Running Bitcoin

2012-10-02T16:03:50Z

Lilmatt: add mac screenshot

There are two variations of the original bitcoin program available; one with a graphical user interface (usually referred to as just “Bitcoin”), and a 'headless' version (called [[bitcoind]]). They are completely compatible with each other, and take the same command-line arguments, read the same configuration file, and read and write the same data files. You can run one copy of either Bitcoin or bitcoind on your system at a time (if you accidently try to launch another, the copy will let you know that Bitcoin or bitcoind is already running and will exit).

__TOC__
==Command-line arguments==

Give Bitcoin (or bitcoind) the -? or –-help argument and it will print out a list of the most commonly used command-line arguments and then exit:

Usage:
bitcoind [options]
bitcoind [options] <command> [params] Send command to -server or bitcoind
bitcoind [options] help List commands
bitcoind [options] help <command> Get help for a command
Options:
-conf=<file> Specify configuration file (default: bitcoin.conf)
-pid=<file> Specify pid file (default: bitcoind.pid)
-gen Generate coins
-gen=0 Don't generate coins
-min Start minimized
-datadir=<dir> Specify data directory
-timeout=<n> Specify connection timeout (in milliseconds)
-proxy=<ip:port> Connect through socks4 proxy
-dns Allow DNS lookups for addnode and connect
-port=<port> Listen for connections on <port> (default: 8333 or testnet: 18333)
-maxconnections=<n> Maintain at most <n> connections to peers (default: 125)
-addnode=<ip> Add a node to connect to
-connect=<ip> Connect only to the specified node at <ip> or <ip:port> (default port: 8333).
-nolisten Don't accept connections from outside
-nodnsseed Don't bootstrap list of peers using DNS
-banscore=<n> Threshold for disconnecting misbehaving peers (default: 100)
-bantime=<n> Number of seconds to keep misbehaving peers from reconnecting (default: 86400)
-maxreceivebuffer=<n> Maximum per-connection receive buffer, <n>*1000 bytes (default: 10000)
-maxsendbuffer=<n> Maximum per-connection send buffer, <n>*1000 bytes (default: 10000)
-noupnp Don't attempt to use UPnP to map the listening port
-paytxfee=<amt> Fee per KB to add to transactions you send
-daemon Run in the background as a daemon and accept commands
-testnet Use the test network
-debug Output extra debugging information
-logtimestamps Prepend debug output with timestamp
-printtoconsole Send trace/debug info to console instead of debug.log file
-rpcuser=<user> Username for JSON-RPC connections
-rpcpassword=<pw> Password for JSON-RPC connections
-rpcport=<port> Listen for JSON-RPC connections on <port> (default: 8332)
-rpcallowip=<ip> Allow JSON-RPC connections from specified IP address
-rpcconnect=<ip> Send commands to node running on <ip> (default: 127.0.0.1)
-keypool=<n> Set key pool size to <n> (default: 100)
-rescan Rescan the block chain for missing wallet transactions

SSL options: (see the Bitcoin Wiki for SSL setup instructions)
-rpcssl Use OpenSSL (https) for JSON-RPC connections
-rpcsslcertificatechainfile=<file.cert> Server certificate file (default: server.cert)
-rpcsslprivatekeyfile=<file.pem> Server private key (default: server.pem)
-rpcsslciphers=<ciphers> Acceptable ciphers (default: TLSv1+HIGH:!SSLv2:!aNULL:!eNULL:!AH:!3DES:@STRENGTH)

Additional (Supported but not listed in -? help):
-checkblocks Rescan the whole blockchain (can take very much time)

==Bitcoin.conf Configuration File==
All command-line options (except for -datadir and -conf) may be specified in a configuration file, and all configuration file options may also be specified on the command line. Command-line options override values set in the configuration file.

The configuration file is a list of setting=value pairs, one per line, with optional comments starting with the '#' character.

The configuration file is not automatically created; you can create it using your favorite plain-text editor. By default, Bitcoin (or bitcoind) will look for a file named 'bitcoin.conf' in the bitcoin [[data directory]], but both the data directory and the configuration file path may be changed using the -datadir and -conf command-line arguments.
{|
! Operating System
! Default bitcoin datadir
! Typical path to configuration file
|-
| Windows
| %APPDATA%\Bitcoin\
| (XP) C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Bitcoin\bitcoin.conf
(Vista, 7) C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin\bitcoin.conf
|-
| Linux
| $HOME/.bitcoin/
| /home/username/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
|-
| Mac OSX
| $HOME/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/
| /Users/username/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
|}

Note: if running Bitcoin in testnet mode, the sub-folder "testnet" will be appended to the data directory automatically.

==Sample Bitcoin.conf==
Here is a sample bitcoin.conf file.

