WARNING: serious vulnerability in UPnP library used by Bitcoin Core (click here to read)

Bitcoin > Core > Documentation > Bandwidth sharing

Running A Full Node

Support the Bitcoin network by running your own 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 aects their wallet. If not enough nodes perform this function, clients wont be able to connect through the
peer-to-peer networktheyll have to use centralized services instead.
Many people and organizations volunteer to run full nodes using spare computing and bandwidth resourcesbut 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 youre 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 precautionsit 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

Its 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 workbut youll likely
spend more time dealing with issues. If you can meet the following requirements, youll have an easy-to-use node.
Desktop or laptop hardware running recent versions of Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux.
50 gigabytes of free disk space
2 gigabytes of memory (RAM)

A broadband Internet connection with upload speeds of at least 400 kilobits (50 kilobytes) per second
An unmetered connection, a connection with high upload limits, or a connection you regularly monitor to ensure it doesnt
exceed its upload limits. Its common for full nodes on high-speed connections to use 200 gigabytes upload or more a month.
Download usage is around 20 gigabytes a month, plus around an additional 40 gigabytes the first time you start your node.
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.)
More hours would be better, and best of all would be if you can run your node continuously.
Note: many operating systems today (Windows, Mac, and Linux) enter a low-power mode after the screensaver activates,
slowing or halting network trac. This is often the default setting on laptops and on all Mac OS X laptops and desktops. Check
your screensaver settings and disable automatic sleep or suspend options to ensure you support the network whenever
your computer is running.

Possible Problems
Legal: Bitcoin use is prohibited or restricted in some areas.
Bandwidth limits: Some Internet plans will charge an additional amount for any excess upload bandwidth used that isnt
included in the plan. Worse, some providers may terminate your connection without warning because of overuse. We advise
that you check whether your Internet connection is subjected to such limitations and monitor your bandwidth use so that you
can stop Bitcoin Core before you reach your upload limit.
Anti-virus: Several people have placed parts of known computer viruses in the Bitcoin block chain. This block chain data cant
infect your computer, but some anti-virus programs quarantine the data anyway, making it more dicult to run Bitcoin Core.
This problem mostly aects computers running Windows.
Attack target: Bitcoin Core powers the Bitcoin peer-to-peer network, so people who want to disrupt the network may attack
Bitcoin Core users in ways that will aect other things you do with your computer, such as an attack that limits your available
download bandwidth.

Linux Instructions
The following instructions describe installing Bitcoin Core on Linux systems.

Ubuntu 14.10
Instructions for Bitcoin Core 0.11.0.
If you use Ubuntu Desktop, click the Ubuntu swirl icon to start the Dash and type term into the input box. Choose any one of the
terminals listed:

Alternatively, access a console or terminal emulator using another method, such as SSH on Ubuntu Server or a terminal launcher
in an alternative desktop environment.
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:
gpg:
gpg:
gpg:
gpg:
gpg:
gpg:
gpg:
OK

keyring `/tmp/tmpixuqu73x/secring.gpg' created

keyring `/tmp/tmpixuqu73x/pubring.gpg' created
requesting key 8842CE5E from hkp server keyserver.ubuntu.com
/tmp/tmpixuqu73x/trustdb.gpg: trustdb created
key 8842CE5E: public key "Launchpad PPA for Bitcoin" imported
no ultimately trusted keys found
Total number processed: 1
imported: 1 (RSA: 1)

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 dierent update files are downloaded. This step may take several minutes on a slow
Internet connection.
To continue, choose one of the following options
1. 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

2. 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

3. 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 cant 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.

Bitcoin 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.

Optional: Start Your Node At Login

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 tell Bitcoin Core GUI to start at login.
While running Bitcoin Core GUI, open the Settings menu and choose Options. On the Main tab, click Start Bitcoin on
system login. Click the Ok button to save the new settings.

The next time you login to your desktop, Bitcoin Core GUI will be automatically started in as an icon in the tray.

You have now completed installing Bitcoin Core. If you have any questions, please ask in one of Bitcoins many communities,
such as Bitcoin StackExchange, BitcoinTalk technical support, or the #bitcoin IRC chatroom on Freenode.
To support the Bitcoin network, you also need to allow incoming connections. Please read the Network Configuration section for
details.

