btcd

README

btcd

[] (https://travis-ci.org/btcsuite/btcd)

btcd is an alternative full node bitcoin implementation written in Go (golang).

This project is currently under active development and is in a Beta state. It is extremely stable and has been in production use for over 6 months as of May 2014, however there are still a couple of major features we want to add before we come out of beta.

It properly downloads, validates, and serves the block chain using the exact rules (including bugs) for block acceptance as Bitcoin Core. We have taken great care to avoid btcd causing a fork to the block chain. It passes all of the 'official' block acceptance tests (https://github.com/TheBlueMatt/test-scripts) as well as all of the JSON test data in the Bitcoin Core code.

It also relays newly mined blocks, maintains a transaction pool, and relays individual transactions that have not yet made it into a block. It ensures all transactions admitted to the pool follow the rules required by the block chain and also includes the same checks which filter transactions based on miner requirements ("standard" transactions) as Bitcoin Core.

One key difference between btcd and Bitcoin Core is that btcd does NOT include wallet functionality and this was a very intentional design decision. See the blog entry here for more details. This means you can't actually make or receive payments directly with btcd. That functionality is provided by the btcwallet and btcgui projects which are both under active development.

Requirements

Go 1.3 or newer.

Installation

Windows - MSI Available

https://github.com/btcsuite/btcd/releases

Linux/BSD/MacOSX/POSIX - Build from Source

• Install Go according to the installation instructions here: http://golang.org/doc/install

• Ensure Go was installed properly and is a supported version:

$ go version
$ go env GOROOT GOPATH

NOTE: The GOROOT and GOPATH above must not be the same path. It is recommended that GOPATH is set to a directory in your home directory such as ~/goprojects to avoid write permission issues.

• Run the following command to obtain btcd, all dependencies, and install it:

$ go get -u github.com/btcsuite/btcd/...

• btcd (and utilities) will now be installed in either $GOROOT/bin or $GOPATH/bin depending on your configuration. If you did not already add the bin directory to your system path during Go installation, we recommend you do so now.

Updating

Windows

Install a newer MSI

Linux/BSD/MacOSX/POSIX - Build from Source

• Run the following command to update btcd, all dependencies, and install it:

$ go get -u -v github.com/btcsuite/btcd/...

Getting Started

btcd has several configuration options avilable to tweak how it runs, but all of the basic operations described in the intro section work with zero configuration.

Windows (Installed from MSI)

Launch btcd from your Start menu.

Linux/BSD/POSIX/Source

$ ./btcd

IRC

• irc.freenode.net
• channel #btcd
• webchat

Mailing lists

• btcd: discussion of btcd and its packages.
• btcd-commits: readonly mail-out of source code changes.

To subscribe to a given list, send email to list+subscribe@opensource.conformal.com

Issue Tracker

The integrated github issue tracker is used for this project.

Documentation

The documentation is a work-in-progress. It is located in the docs folder.

GPG Verification Key

All official release tags are signed by Conformal so users can ensure the code has not been tampered with and is coming from the btcsuite developers. To verify the signature perform the following:

• Download the public key from the Conformal website at https://opensource.conformal.com/GIT-GPG-KEY-conformal.txt

• Import the public key into your GPG keyring:

  gpg --import GIT-GPG-KEY-conformal.txt
  

• Verify the release tag with the following command where TAG_NAME is a placeholder for the specific tag:

  git tag -v TAG_NAME
  

License

btcd is licensed under the copyfree ISC License.

Documentation

Overview

btcd is a full-node bitcoin implementation written in Go.

The default options are sane for most users. This means btcd will work 'out of the box' for most users. However, there are also a wide variety of flags that can be used to control it.

The following section provides a usage overview which enumerates the flags. An interesting point to note is that the long form of all of these options (except -C) can be specified in a configuration file that is automatically parsed when btcd starts up. By default, the configuration file is located at ~/.btcd/btcd.conf on POSIX-style operating systems and %LOCALAPPDATA%\btcd\btcd.conf on Windows. The -C (--configfile) flag, as shown below, can be used to override this location.

