Install gaiad

You need a machine that meets the system requirements and the version you are installing from the Versions page. At the end you have a gaiad binary (or image) built from the v29.0.1 commit and that you have verified against the release signature or built yourself. All three options are equal. Pick the one that fits how you run servers.

Pick the version first

Install the current mainnet release tag, not the newest tag. Release candidates (-rc) are for the testnet.

curl -s https://cosmos-rpc.polkachu.com/abci_info | jq -r '.result.response.version'

On 2026-11-08 this printed v29.0.1. The examples below use that tag. Replace it if the chain has moved on.

Install

Signed release binary
Container image
Source build

Each gaia v29 release ships two bare binaries, gaiad-<tag>-linux-amd64 and gaiad-<tag>-darwin-amd64, a detached GNU Privacy Guard (GPG) signature (.asc) for each, and SHA256SUMS-<tag>.txt. Releases before v29 also shipped .tar.gz archives. v29 does not. The release is signed with the Cosmos release key, fingerprint E625 9F16 9C7B 913D BB75 DE02 5395 305D 29B8 8B32, published in the cosmos/security repository. There is no arm64 Linux binary. Use the source build on arm64.Import the release key once:

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cosmos/security/main/release/gaia/signing/keys/cosmos-release.asc | gpg --import
gpg --fingerprint nodes@cosmoslabs.io

The fingerprint printed must match the one above. If it does not, stop. Do not install.Download the binary, its signature, and the checksum file:

export GAIA_TAG=v29.0.1
cd "$(mktemp -d)"
curl -LO "https://github.com/cosmos/gaia/releases/download/${GAIA_TAG}/gaiad-${GAIA_TAG}-linux-amd64"
curl -LO "https://github.com/cosmos/gaia/releases/download/${GAIA_TAG}/gaiad-${GAIA_TAG}-linux-amd64.asc"
curl -LO "https://github.com/cosmos/gaia/releases/download/${GAIA_TAG}/SHA256SUMS-${GAIA_TAG}.txt"

Verify the signature, then the checksum:

gpg --verify "gaiad-${GAIA_TAG}-linux-amd64.asc" "gaiad-${GAIA_TAG}-linux-amd64"
echo "$(awk '/linux-amd64\/gaiad$/ {print $1}' "SHA256SUMS-${GAIA_TAG}.txt")  gaiad-${GAIA_TAG}-linux-amd64" | sha256sum --check

Expect Good signature from "Cosmos-Release <nodes@cosmoslabs.io>" from gpg --verify and gaiad-v29.0.1-linux-amd64: OK from sha256sum --check. A warning that the key is not certified is normal for a key you imported directly. A BAD signature line is not, and Can't check signature: No public key means the import did not reach the keyring gpg uses.The v29.0.1 checksum file still names each binary by its old archive path, ./gaiad-linux-amd64/gaiad, so sha256sum --check --ignore-missing on the file itself verifies nothing and exits with no file was verified. The second command above takes the Linux hash from the file and checks the downloaded binary against it. On macOS use shasum -a 256 --check in place of sha256sum --check.Install the binary where your service user can run it:

sudo install -m 0755 "gaiad-${GAIA_TAG}-linux-amd64" /usr/local/bin/gaiad

The install command copies the file and sets the mode in one step, and /usr/local/bin is on PATH for every user, including the service user on Run gaiad as a service.

The release workflow publishes ghcr.io/cosmos/gaia:<tag> for every release tag (for example ghcr.io/cosmos/gaia:v29.0.1), plus a nightly tag from main. There is no latest tag, which is deliberate. Pin the current mainnet release tag. The image is a static linux/amd64 build with gaiad start as its entrypoint. It runs as user nonroot (uid 1025) and exposes ports 26656, 26657, 1317, and 9090.Pull the image and check the version:

docker pull ghcr.io/cosmos/gaia:v29.0.1
docker run --rm --entrypoint gaiad ghcr.io/cosmos/gaia:v29.0.1 version --long | grep -E '^(version|commit):'