Bitcoin Core Daemon

If youre logged in as an administrative user with sudo access, you may log out. The steps in this section should be performed as
the user you want to run Bitcoin Core. (If youre an expert administrator, you can make this a locked account used only by Bitcoin
Core.)
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 files 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 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 dierent meanings in a Unix-style terminal.

echo rpcuser=bitcoinrpc >> ~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf

echo rpcpassword=XXXXXX >> ~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf

(Warning: Dont 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.
Optional: Start Your Node At Boot
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 youre an Ubuntu expert and want to use an init script instead, see this Upstart script.
You have now completed installing Bitcoin Core. If you have any questions, please ask in one of Bitcoins many communities,
such as Bitcoin StackExchange, BitcoinTalk technical support, or the #bitcoin IRC chatroom on Freenode.
To support the Bitcoin network, you also need to allow incoming connections. Please read the Network Configuration section for
details.

Other Linux Distributions

Instructions for Bitcoin Core 0.11.0.
The following instructions describe installing Bitcoin Core using tools available in most mainstream Linux distributions. We
assume you use a Bourne-like shell such as bash .
Using any computer, go to the Bitcoin Core download page and verify you have made a secure connection to the server.

In the Linux (tgz) section of the Download page, choose the appropriate file for your Linux install (either 32-bit or 64-bit) and
download the file. If necessary, move the file to the computer you want to use to run Bitcoin Core.
Optional: Verify the release signatures
If you know how to use PGP, you should also click the Verify Release Signatures link on the download page to download a
signed list of SHA256 file hashes. The 0.11 and later releases are signed by Wladimir J. van der Laans releases key with the
fingerprint:

01EA 5486 DE18 A882 D4C2

6845 90C8 019E 36C2 E964

Earlier releases were signed by Wladimir J. van der Laans regular key. That keys fingerprint is:

71A3 B167 3540 5025 D447

E8F2 7481 0B01 2346 C9A6

Even earlier releases were signed by Gavin Andresens key. His primary keys fingerprint is:

2664 6D99 CBAE C9B8 1982

EF60 29D9 EE6B 1FC7 30C1

You should verify these keys belong to their owners using the web of trust or other trustworthy means. Then use PGP to
verify the signature on the release signatures file. Finally, use PGP or another utility to compute the SHA256 hash of the
archive you downloaded, and ensure the computed hash matches the hash listed in the verified release signatures file.
If you arent already logged into the computer you want to install Bitcoin on, login now. Make sure you use an account that can
use su or sudo to install software into directories owned by the root user.
If you logged in graphically, start a terminal. If you logged in another way, we will assume youre already in a shell.
Locate the file you downloaded and extract it using the tar command followed by the argument xzf followed by the file name.
The argument xzf means eXtract the gZipped tar archive File. For example, for a 64-bit tar archive in your current directory, the
command is:

tar xzf bitcoin-0.11.0-linux64.tar.gz

This will create the directory bitcoin-0.11.0 within your current working directory. We will install the contents of its bin
subdirectory into the /usr/local/bin directory using the the install command. The install command is part of the GNU
coreutils available on nearly every Linux distribution, and the /usr/local/bin directory is a standard location for self-installed
executables (you may edit the commands below to use a dierent location).
If you use sudo to run commands as root, use the following command line:

sudo install -m 0755 -o root -g root -t /usr/local/bin bitcoin-0.11.0/bin/*

If you use su to run commands as root, use the following command line:

su -c 'install -m 0755 -o root -g root -t /usr/local/bin bitcoin-0.11.0/bin/*'

To continue, choose one of the following options

1. To use Bitcoin Core Graphical User Interface (GUI), proceed to the Bitcoin Core GUI section below.
2. To use the Bitcoin Core daemon (bitcoind), which is useful for programmers and advanced users, proceed to the Bitcoin
Core Daemon section below.
3. To use both the GUI and the daemon, read both the GUI instructions and the daemon instructions. Note that you cant
run both the GUI and the daemon at the same time using the same configuration directory.

