"></a>

Once this completes, install the `lagomd` binary with rocksDB support

```
# cd into the directory where the lagomchain source code is
cd lagomchain

# compile and install the binary
# IMPORTANT: make sure to have the PATH_TO_ROCKSDB with the path where you cloned the rocksdb repository
CGO_CFLAGS="-I"$PATH_TO_ROCKSDB"/include" \
CGO_LDFLAGS="-L"$PATH_TO_ROCKSDB" -lrocksdb -lstdc++ -lm -lz -lbz2 -lsnappy -llz4 -lzstd" \
COSMOS_BUILD_OPTIONS=rocksdb \
make install
```

If getting the errors related to dynamic loading of shared libraries:

```
.../rocksdb/env/env_posix.cc:108: undefined reference to `dlclose'
.../rocksdb/env/env_posix.cc:113: undefined reference to `dlsym'
...
```

Retry the command adding the dynamic linker library in your executable, the `-ldl` flag in the `CGO_LDFLAGS`:

```
CGO_ENABLED=1 \
CGO_CFLAGS="-I"$PATH_TO_ROCKSDB"/include" \
CGO_LDFLAGS="-L"$PATH_TO_ROCKSDB" -lrocksdb -lstdc++ -lm -lz -lbz2 -lsnappy -llz4 -lzstd -ldl" \
COSMOS_BUILD_OPTIONS=rocksdb \
make install
```

Check the binary version has the `-rocksdb` suffix

```
❯ lagomd version
v19.0.0-rocksdb
```

#### Update database configuration[​](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP) <a href="#update-database-configuration" id="update-database-configuration"></a>

Before starting the process, make sure to update the `db_backend` configuration parameter in the `config.toml`:

### Version DB & MemIAVL[​](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP) <a href="#version-db--memiavl" id="version-db--memiavl"></a>

#### Version DB[​](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP) <a href="#version-db" id="version-db"></a>

VersionDB is a solution developed by the Cronos team to address the size of the IAVL database. For more information about it, refer to these resources:

* [VersionDB documentation](https://github.com/crypto-org-chain/cronos/tree/main/versiondb)
* [Blog post](https://blog.cronos.org/p/optimising-cronos-node-storage-with)

**Prerequisites**[**​**](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP)

* `lagomd` binary with `librocksdb`. Refer to [the previous section](#rocks-db) for the procedure on how to build this binary.

**Update configuration**[**​**](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP)

To enable versionDB, add `versiondb` to the list of `store.streamers` in `app.toml`:

```
[store]
streamers = ["versiondb"]
```

When starting the node with this configuration, you should see a `version.db` file in the `data` directory.

**Migration**[**​**](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP)

If you have an existing database and want to migrate this data to versionDB, follow the [migration guide](https://github.com/crypto-org-chain/cronos/wiki/VersionDB-Migration).

#### MemIAVL[​](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP) <a href="#memiavl" id="memiavl"></a>

MemIAVL is a solution developed by the Cronos team to address performance issues of the current IAVL implementation ([benchmarks here](https://github.com/crypto-org-chain/cronos/wiki/MemIAVL-Benchmark)). For more information about it, check [the documentation](https://github.com/crypto-org-chain/cronos/wiki/MemIAVL).

**Prerequisites**[**​**](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP)

* `lagomd` binary with `librocksdb`. Refer to [the RocksDB section](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP) for the procedure on how to build this binary.

**Update configuration**[**​**](broken://pages/4SOTfJoxZqCyZ3B6VMWP)

To enable MemIAVL turn on the `memiavl.enable` config item in `app.toml`. MemIAVL only supports pruned node, the default configuration (`memiavl.snapshot-keep-recent=0`) is equivalent to `pruning=everything`. To support historical grpc query services, you should enable versionDB together with it. If you need to support very old merkle proof generations, don't use memIAVL.

The default MemIAVL section in `app.toml`:

```
[memiavl]

# Enable defines if the memiavl should be enabled.
enable = false

# ZeroCopy defines if the memiavl should return slices pointing to mmap-ed buffers directly (zero-copy),
# the zero-copied slices must not be retained beyond current block's execution.
zero-copy = false

# AsyncCommitBuffer defines the size of asynchronous commit queue, this greatly improve block catching-up
# performance, -1 means synchronous commit.
async-commit-buffer = 0

# SnapshotKeepRecent defines what many old snapshots (excluding the latest one) to keep after new snapshots are taken.
snapshot-keep-recent = 0

# SnapshotInterval defines the block interval the memiavl snapshot is taken, default to 1000.
snapshot-interval = 1000

# CacheSize defines the size of the cache for each memiavl store, default to 1000.
cache-size = 1000
```

When starting the node with this configuration, you should see a `memiavl.db` file in the `data` directory.