For v29.0.1 the gaiad in the image is the same file as the Linux release binary, with the same SHA-256. Its version is stamped v29.0.1+dirty, because the release build ran from a checkout git marked as modified. Match the commit, 48c981b3198164a3d5ba5632ed631fcc3e9eeb09, against the v29.0.1 release page. The commit is the proof, not the version string.Mount a host directory as the node home so the data survives the container. The gaia repository’s convention is /opt/gaia:

sudo mkdir -p /opt/gaia && sudo chown 1025:1025 /opt/gaia
docker run --rm -it -v /opt/gaia:/opt/gaia --entrypoint gaiad ghcr.io/cosmos/gaia:v29.0.1 init my-hub-node --chain-id cosmoshub-4 --home /opt/gaia

This writes config/ and data/ under /opt/gaia on the host, owned by uid 1025. Every gaiad command on the Join mainnet page then takes the form docker run --rm -v /opt/gaia:/opt/gaia --entrypoint gaiad ghcr.io/cosmos/gaia:v29.0.1 <command> --home /opt/gaia. The node itself runs with the default entrypoint:

docker run -d --name gaiad --restart unless-stopped -p 26656:26656 -v /opt/gaia:/opt/gaia ghcr.io/cosmos/gaia:v29.0.1 --home /opt/gaia

To upgrade, change the tag at the upgrade height. Cosmovisor does not run inside this image, so follow the manual sequence on Upgrade a node.

Build from the release tag with the Go version pinned in that tag’s go.mod. For v29.0.1 that is Go 1.26.10, the newest 1.26 patch on 2026-11-08. The Makefile refuses Go older than 1.26.Install the build tools and Go:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y make gcc git curl
curl -LO https://go.dev/dl/go1.26.10.linux-amd64.tar.gz
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/go && sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.26.10.linux-amd64.tar.gz
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin:$(go env GOPATH 2>/dev/null || echo "$HOME/go")/bin
go version

Running go version prints go1.26.10. Add the PATH line to your shell profile so it survives a new login. On arm64 download go1.26.10.linux-arm64.tar.gz instead.Clone the repository at the tag and build:

git clone https://github.com/cosmos/gaia.git && cd gaia
git checkout v29.0.1
CGO_ENABLED=1 make install

The make install target compiles with the netgo,ledger build tags and places gaiad in $(go env GOPATH)/bin. Wasmvm is a C library, so a build without CGO_ENABLED=1 fails at link time. The make build target writes to ./build/gaiad instead.If the build fails with flag provided but not defined: -L, an LDFLAGS variable from your environment is leaking into the Go linker. Run LDFLAGS="" make install.On Linux, a source build is the only option with the ledger build tag, which gaiad keys add --ledger needs. It is not bit for bit identical to the release binary. For one you can compare to the published checksums, follow Reproducible builds.

Verify

gaiad version --long | grep -E '^(name|version|commit|cosmos_sdk_version|go|build_tags):'

Expected for the current release:

build_tags: netgo,ledger
commit: 48c981b3198164a3d5ba5632ed631fcc3e9eeb09
cosmos_sdk_version: v0.53.8
go: go version go1.26.10 linux/amd64
name: gaia
version: v29.0.1

That is a source build at the tag. The commit is the git commit of the tag and is the same for every install method. It is the line to compare. The version line reads v29.0.1 for a source build and v29.0.1+dirty for the Linux release binary and the container image. The build_tags line reads netgo,ledger for a source build. It reads netgo,muslc for the Linux release binary and the container image, which are static musl builds without Ledger support. The go line shows the toolchain the binary was built with. For the container image, run the same command with docker run --rm --entrypoint gaiad ghcr.io/cosmos/gaia:v29.0.1 version --long.

Build tags

Build tag	Meaning
netgo	Name resolution uses pure Go code
ledger	Ledger hardware wallets are supported by `gaiad keys`; present on a source build, not on the Linux release binary or the image
muslc	wasmvm is statically linked against musl; present on the Linux release binary and container builds, which do not carry `ledger`

Join mainnet to initialize and sync the node, or Join testnet to practice first. To run against a fork of the Cosmos SDK, add a replace directive to go.mod (go mod edit -replace github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk=../cosmos-sdk && go mod tidy) before make install.

Cosmos Hub

Pick the version first

Install

Verify

Build tags

Next

​Pick the version first

​Install

​Verify

​Build tags

​Next

Pick the version first

Install

Verify

Build tags

Next