Bitcoin Core GUI

In order to use Bitcoin Core GUI, you will need several libraries installed. All of them should be available in all major recentlyreleased Linux distributions, but they may not be installed on your computer yet. To determine whether youre missing any
libraries, open a terminal (if you havent already) and run the command /usr/local/bin/bitcoin-qt to start Bitcoin Core GUI.
If all the required libraries are installed, Bitcoin Core will start. If a required library is missing, an error message similar to the
following message will be displayed:

/usr/local/bin/bitcoin-qt: error while loading shared libraries: libQtGui.so.4: cannot open shared object file: No such file or

Search your distributions package database for the missing file missing and install package containing that file. Then re-run
/usr/local/bin/bitcoin-qt to see if its missing another file. Repeat until Bitcoin Core GUI starts.
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.

Optional: Start Your Node At Login

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 tell Bitcoin Core GUI to start at login. This only works in desktop environments that support
the autostart specification, such as Gnome, KDE, and Unity.
While running Bitcoin Core GUI, open the Settings menu and choose Options. On the Main tab, click Start Bitcoin on
system login. Click the Ok button to save the new settings.

The next time you login to your desktop, Bitcoin Core GUI should be automatically started in as an icon in the tray.

If Bitcoin Core GUI does not automatically start, you may need to add it to an .xinit or .xsession file as described
here.
You have now completed installing Bitcoin Core. If you have any questions, please ask in one of Bitcoins many communities,
such as Bitcoin StackExchange, BitcoinTalk technical support, or the #bitcoin IRC chatroom on Freenode.

To support the Bitcoin network, you also need to allow incoming connections. Please read the Network Configuration section for
details.

Bitcoin Core Daemon

If youre logged in as an administrative user with sudo access, you may log out. The steps in this section should be performed as
the user you want to run Bitcoin Core. (This can be a locked account used only by Bitcoin Core.) If you changed users in a
graphical interface, start a terminal.
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 files permissions so that only your user account can read it.
From your terminal or console, 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 rpcuser and rpcpassword lines into your
configuration file using the following commands. Note that in many Linux terminals, you need to press Ctrl-Shift-C to copy and
Ctrl-Shift-V to paste because Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V have dierent meanings in a Unix-style terminal.

echo rpcuser=bitcoinrpc >> ~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf

echo rpcpassword=XXXXXX >> ~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf

(Warning: Dont 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.
Optional: Start Your Node At Boot
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 on most distributions, 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. On most distributions, this will cause Bitcoin Core
daemon to be automatically started each time your reboot your computer.
If youre a expert system administrator and want to use an init script instead, see the init scripts directory in Bitcoin Cores
source tree.
You have now completed installing Bitcoin Core. If you have any questions, please ask in one of Bitcoins many communities,
such as Bitcoin StackExchange, BitcoinTalk technical support, or the #bitcoin IRC chatroom on Freenode.
To support the Bitcoin network, you also need to allow incoming connections. Please read the Network Configuration section for
details.

Windows Instructions
Windows 8.x
Instructions for Bitcoin Core 0.11.0 on Windows 8 and 8.1.
Go to the Bitcoin Core download page and verify you have made a secure connection to the server.

Click the large blue Download Bitcoin Core button to download the Bitcoin Core installer to your desktop.
Optional: Verify the release signatures
If you know how to use PGP, you should also click the Verify Release Signatures link on the download page to download a
signed list of SHA256 file hashes. The 0.11 and later releases are signed by Wladimir J. van der Laans releases key with the
fingerprint:

01EA 5486 DE18 A882 D4C2

6845 90C8 019E 36C2 E964

Earlier releases were signed by Wladimir J. van der Laans regular key. That keys fingerprint is:

71A3 B167 3540 5025 D447

E8F2 7481 0B01 2346 C9A6

Even earlier releases were signed by Gavin Andresens key. His primary keys fingerprint is:

2664 6D99 CBAE C9B8 1982

EF60 29D9 EE6B 1FC7 30C1

You should verify these keys belong to their owners using the web of trust or other trustworthy means. Then use PGP to
verify the signature on the release signatures file. Finally, use PGP or another utility to compute the SHA256 hash of the
archive you downloaded, and ensure the computed hash matches the hash listed in the verified release signatures file.
After downloading the file to your desktop or your Downloads folder ( C:\Users\<YOUR USER NAME>\Downloads ), run it by doubleclicking its icon. Windows will ask you to confirm that you want to run it:

The Bitcoin installer will start. Its a typical Windows installer, and it will guide you through the decisions you need to make about
where to install Bitcoin Core.

