---
html: load-a-saved-ledger-in-stand-alone-mode.html
parent: use-stand-alone-mode.html
blurb: Start in stand-alone mode from a specific saved ledger to test or replay transactions.
labels:
  - Core Server
---
# Load a Saved Ledger in Stand-Alone Mode

You can start a `rippled` server in [Stand-Alone Mode](rippled-server-modes.html) using a [historical ledger version](ledgers.html) that was previously saved to disk. For example, if your `rippled` server was previously synced with any XRP Ledger peer-to-peer network including [the production Mainnet, the Testnet, or the Devnet](parallel-networks.html), you can load any ledger version your server had available.

Loading a historical ledger version is useful for "replaying" a ledger to verify that transactions were processed according to the rules of the network, or to compare the results of processing transaction sets with different [amendments](amendments.html) enabled. In the unlikely event that [an attack against the XRP Ledger's consensus mechanism](consensus-protections.html) caused unwanted effects to the shared ledger state, a consensus of validators could "roll back" to a known-good network state starting with this process.

**Caution:** As `rippled` is updated to newer versions, amendments are retired and become core functions of the ledger, which can affect how transactions are processed. To produce historically accurate results, you need to replay ledgers using the version of `rippled` the transaction was processed in.

## 1. Start `rippled` normally.

To load an existing ledger, you must first retrieve that ledger from the network. Start `rippled` in online mode as normal:

```
rippled --conf=/path/to/rippled.cfg
```

## 2. Wait until `rippled` is synced.

Use the [server_info method][] to check the state of your server relative to the network. Your server is synced when the `server_state` value shows any of the following values:

* `full`
* `proposing`
* `validating`

For more information, see [Possible Server States](rippled-server-states.html).

## 3. (Optional) Retrieve specific ledger versions.

If you only want the most recent ledger, you can skip this step.

If you want to load a specific historical ledger version, use the [ledger_request method][] to make `rippled` fetch it. If `rippled` does not already have the ledger version, you may have to run the `ledger_request` command multiple times until it has finished retrieving the ledger.

If you want to replay a specific historical ledger version, you must fetch both the ledger version to replay and the ledger version before it. (The previous ledger version sets up the initial state upon which you apply the changes described by the ledger version you replay.)

## 4. Shut down `rippled`.

Use the [stop method][]:

```
rippled stop --conf=/path/to/rippled.cfg
```

## 5. Start `rippled` in stand-alone mode.

To load the most recent ledger version, start the server with the `-a` and `--load` options:

```
rippled -a --load --conf=/path/to/rippled.cfg
```

To load a specific historical ledger, start the server with the `--load` parameter along with the `--ledger` parameter, providing the ledger index or identifying hash of the ledger version to load:

```
rippled -a --load --ledger 19860944 --conf=/path/to/rippled.cfg
```

This makes the saved ledger version the "current" (open) ledger for the server when it starts.

For more information on the options you can use when starting `rippled` in stand-alone mode, see [Commandline Usage: Stand-Alone Mode Options](commandline-usage.html#stand-alone-mode-options).

## 6. Manually advance the ledger.

To process the saved ledger, manually advance it with the `ledger_accept` method:

```
rippled ledger_accept --conf=/path/to/rippled.cfg
```

This puts the transactions in canonical order and processes them to make a closed ledger.


## See Also

- **References:**
    - [ledger_accept method][]
    - [server_info method][]
    - [`rippled` Commandline Usage](commandline-usage.html)
- **Use Cases:**
    - [Contribute Code to the XRP Ledger](contribute-code.html)

<!--{# common link defs #}-->
{% include '_snippets/rippled-api-links.md' %}
{% include '_snippets/tx-type-links.md' %}
{% include '_snippets/rippled_versions.md' %}
