Difference between revisions of "Running Bitcoin"

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There are two variations of the official 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).
 
There are two variations of the official 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).
  
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==Command-line arguments==
 
==Command-line arguments==
  

Revision as of 04:01, 11 February 2011

There are two variations of the official 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).

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:

 bitcoin [options]                     
 bitcoin [options] <command> [params]  Send command to -server or bitcoind
 bitcoin [options] help                List commands
 bitcoin [options] help <command>      Get help for a command

Options:

 -conf=<file>      Specify configuration file (default: bitcoin.conf)
 -gen              Generate coins
 -gen=0            Don't generate coins
 -min              Start minimized
 -datadir=<dir>    Specify data directory
 -proxy=<ip:port>  Connect through socks4 proxy
 -addnode=<ip>     Add a node to connect to
 -connect=<ip>     Connect only to the specified node
 -server           Accept command line and JSON-RPC commands
 -daemon           Run in the background as a daemon and accept commands
 -?                This help message

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\  :\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Bitcoin\bitcoin.conf
Linux $HOME/.bitcoin/ /Users/username/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
Mac OSX $HOME/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/ /Users/username/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/bitcoin.conf

Sample Bitcoin.conf

Here is a sample bitcoin.conf file, containing every option set to its default value.

 # bitcoin.conf configuration file. Lines beginning with # are comments.
 
 
 # Network-related settings:
 
 # Run on the test network instead of the real bitcoin network.
 #testnet=1
 
 # Connect via a socks4 proxy
 #proxy=127.0.0.1:9050
 
 # 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=1
 
 # Maximum number of inbound+outbound connections.
 #maxconnections=
 
 
 # JSON-RPC options (for controlling a running Bitcoin/bitcoind process)
 
 # server=1 tells Bitcoin to accept JSON-RPC commands.
 #server=1
 
 # You must set rpcuser and rpcpassword to secure the JSON-RPC api
 #rpcuser=Ulysseys
 #rpcpassword=YourSuperGreatPasswordNumber_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

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