Install-Bitcoind.md 3.1 KB
Installing the Bitcoin daemon
The bitcoin daemon on the offline computer is used solely to sign transactions and runs without a blockchain. Thus even a low-powered computer such as a netbook will suffice as your offline machine.
The bitcoin daemon on the online computer requires a complete and up-to-date blockchain for tracking addresses. Since its work is more CPU and disk intensive, a more powerful computer is recommended here. You'll also need plenty of free disk space for the rapidly growing blockchain (~100GB at the time of writing).
Two blockchain operations are especially resource-intensive: synchronizing the blockchain and importing existing addresses with balances. If you synchronize often (once a week, for example) and take care to import your addresses before spending into them, then it's possible to use a low-powered netbook as your online machine.
Download:
Bitcoin Core:
Go to the Bitcoin Core main download page. Choose the 32-bit or 64-bit versions appropriate for your online and offline computers.
Bitcoin ABC (optional):
If you wish to transact BCH, a.k.a "Bitcoin Cash” or “Bcash”, then download the appropriate Bitcoin ABC binary for your system as well. Windows users should download the zip file rather than the installer. Both Windows and Linux users must rename the binary to 'bitcoind-abc' before installing it in their executable path.
Regard the Bitcoin ABC binaries as untrusted software. The author of the MMGen project makes no guarantees regarding their safety or reliability.
Install (both online and offline computers):
Windows users:
Run the Windows installer. When it's finished, determine where it installed 'bitcoind.exe' (probably in
C:\Program Files\Bitcoin\daemon) and append that path to your PATH variable.Linux users:
Unpack the tar archive and copy the bitcoind executable in bin/ to your execution path or just run it in place.
Run (both Windows and Linux):
On the online computer:
Open a terminal and start bitcoind with the command:
$ bitcoind -daemon
Warning: If you're using an existing Bitcoin Core installation, move your wallet.dat out of harm's way before starting bitcoind. The new wallet now created will be used as your tracking wallet.
If you're connected to the Internet, bitcoind will begin downloading and verifying the blockchain. This can take from several hours to several days (depending on the speed of your computer) for an initial download.
On the offline computer:
Open a terminal and start bitcoind with the command:
$ bitcoind -daemon -maxconnections=0 -listen=0
Note that in the absence of a blockchain the offline daemon starts very quickly and uses practically no CPU once running.
Note for Windows users: Under Windows, the bitcoind daemon doesn't fork to run as a background process, so you'll have to run it in a separate terminal window