Are you a developer working on a Bitcoin project or are you a power user discovering the more advanced Bitcoin features?This post explains how to get started with the Bitcoin testnet so you can play without using your real, hard-earned coins.None of the Bitcoin client applications implement all of those features, (yet) so you'll have to use the Bitcoin RPC interface from the command line.Install Download and install the Bitcoin Core client (previously named Bitcoin-Qt).You can, but don't have to, start the application.It will start downloading the huge, real blockchain, which you don't need for testing.Configure Find the Bitcoin Core data directory for your system.Create this directory if it doesn't exist yet (should be there from when you ran the client before).On Mac OS X for example: mkdir ~/Library/Application\ Support/Bitcoin/ Create a bitcoin.conf configuration file in that directory.A minimal example might look like: =1 =1 = = = = Run Start the Bitcoin Core client.

The application icon should be green instead of orange.The green icon indicates it's running in testnet mode.The client will start downloading the testnet blockchain and this will take a while.While you wait for the testnet blockchain to download, you can grab some testnet coins.Find a Bitcoin testnet faucet and send yourself some coins (you can find an address in the Bitcoin Core client).ethereum coin limitThe coins will only show up in the Bitcoin Core client application when the blockchain download has caught up, so wait for it to finish.bitcoin mine icelandPlay Time to try it out.bitcoin atm israelHere is a simple cURL command to ask the Bitcoin daemon for some general info using a JSON RPC: curl --user Ulysseys --data-binary -H http://127.0.0.1:8332/Jump to: , There are two variations of the original 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).Contents 1 2 3 4 5 6 The simplest way to start from scratch with the command line client, automatically syncing blockchain and creating a wallet, is to just run this command (without arguments) from the directory containing your bitcoind binary: To run with the standard GUI interface: Give bitcoind the -?or –-help argument and it will print out a list of the most commonly used command-line arguments and then exit: Bitcoin Core Daemon version v0.10.2 Usage: Node relay options: Block creation options: RPC SSL options: (has been removed as of upcoming v0.12) Many of the boolean options can also be set to off by specifying them with a "no" prefix: e.g.

All command-line options (except for -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\ (XP) C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Bitcoin\bitcoin.conf (Vista, 7) C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin\bitcoin.conf Linux $HOME/.bitcoin/ /home/username/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf Mac OSX $HOME/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/ /Users/username/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/bitcoin.conf Note: if running Bitcoin in testnet mode, the sub-folder "testnet" will be appended to the data directory automatically.

Here is a sample bitcoin.conf file.To configure the Bitcoin client to start automatically: You might use the configuration-file, or the GUI-Settings: then mark the checkbox titled: To work with batch, you have to start the daemon (bitcoind.exe).The bitcoin.exe run with option "-server" will respond with GUI-messages you are not able to process its answers.Bitcoin is a decentralized peer-to-peer digital currency.Using cryptography and peer-to-peer networking, Bitcoin allows people to securely and nearly instantly transfer money to other people at a very low cost.The decentralized consensus mechanism ensures that everyone using Bitcoin follows the same rules.This prevents Bitcoin from being controlled by a central authority and prevents the counterfeiting of money.Bitcoin is also a trustless system.There is no central authority to trust, in fact, no full node on the network trusts any other full node.Instead each node will verify every single block and transaction to ensure that the data it receives conforms to its own rules, which must be the rules that everyone else follows in order for that node to be a part of the network.

Armory is a Bitcoin wallet.It stores and protects the private keys necessary for you to spend Bitcoin.It keeps track of all of the Bitcoin that you have sent and received and allows you to spend Bitcoin with ease.Armory’s primary focus is for absolute security.The cryptographic schemes were chosen for their robustness and resistance to attack.The ability to use airgapped storage and cold storage allow for the best security we could think of, physical separation.Overall, Armory is designed to be the most secure Bitcoin wallet ever.The Armory command line arguments are as follows: -h, --help show this help message and exit --settings=SETTINGSPATH load Armory with a specific settings file --datadir=DATADIR Change the directory that Armory calls home --satoshi-datadir=SATOSHIHOME The Bitcoin-Core/bitcoind home directory --satoshi-port=SATOSHIPORT For Bitcoin-Core instances operating on a non-standard port --satoshi-rpcport=SATOSHIRPCPORT RPC port Bitcoin-Core instances operating on a non- standard port --dbdir=ARMORYDBDIR Location to store blocks database (defaults to --datadir) --rpcport=RPCPORT RPC port for running armoryd.py --testnet Use the testnet protocol --regtest Use the Regression Test Network protocol --offline Force Armory to run in offline mode --nettimeout=NETTIMEOUT Timeout for detecting internet connection at startup --interport=INTERPORT Port for inter-process communication between Armory instances --debug Increase amount of debugging output --nologging Disable all logging --netlog Log networking messages sent and received by Armory --logfile=LOGFILE Specify a non-default location to send logging information --mtdebug Log multi-threaded call sequences --skip-online-check Go into online mode, even if internet connection isn't detected --skip-stats-report Does announcement checking without any OS/version reporting (for ATI statistics) --skip-announce-check Do not query for Armory announcements --tor Enable common settings for when Armory connects through Tor --keypool=KEYPOOL Default number of addresses to lookahead in Armory wallets --redownload Delete Bitcoin-Core/bitcoind databases; redownload --rebuild Rebuild blockchain database and rescan --rescan Rescan existing blockchain DB --rescanBalance Rescan balance --test-announce Only used for developers needing to test announcement code with non-offline keys --nospendzeroconfchange All zero-conf funds will be unspendable, including sent-to-self coins --multisigfile=MULTISIGFILE File to store information about multi-signature transactions --force-wallet-check Force the wallet sanity check on startup --disable-modules Disable looking for modules in the execution directory --disable-conf-permis Disable forcing permissions on bitcoin.conf --disable-detsign Disable Transaction Deterministic Signing (RFC 6979) --enable-detsign Enable Transaction Deterministic Signing (RFC 6979) - Enabled by default --armorydb-ip=ARMORYDB_IP Set remote DB IP (default: 127.0.0.1) --armorydb-port=ARMORYDB_PORT Set remote DB port (default: 9050) --ram-usage=RAM_USAGE Set maximum ram during scans, as 128MB increments.

Defaults to 4 --thread-count=THREAD_COUNT Set max thread count during builds and scans.Defaults to CPU total thread count --db-type=DB_TYPE Set db mode, defaults to DB_FULL --port=PORT Unit Test Argument - Do not consume --verbosity=VERBOSITY Unit Test Argument - Do not consume --coverage_output_dir=COVERAGEOUTPUTDIR Unit Test Argument - Do not consume --coverage_include=COVERAGEINCLUDE Unit Test Argument - Do not consume --language=LANG Set the language for the client to display in.Use the ISO 639-1 language code to choose a language.Options are da, de, en, es, el, fr, he, hr, id, ru, sv.Because Armory is a desktop client, so long as you have a copy of the software and your wallet files, you will be able to spend your Bitcoin.Armory does not rely on any centralized service in order to spend Bitcoin.It will continue to function as it used to so long as there have not been many major consensus changes.Even if there are Armory may still work as it has no networking components and relies on Bitcoin Core for networking and consensus.