How do I perform the initial data sync for a Kaspa node?

You sync a Kaspa node's blockchain data by running rsync over SSH to copy the data directory from a trusted remote host to your local machine. Rsync is a tool that mirrors files between computers efficiently — the flags shown (--progress, --stats, --delete) make it show transfer progress, print statistics, and keep the destination in exact sync with the source. Before running the command, you set environment variables for the remote host address, port, SSH account (kaspad), private key path, and local destination path, which keeps the actual command clean and reusable. The first time you connect, SSH will display the remote server's key fingerprint and ask you to confirm it — this is a standard security step to verify you are connecting to the right machine. Getting your node synced from a known source is much faster than replaying every block from scratch, so this initial rsync step is how most node operators bootstrap quickly.