To continue, choose one of the following options

1. If you want to use the Bitcoin Core Graphical User Interface (GUI), proceed to the Bitcoin Core GUI section below.
2. If you want to use the Bitcoin Core daemon (bitcoind), which is useful for programmers and advanced users, proceed to
the Bitcoin Core Daemon section below.
3. To want to use both the GUI and the daemon, read both the GUI instructions and the daemon instructions. Note that you
cant run both the GUI and the daemon at the same time using the same configuration directory.

Bitcoin Core GUI

Press the Windows key ( Win ) and start typing bitcoin. When the Bitcoin Core icon appears (as shown below), click on it.

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.

Your firewall may block Bitcoin Core from making outbound connections. Its safe to allow Bitcoin Core to use all networks. (Note:
you will still need to configure inbound connections as described later in the Network Configuration section.)

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.

Optional: Start Your Node At Login

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 tell Bitcoin Core GUI to start at login.
While running Bitcoin Core GUI, open the Settings menu and choose Options. On the Main tab, click Start Bitcoin on
system login. Click the Ok button to save the new settings.

The next time you login to your desktop, Bitcoin Core GUI will be automatically started minimized in the task bar.
Warning: to prevent data corruption, do not force shutdown your computer from the Windows shutdown screen when you
have Bitcoin Core running.
You have now completed installing Bitcoin Core. If you have any questions, please ask in one of Bitcoins many communities,
such as Bitcoin StackExchange, BitcoinTalk technical support, or the #bitcoin IRC chatroom on Freenode.
To support the Bitcoin network, you also need to allow incoming connections. Please read the Network Configuration section for
details.

Bitcoin Core Daemon

To start Bitcoin Core daemon, first open a command window: press the Windows key ( Win ) and type cmd. Choose the
option labeled Command Prompt.

If you installed Bitcoin Core into the default directory, type the following at the command prompt:

C:\Program Files\Bitcoin\daemon\bitcoind -daemon

It will display an error message similar to the one below:

Error: To use the bitcoind or the "-server" option to bitcoin-qt,

you must set a rpcpassword in the configuration file:
C:\Users\Example\AppData\Roaming\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

Pay attention to these particular lines:

C:\Users\<YOUR USER NAME>\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin\bitcoin.conf

[...]
rpcuser=bitcoinrpc
rpcpassword=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The first line will actually have your username. The later two lines will include a randomly-generated password that you will need
to copy and paste. (Do not use XXXXXXX.)
Leave the command prompt window open and start File Explorer. In File Explorer, open the directory indicated in the message
( C:\Users\<YOUR USER NAME>\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin ), right-click on the File Explorer window and choose New Text file.
Name the file bitcoin.conf and then right-click on it and choose to open it in Notepad or your preferred text editor.
In the command prompt, copy the rpcuser and rpcpassword lines. Paste them into the text editor and then save and close the
file. By default, you shouldnt need to change the file permissions.
Return to the command prompt and press the Up arrow key to get the previous command (ending in bitcoind -daemon ) and run
it again. Bitcoin Core daemon should start and 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). If you installed
Bitcoin Core into the default location, type the following at the command prompt to see whether it works:

C:\Program Files\Bitcoin\daemon\bitcoin-cli getblockchaininfo

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:

C:\Program Files\Bitcoin\daemon\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.
Optional: Start Your Node At Boot
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 when you login to your computer.
Start File Explorer and go to,

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp

Right-click on the File Explorer window and choose New Text file. Name the file start_bitcoind.bat . Then right-click
on it and choose Open in Notepad (or whatever editor you prefer). Copy and paste the following line into the file.

