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Moving a Datakeeper Node to a New Computer

This guide covers moving an existing Datakeeper node — its license, account, and (optionally) already-stored data — from one computer to another, for both the CLI node and the DeNode Manager Desktop.

Table of Contents

  1. Before You Start
  2. Step 1: Stop the Node on the Old Computer
  3. Step 2: Back Up Your Private Key
  4. Step 3: Move Your Storage Drive (Optional)
  5. Step 4: Install the Node Software on the New Computer
  6. Step 5: Import Your Account
  7. Step 6: Configure and Start the Node

Before You Start

⚠️ Important: A license can only run actively on one computer at a time. Running the same license on two machines simultaneously causes transaction conflicts, not faster syncing.

Decide what you're moving:

  • Just the setup (account + config), and you'll let the node re-sync data from scratch — simplest option.
  • The setup and the already-stored data, by physically moving the drive — keeps your existing stored files, avoids re-download.

💡 Moving only some of your licenses? If you're keeping the rest running on the old computer, delegate the moved licenses to a separate wallet address via License Management instead of splitting one account across two machines — otherwise you'll hit transaction conflicts.

Step 1: Stop the Node on the Old Computer

  • CLI: stop the running process (Ctrl+C in the terminal, or close the terminal window).
  • DeNode Manager Desktop: quit the application, then confirm the background denode process has actually terminated — closing the window alone may not stop it (see the reinstallation troubleshooting note).

Do this before activating the license on the new computer, to avoid the transaction conflicts described above.

Step 2: Back Up Your Private Key

You'll need to re-import your account on the new computer.

  • CLI: ./denode account export — copy and store the output securely.
  • Other wallet: use your wallet's export function (e.g., Metamask → Account Details → Export Private Key), as described in the requirements guide.

Never share your private key with anyone — see What is a private key?

Step 3: Move Your Storage Drive (Optional)

If you want to keep your already-stored data, connect the same HDD/SSD to the new computer.

Can't move the drive physically? (e.g., it's inside a laptop, or the machines are in different locations) — copy the data over the network instead:

  • Same LAN: share the storage folder and copy it with robocopy (Windows) or rsync -a (Linux/macOS), or mount it over SMB/NFS.
  • Remote machines: rsync -avz or scp over SSH.

The destination folder name doesn't need to match the old one — you set the exact path explicitly in Step 6. Note that for large amounts of stored data, a network copy is usually much slower than physically moving the drive.

Step 4: Install the Node Software on the New Computer

You're not required to keep using the same node type — e.g., you can switch from CLI to DeNode Manager Desktop on the new machine if that suits you better.

Step 5: Import Your Account

During first-run configuration, choose the import option instead of selecting an existing account, and paste the private key from Step 2:

You'll be asked to set a new password — the private key is stored locally, encrypted with it.

Step 6: Configure and Start the Node

Reconfigure the license from scratch on the new computer, rather than trying to carry over the old configurations files — it's simpler and less error-prone. Point the storage directory to your moved drive (Step 3) or a fresh empty folder. Point it to the folder that contains the denode.storage-<license-id> subdirectory of the old setup — the node keeps stored data inside that subdirectory.