3c673cc338
Add basic page with some general information plus instructions for Ubuntu 14.10. Change a link on the participate page to point to the full node page. This page is being added as English-only for now. I figure we can convert it into a translation template after we have instructions for Windows and Mac OS X, and after the instrutions have actually been tested with the released version of Bitcoin Core 0.10.0. (These Ubuntu instructions were tested with RC3 and the old Ubuntu packaging.)
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| layout | lang | id | title |
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| base | en | full-node | Running A Full Node - Bitcoin |
{% assign moreHelp="If you need more help, please ask in one of Bitcoin's many communities, such as Bitcoin StackExchange, BitcoinTalk technical support, or the #bitcoin IRC chatroom on Freenode." %}
Running A Full Node
Learn how run a full node
What Is A Full Node?
A full node is a program that fully validates transactions and blocks. Almost all full nodes also help the network by accepting transactions and blocks from other full nodes, validating those transactions and blocks, and then relaying them to further full nodes.
Most full nodes also serve lightweight clients by allowing them to transmit their transactions to the network and by notifying them when a transaction affects their wallet. If not enough nodes perform this function, clients won't be able to connect through the peer-to-peer network---they'll have to use centralized services instead.
Many people and organizations volunteer to run full nodes using spare computing and bandwidth resources---but more volunteers are needed to allow Bitcoin to continue to grow. This document describes how you can help and what helping will cost you.
Costs And Warnings
Running a Bitcoin full node comes with certain costs and can expose you to certain risks. This section will explain those costs and risks so you can decide whether you're able to help the network.
Special Cases
Miners, businesses, and privacy-conscious users rely on particular behavior from the full nodes they use, so they will often run their own full nodes and take special safety precautions. This document does not cover those precautions---it only describes running a full node to help support the Bitcoin network in general.
Please consult an expert if you need help setting up your full node correctly to handle high-value and privacy-sensitive tasks.
Secure Your Wallet
It's possible and safe to run a full node to support the network and use its wallet to store your bitcoins, but you must take the same precautions you would when using any Bitcoin wallet. Please see the securing your wallet page for more information.
Minimum Requirements
Bitcoin Core full nodes have certain requirements. If you try running a node on weak hardware, it may work---but you'll likely spend more time dealing with issues. If you can meet the following requirements, you'll have an easy-to-use node.
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Desktop or laptop hardware running recent versions of Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux.
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50 gigabytes of free disk space
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2 gigabytes of memory (RAM)
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Broadband Internet connection
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6 hours a day that your full node can be left running. (You can do other things with your computer while running a full node)
Possible Problems
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Legal: Bitcoin use is prohibited or restricted in some areas
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Anti-virus: Several people have placed parts of known computer viruses in the Bitcoin block chain. This block chain data can't infect your computer, but some anti-virus programs quarantine the data any way, making it more difficult to run a full node. This problem mostly affects computers running Windows
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Attack target: People who want to disrupt the Bitcoin network may attack full nodes in ways that will affect other things you do with your computer, such as an attack that limits your available download bandwidth or an attack that prevents you from using your full node's wallet for sending transactions
Linux Instructions
The following instructions describe installing Bitcoin Core on Linux systems.
Ubuntu 14.10 Desktop
Instructions for Bitcoin Core 0.10.0.
Click the Ubuntu swirl icon to start the Dash and type "term" into the input box. Choose any one of the terminals listed:
Type the following line to add the Bitcoin Personal Package Archive (PPA) to your system:
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:bitcoin/bitcoin
You will be prompted for your user password. Provide it to continue. Afterwards, the following text will be displayed:
Stable Channel of bitcoin-qt and bitcoind for Ubuntu, and their dependencies
More info: https://launchpad.net/~bitcoin/+archive/ubuntu/bitcoin
Press [ENTER] to continue or ctrl-c to cancel adding it
Press enter to continue. The following text (with some variations) will be displayed and you will be returned to the command line prompt:
gpg: keyring `/tmp/tmpixuqu73x/secring.gpg' created
gpg: keyring `/tmp/tmpixuqu73x/pubring.gpg' created
gpg: requesting key 8842CE5E from hkp server keyserver.ubuntu.com
gpg: /tmp/tmpixuqu73x/trustdb.gpg: trustdb created
gpg: key 8842CE5E: public key "Launchpad PPA for Bitcoin" imported
gpg: no ultimately trusted keys found
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg: imported: 1 (RSA: 1)
OK
Type the following line to get the most recent list of packages:
sudo apt-get update
A large number of lines will be displayed as different update files are downloaded. This step may take several minutes on a slow Internet connection.
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To install the Bitcoin Core Graphical User Interface (GUI), type the following line and proceed to the Bitcoin Core GUI section below:
sudo apt-get install bitcoin-qt -
To install the Bitcoin Core daemon (bitcoind), which is useful for programmers and advanced users, type the following line and proceed to the Bitcoin Core Daemon section below:
sudo apt-get install bitcoind -
To install both the GUI and the daemon, type the following line and read both the GUI instructions and the daemon instructions. Note that you can't run both the GUI and the daemon at the same time using the same configuration directory.
sudo apt-get install bitcoin-qt bitcoind
After choosing what packages to install, you will be asked whether you want to proceed. Press enter to continue.