C:\Program Files\Bitcoin\daemon\bitcoind -daemon

(If you installed Bitcoin Core in a non-default directory, use that directory path instead.)
Save the file. The next time you login to your computer, Bitcoin Core daemon will be automatically started.
Warning: to prevent data corruption, do not force shutdown your computer from the Windows shutdown screen when you
have Bitcoin Core running.
You have now completed installing Bitcoin Core. If you have any questions, please ask in one of Bitcoins many communities,
such as Bitcoin StackExchange, BitcoinTalk technical support, or the #bitcoin IRC chatroom on Freenode.
To support the Bitcoin network, you also need to allow incoming connections. Please read the Network Configuration section for
details.

Windows 7

Instructions for Bitcoin Core 0.11.0.

Go to the Bitcoin Core download page and verify you have made a secure connection to the server.

Click the large blue Download Bitcoin Core button to download the Bitcoin Core installer to your desktop.
Optional: Verify the release signatures
If you know how to use PGP, you should also click the Verify Release Signatures link on the download page to download a
signed list of SHA256 file hashes. The 0.11 and later releases are signed by Wladimir J. van der Laans releases key with the
fingerprint:

01EA 5486 DE18 A882 D4C2

6845 90C8 019E 36C2 E964

Earlier releases were signed by Wladimir J. van der Laans regular key. That keys fingerprint is:

71A3 B167 3540 5025 D447

E8F2 7481 0B01 2346 C9A6

Even earlier releases were signed by Gavin Andresens key. His primary keys fingerprint is:

2664 6D99 CBAE C9B8 1982

EF60 29D9 EE6B 1FC7 30C1

You should verify these keys belong to their owners using the web of trust or other trustworthy means. Then use PGP to
verify the signature on the release signatures file. Finally, use PGP or another utility to compute the SHA256 hash of the
archive you downloaded, and ensure the computed hash matches the hash listed in the verified release signatures file.
After downloading the file to your desktop or your Downloads folder ( C:\Users\<YOUR USER NAME>\Downloads ), run it by doubleclicking its icon. Windows will ask you to confirm that you want to run it:

The Bitcoin installer will start. Its a typical Windows installer, and it will guide you through the decisions you need to make about
where to install Bitcoin Core.

To continue, choose one of the following options

1. If you want to use the Bitcoin Core Graphical User Interface (GUI), proceed to the Bitcoin Core GUI section below.
2. If you want to use the Bitcoin Core daemon (bitcoind), which is useful for programmers and advanced users, proceed to
the Bitcoin Core Daemon section below.
3. To want to use both the GUI and the daemon, read both the GUI instructions and the daemon instructions. Note that you
cant run both the GUI and the daemon at the same time using the same configuration directory.

Bitcoin Core GUI

Open the Start menu, type bitcoin into the search box, and click the Bitcoin Core 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.

Your firewall may block Bitcoin Core from making outbound connections. Its safe to allow Bitcoin Core to use all networks. (Note:
you will still need to configure inbound connections as described later in the Network Configuration section.)

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.

Optional: Start Your Node At Login

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 tell Bitcoin Core GUI to start at login.
While running Bitcoin Core GUI, open the Settings menu and choose Options. On the Main tab, click Start Bitcoin on
system login. Click the Ok button to save the new settings.

The next time you login to your desktop, Bitcoin Core GUI will be automatically started minimized in the task bar.
Warning: to prevent data corruption, do not force shutdown your computer from the Windows shutdown screen when you
have Bitcoin Core running.
You have now completed installing Bitcoin Core. If you have any questions, please ask in one of Bitcoins many communities,
such as Bitcoin StackExchange, BitcoinTalk technical support, or the #bitcoin IRC chatroom on Freenode.
To support the Bitcoin network, you also need to allow incoming connections. Please read the Network Configuration section for
details.

Bitcoin Core Daemon

To start Bitcoin Core daemon, first open a command window: press the Windows key ( Win ) and type cmd. Choose the
program named cmd.exe

If you installed the Bitcoin Core into the default directory, type the following at the command prompt :

C:\Program Files\Bitcoin\daemon\bitcoind -daemon

It will display an error message similar to the one below :

Error: To use the bitcoind or the "-server" option to bitcoin-qt,

you must set a rpcpassword in the configuration file:
C:\Users\Example\AppData\Roaming\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

Pay attention to these particular lines:

C:\Users\<YOUR USER NAME>\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin\bitcoin.conf