Usage:

btcd [OPTIONS]

Application Options:

-V, --version            Display version information and exit
-C, --configfile=        Path to configuration file
-b, --datadir=           Directory to store data
-a, --addpeer=           Add a peer to connect with at startup
    --connect=           Connect only to the specified peers at startup
    --nolisten           Disable listening for incoming connections -- NOTE:
                         Listening is automatically disabled if the --connect
                         or --proxy options are used without also specifying
                         listen interfaces via --listen
    --listen=            Add an interface/port to listen for connections
                         (default all interfaces port: 8333, testnet: 18333)
    --maxpeers=          Max number of inbound and outbound peers (125)
    --banduration=       How long to ban misbehaving peers.  Valid time units
                         are {s, m, h}.  Minimum 1 second (24h0m0s)
-u, --rpcuser=           Username for RPC connections
-P, --rpcpass=           Password for RPC connections
    --rpclimituser=      Username for limited RPC connections
    --rpclimitpass=      Password for limited RPC connections
    --rpclisten=         Add an interface/port to listen for RPC connections
                         (default port: 8334, testnet: 18334)
    --rpccert=           File containing the certificate file
    --rpckey=            File containing the certificate key
    --rpcmaxclients=     Max number of RPC clients for standard connections
                         (10)
    --rpcmaxwebsockets=  Max number of RPC clients for standard connections
                         (25)
    --norpc              Disable built-in RPC server -- NOTE: The RPC server
                         is disabled by default if no rpcuser/rpcpass is
                         specified
    --notls              Disable TLS for the RPC server -- NOTE: This is only
                         allowed if the RPC server is bound to localhost
    --nodnsseed          Disable DNS seeding for peers
    --externalip:        Add an ip to the list of local addresses we claim to
                         listen on to peers
    --proxy=             Connect via SOCKS5 proxy (eg. 127.0.0.1:9050)
    --proxyuser=         Username for proxy server
    --proxypass=         Password for proxy server
    --onion=             Connect to tor hidden services via SOCKS5 proxy (eg.
                         127.0.0.1:9050)
    --onionuser=         Username for onion proxy server
    --onionpass=         Password for onion proxy server
    --noonion=           Disable connecting to tor hidden services
    --torisolation       Enable Tor stream isolation by randomizing user
                         credentials for each connection.
    --testnet=           Use the test network
    --regtest=           Use the regression test network
    --nocheckpoints=     Disable built-in checkpoints.  Don't do this unless
                         you know what you're doing.
    --dbtype=            Database backend to use for the Block Chain (leveldb)
    --profile=           Enable HTTP profiling on given port -- NOTE port must
                         be between 1024 and 65536 (6060)
    --cpuprofile=        Write CPU profile to the specified file
-d, --debuglevel:        Logging level for all subsystems {trace, debug, info,
                         warn, error, critical} -- You may also specify
                         <subsystem>=<level>,<subsystem2>=<level>,... to set
                         the log level for individual subsystems -- Use show
                         to list available subsystems (info)
    --upnp               Use UPnP to map our listening port outside of NAT
    --limitfreerelay=    Limit relay of transactions with no transaction fee
                         to the given amount in thousands of bytes per minute
                         (15)
    --norelaypriority    Do not require free or low-fee transactions to have
                         high priority for relaying
    --maxorphantx=       Max number of orphan transactions to keep in memory
                         (1000)
    --generate=          Generate (mine) bitcoins using the CPU
    --miningaddr=        Add the specified payment address to the list of
                         addresses to use for generated blocks -- At least
                         one address is required if the generate option is set
    --blockminsize=      Mininum block size in bytes to be used when creating
                         a block
    --blockmaxsize=      Maximum block size in bytes to be used when creating
                         a block (750000)
    --blockprioritysize= Size in bytes for high-priority/low-fee transactions
                         when creating a block (50000)
    --getworkkey=        DEPRECATED -- Use the --miningaddr option instead
    --addrindex=         Build and maintain a full address index. Currently
                         only supported by leveldb.
    --dropaddrindex=     Deletes the address-based transaction index from the
                         database on start up, and the exits.

Help Options:

-h, --help           Show this help message