Importprivkey

importprivkey is an RPC command on bitcoind that allows a private key to be added to a wallet.

As of September 2011, this command exists only in the form of a patch that must be applied to the main client.

How to get the patched source

If you are able to compile the source in Linux, you can download and compile the patched source.

First, use git to get the unpatched source:

git clone git://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin.git

Then, change into the source subdirectory within the tree.

cd bitcoin/src

Then, download the patch:

curl https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/220.diff > 220.diff

Then apply the patch:

git apply < 220.diff

Then compile the source

make -f makefile.unix bitcoind