Bicoin Core GUI
To start Bitcoin Core GUI, click the Ubuntu swirl icon to open the Dash,
type bitcoin, and click the Bitcoin icon.
You will be prompted to choose a directory to store the Bitcoin block chain and your wallet. Unless you have a separate partition or drive you want to use, click Ok to use the default.
Bitcoin Core GUI will begin to download the block chain. This step will take at least several hours, and it may take a day or more on a slow Internet connection or with a slow computer. During the download, Bitcoin Core will use a significant part of your connection bandwidth. You can stop Bitcoin Core at any time by closing it; it will resume from the point where it stopped the next time you start it.
After download is complete, you may use Bitcoin Core as your wallet or you can just let it run to help support the Bitcoin network.
Starting your node automatically each time you login to your computer makes it easy for you to contribute to the network. The easiest way to do this is to add Bitcoin Core GUI to the list of startup applications.
Click the Ubuntu swirl icon to start the Dash, type startup app,
and click the Startup Applications icon.
In the screen that appears, click the Add button, and enter the
following information. The -min tells Bitcoin Core GUI to start
minimized (in the tray):
Name: Bitcoin
Command: bitcoin-qt -min
The form should look like this:
Click Save and then Close to save your changes. The next time you login to your desktop, Bitcoin Core GUI will be automatically started in as an icon in the tray.
{{moreHelp}}
Bicoin Core Daemon
Before using the Bitcoin Core daemon, bitcoind, you need to create its
configuration file with a user name and password. First create the
.bitcoin directory, create (touch) the file, and set the file's
permissions so that only your user account can read it. From the
terminal, type:
mkdir .bitcoin
touch .bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
chmod 600 .bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
Then you can run the command bitcoind. It will print output similar
to this:
bitcoind
Error: To use the "-server" option, you must set a rpcpassword in the configuration file:
/home/bitcoinorg/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
It is recommended you use the following random password:
rpcuser=bitcoinrpc
rpcpassword=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
(you do not need to remember this password)
The username and password MUST NOT be the same.
If the file does not exist, create it with owner-readable-only file permissions.
It is also recommended to set alertnotify so you are notified of problems;
for example: alertnotify=echo %s | mail -s "Bitcoin Alert" admin@foo.com
The "rpcpassword" displayed will be unique for your system. You can copy the the rpcuser and rpcpassword lines into your configuration file using the following commands. Note that in most Ubuntu terminals, you need to press Ctrl-Shift-C to copy and Ctrl-Shift-V to paste because Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V have different meanings in a Unix-style terminal.
echo rpcuser=bitcoinrpc >> .bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
echo rpcpassword=XXXXXX >> .bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
(Warning: Don't use XXXXXX as your RPC password. Copy the rpcpassword displayed by bitcoind for your system.)
Now you can start Bitcoin Core daemon for real. Type the following command:
bitcoind -daemon
It will print a message that Bitcoin Core is starting. To interact with
Bitcoin Core daemon, you will use the command bitcoin-cli (Bitcoin
command line interface). Note: it may take up to several minutes for
Bitcoin Core to start, during which it will display the following
message whenever you use bitcoin-cli:
error: {"code":-28,"message":"Verifying blocks..."}
After it starts, you may find the following commands useful for basic
interaction with your node:
getblockchaininfo,
getnetworkinfo,
getnettotals,
getwalletinfo,
stop, and help.
For example, to safely stop your node, run the following command:
bitcoin-cli stop
A complete list of commands is available in the Bitcoin.org developer reference.
When Bitcoin Core daemon first starts, it will begin to download the
block chain. This step will take at least several hours, and it may
take a day or more on a slow Internet connection or with a slow
computer. During the download, Bitcoin Core will use a significant part
of your connection bandwidth. You can stop Bitcoin Core at any time using
the stop command; it will resume from the point where it stopped the next
time you start it.
Starting your node automatically each time your computer boots makes it easy for you to contribute to the network. The easiest way to do this is to start Bitcoin Core daemon from your crontab. To edit your crontab, run the following command:
crontab -e
Scroll to the bottom of the file displayed and add the following line:
@reboot bitcoind -daemon
Save the file and exit; the updated crontab file will be installed for you. Now Bitcoin Core daemon will be automatically started each time your reboot your computer.
If you're an Ubuntu expert and want to use an init script instead, see this Upstart script.
{{moreHelp}}
Windows Instructions
If you can provide instructions and screenshots for running the latest version of Bitcoin Core on Mac OS X, please open an issue and we'll tell you what we need.
Mac OS X Instructions
If you can provide instructions and screenshots for running the latest version of Bitcoin Core on Mac OS X, please open an issue and we'll tell you what we need.