Topic: bitcoind won't start; runs out of memory (Read 4651 times)
I also have txindex=1. I should've mentioned that in my original post. I don't know if that affects memory usage, but it wouldn't be surprising.
That is a lot but with that number of connections it is possible. What version are you using?
Latest version. 0.9.2.1. Nevermind though, I actually read it wrong -- memory use it just over 1GB, so not too bad for 80 - 90 connections at any given time. Ohhh, I also have the -txindex option turned on, so that might be doing it as well.
Hmmm.... I just looked, and why is my bitcoind taking 2.729 GB of memory? That's a little excessive, no? I have 87 connections, so maybe that's why.
Hmmm.... I just looked, and why is my bitcoind taking 2.729 GB of memory? That's a little excessive, no? I have 87 connections, so maybe that's why.
Mine runs fine on 512 memory and 512 swap.
I had to ask the VPS operator to increase the swap space as the ways I tried wouldn't work.
You need far more memory than that, first of all.
Just for anybody that needs more than 1gb to run bitcoind.
This will create a 256mb swap file
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1024 count=256k
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile
This will create a 1gb swap file
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=2048 count=512k
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile
If you want multiple files change /swapfile for /swapfile2
This will create a 256mb swap file
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1024 count=256k
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile
This will create a 1gb swap file
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=2048 count=512k
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile
If you want multiple files change /swapfile for /swapfile2
I created a 1GB swapfile (using dd) and added it as swap space.
bitcoind runs again! Thanks!
bitcoind runs again! Thanks!
Thanks for the clarifications and suggestions everyone.
I tried running it with maxconnections=1, but this also ran out of memory.
I hadn't even considered creating a swap file on my own, so it wasn't a silly question at all.
I have root access, so I tried. My VPS provider was prepared:
Edit: I now realize I might be able to do this in other ways than fallocate. I'll keep working on it.
I tried running it with maxconnections=1, but this also ran out of memory.
I hadn't even considered creating a swap file on my own, so it wasn't a silly question at all.
I have root access, so I tried. My VPS provider was prepared:
Code:
fallocate -l 1G /swapfile
fallocate: /swapfile: fallocate failed: Operation not supported
Edit: I now realize I might be able to do this in other ways than fallocate. I'll keep working on it.
Thanks for the help. The VPS is running Ubuntu 12.04.4 LTS. According to free -m there is no swap space, which might be causing the problem.
Oh well. No full node for me.
Silly question perhaps, but have you tried adding swap space?
Code:
cat /proc/swaps
sudo fallocate -l 1G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudoedit /etc/fstab
# Add the following one line to the end of fstab, then save & exit:
/swapfile none swap sw
sudo swapon -a
cat /proc/swaps
Just be aware that this might cost you $ with some VPS providers, e.g. Amazon EC2 (although it's free with others, e.g. Digital Ocean).
You have 2 options
1 - Create a swap file.
2 - Run the client using a low number of connections so it uses less ram.
Im more concerned about using in a 30 gb server... because in 2 months we will need to switch to pay the double.
1 - Create a swap file.
2 - Run the client using a low number of connections so it uses less ram.
Im more concerned about using in a 30 gb server... because in 2 months we will need to switch to pay the double.
The UTXO set is not kept in ram, just caches. Block headers are, however... and there are various overheads related to peers and such. Beyond block headers the mempool is probably one of the biggest memory users.
It has been slowly and continually increasing pretty much forever. There is no large and significant change to the UTXO in the last week it probably was just the straw which broke the VPS's back.
Oh well. No full node for me.
I'm curious: Does anyone know why it worked for the past 3 months, but then stopped working now? My best guess is that the main use of RAM is the utxo set. Has the number of utxo's increased recently?
I'm curious: Does anyone know why it worked for the past 3 months, but then stopped working now? My best guess is that the main use of RAM is the utxo set. Has the number of utxo's increased recently?
You need swap, that is the problem.
Thanks for the help. The VPS is running Ubuntu 12.04.4 LTS. According to free -m there is no swap space, which might be causing the problem.
I don't get to the point where I can call bitcoind getinfo because bitcoind -daemon is still in the initial phase before it dies. After calling bitcoind I can use top or free -m to watch the memory usage climb until it hits 1GB and dies.
I don't get to the point where I can call bitcoind getinfo because bitcoind -daemon is still in the initial phase before it dies. After calling bitcoind I can use top or free -m to watch the memory usage climb until it hits 1GB and dies.
2GB is required, and you will probably want some swap as well.
Well now that you mentioned it, my VPS had 512 MB VSwap. So yeah, OP you need to get a more robust VPS, or at least something with some VSwap.
2GB is required, and you will probably want some swap as well.
I don't think 1GB is enough to run Bitcoin and an OS. Currently it's using 800MB on my machine.
It's perfectly fine to run BitcoinD on a 1 GB VPS. What OS are you using, OP?
For what it's worth I run a full node with 1GB RAM. Dipping into swap a bit but it has never complained
Code:
@AOpen:~# bitcoind getinfo
{
"version" : 90000,
"protocolversion" : 70002,
"walletversion" : 60000,
"balance" : 0.00000000,
"blocks" : 313092,
"timeoffset" : -243,
"connections" : 45,
"proxy" : "",
"difficulty" : 18736441558.31023788,
"testnet" : false,
"keypoololdest" : 1386727402,
"keypoolsize" : 101,
"paytxfee" : 0.00000000,
"errors" : ""
}
@AOpen:~# free -m
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 1000 916 84 0 17 197
-/+ buffers/cache: 701 299
Swap: 1953 370 1583
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