# bitcoin.conf configuration file. Lines beginning with # are comments.

# Network-related settings:

# Run on the test network instead of the real bitcoin network.
#testnet=0

# Connect via a socks4 proxy
#proxy=127.0.0.1:9050

##############################################################
## Quick Primer on addnode vs connect ##
## Let's say for instance you use addnode=4.2.2.4 ##
## addnode will connect you to and tell you about the ##
## nodes connected to 4.2.2.4. In addition it will tell ##
## the other nodes connected to it that you exist so ##
## they can connect to you. ##
## connect will not do the above when you 'connect' to it. ##
## It will *only* connect you to 4.2.2.4 and no one else.##
## ##
## So if you're behind a firewall, or have other problems ##
## finding nodes, add some using 'addnode'. ##
## ##
## If you want to stay private, use 'connect' to only ##
## connect to "trusted" nodes. ##
## ##
## If you run multiple nodes on a LAN, there's no need for ##
## all of them to open lots of connections. Instead ##
## 'connect' them all to one node that is port forwarded ##
## and has lots of connections. ##
## Thanks goes to [Noodle] on Freenode. ##
##############################################################

# Use as many addnode= settings as you like to connect to specific peers
#addnode=69.164.218.197
#addnode=10.0.0.2:8333

# ... or use as many connect= settings as you like to connect ONLY
# to specific peers:
#connect=69.164.218.197
#connect=10.0.0.1:8333

# Do not use Internet Relay Chat (irc.lfnet.org #bitcoin channel) to
# find other peers.
#noirc=0

# Maximum number of inbound+outbound connections.
#maxconnections=

# JSON-RPC options (for controlling a running Bitcoin/bitcoind process)

# server=1 tells Bitcoin-QT to accept JSON-RPC commands.
#server=0

# You must set rpcuser and rpcpassword to secure the JSON-RPC api
#rpcuser=Ulysseys
#rpcpassword=YourSuperGreatPasswordNumber_DO_NOT_USE_THIS_OR_YOU_WILL_GET_ROBBED_385593

# How many seconds bitcoin will wait for a complete RPC HTTP request.
# after the HTTP connection is established.
#rpctimeout=30

# By default, only RPC connections from localhost are allowed. Specify
# as many rpcallowip= settings as you like to allow connections from
# other hosts (and you may use * as a wildcard character):
#rpcallowip=10.1.1.34
#rpcallowip=192.168.1.*

# Listen for RPC connections on this TCP port:
#rpcport=8332

# You can use Bitcoin or bitcoind to send commands to Bitcoin/bitcoind
# running on another host using this option:
#rpcconnect=127.0.0.1

# Use Secure Sockets Layer (also known as TLS or HTTPS) to communicate
# with Bitcoin -server or bitcoind
#rpcssl=1

# OpenSSL settings used when rpcssl=1
#rpcsslciphers=TLSv1+HIGH:!SSLv2:!aNULL:!eNULL:!AH:!3DES:@STRENGTH
#rpcsslcertificatechainfile=server.cert
#rpcsslprivatekeyfile=server.pem

# Miscellaneous options

# Set gen=1 to attempt to generate bitcoins
#gen=0

# Use SSE instructions to try to generate bitcoins faster.
#4way=1

# Pre-generate this many public/private key pairs, so wallet backups will be valid for
# both prior transactions and several dozen future transactions.
#keypool=100

# Pay an optional transaction fee every time you send bitcoins. Transactions with fees
# are more likely than free transactions to be included in generated blocks, so may
# be validated sooner.
#paytxfee=0.00

# Allow direct connections for the 'pay via IP address' feature.
#allowreceivebyip=1

# User interface options

# Start Bitcoin minimized
#min=1

# Minimize to the system tray
#minimizetotray=1

==Platforms==
===Windows===

====Start automatically====
To configure the Bitcoin client to start automatically:

You might use the configuration-file, or the GUI-Settings:

Settings -> Options

then mark the checkbox titled:
[X] Start Bitcoin on system startup

[[{{ns:file}}:Client_Settings_Options_windows.png]]

====Batch automation====
To work with batch, you have to start the daemon (bitcoind.exe). The bitcoin.exe run with option "-server" will respond with GUI-messages you are not able to process its answers.

===Mac===
[[{{ns:file}}:MacBitcoinStartOnLogin.png]]

===Linux===
[[{{ns:file}}:Client_Settings_Options.png]]

[[es:Ejecución de Bitcoin]]

[[Category:Technical]]
[[Category:Developer]]

File:MacBitcoinStartOnLogin.png

2012-10-02T16:03:01Z

Lilmatt:

Bitcoin Wiki - User contributions [en]

Running Bitcoin

File:MacBitcoinStartOnLogin.png