Initial Sync

Configuration

To speed up the initial sync, users can increase the dbcache by inserting:

litecoin.conf

dbcache=1000 # replace '1000' with available RAM in MB 

From Litecoin v0.8.5.2+, SSE2 PoW validation can make import even faster on a system with SSD drives.

Bootstrap.dat

In older clients, the initial sync was very slow. To rapidly import blocks, users could import block data from a bootstrap.dat file. This file would be placed in the Litecoin data directory, and would be automatically detected by Litecoin Core upon startup.

caution

NOTICE: Although it is still possible to use a bootstrap.dat file using -loadblock, it is no longer advised. With the release of Litecoin Core v0.10, a new block header first sync method is used. As the whole chain is now known to the client in advance, blocks can be downloaded in parallel from multiple peers.