[...]
rpcuser=bitcoinrpc
rpcpassword=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The first line will actually have your username. The later two lines will include a randomly-generated password that you will need
to copy and paste. (Do not use XXXXXXX.)
Leave the command prompt window open and start File Explorer. In File Explorer, open the directory indicated in the message
( C:\Users\Example\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin\bitcoin.conf ), right-click on the File Explorer window and choose New Text
file. Name the file bitcoin.conf and then right-click on it and choose to open it in Notepad or your preferred text editor.
In the command prompt, copy the rpcuser and rpcpassword lines. Paste them into the text editor and then save and close the
file. By default, you shouldnt need to change the file permissions.

rpcuser=bitcoinrpc
rpcpassword=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Return to the command prompt and press the Up arrow key to get the previous command (ending in bitcoind -daemon ) and run
it again. Bitcoin Core daemon should start.
You can now try using Bitcoin Cli Utility.
To interact with Bitcoin Core daemon, you will use the command bitcoin-cli (Bitcoin command line interface). If you installed
Bitcoin Core into the default location, type the following at the command prompt to see whether it works:

C:\Program Files\Bitcoin\daemon\bitcoin-cli getblockchaininfo

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:

C:\Program Files\Bitcoin\daemon\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.
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.
Optional: Start Your Node At Boot
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 when you login to your computer.
Start File Explorer and go to,

C:\Users\Example\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp

You can also access this folder by executing the following command after reaching the Execute... prompt :

shell:startup

Right-click on the File Explorer window and choose New Text file. Name the file start_bitcoind.bat . Then right-click
on it and choose Open in Notepad (or whatever editor you prefer). Copy and paste the following line into the file.

C:\Program Files\Bitcoin\daemon\bitcoind -daemon

(If you installed Bitcoin Core in a non-default directory, use that directory path instead.)
Save the file. The next time you login to your computer, Bitcoin Core daemon will be automatically started.
Warning: to prevent data corruption, do not force shutdown your computer from the Windows shutdown screen when you
have Bitcoin Core running.
You have now completed installing Bitcoin Core. If you have any questions, please ask in one of Bitcoins many communities,
such as Bitcoin StackExchange, BitcoinTalk technical support, or the #bitcoin IRC chatroom on Freenode.
To support the Bitcoin network, you also need to allow incoming connections. Please read the Network Configuration section for

details.

Mac OS X Instructions
Mac OS X Yosemite 10.10.x
Instructions for Bitcoin Core 0.11.0 on Mac OS X Yosemite
Go to the Bitcoin Core download page and verify you have made a secure connection to the server.

Click the large blue Download Bitcoin Core button to download the Bitcoin Core installer to your Downloads folder.
Optional: Verify the release signatures
If you know how to use PGP, you should also click the Verify Release Signatures link on the download page to download a
signed list of SHA256 file hashes. The 0.11 and later releases are signed by Wladimir J. van der Laans releases key with the
fingerprint:

01EA 5486 DE18 A882 D4C2

6845 90C8 019E 36C2 E964

Earlier releases were signed by Wladimir J. van der Laans regular key. That keys fingerprint is:

71A3 B167 3540 5025 D447

E8F2 7481 0B01 2346 C9A6

Even earlier releases were signed by Gavin Andresens key. His primary keys fingerprint is:

2664 6D99 CBAE C9B8 1982

EF60 29D9 EE6B 1FC7 30C1

You should verify these keys belong to their owners using the web of trust or other trustworthy means. Then use PGP to
verify the signature on the release signatures file. Finally, use PGP or another utility to compute the SHA256 hash of the
archive you downloaded, and ensure the computed hash matches the hash listed in the verified release signatures file.
After downloading the file to your Downloads folder ( /Users/<YOUR USER NAME>/Downloads ), run it by double-clicking its icon.
OS X will open a Finder window for you to drag Bitcoin Core to your Applications folder.

Bitcoin Core GUI

The first time running Bitcoin Core, Max OS X will ask you to confirm that you want to run it:

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.
Optional: Start Your Node At Login
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 tell Bitcoin Core GUI to start at login.
While running Bitcoin Core GUI, open the Bitcoin Core menu and choose Preferences. On the Main tab, click Start Bitcoin
on system login. Click the Ok button to save the new settings.

The next time you login to your desktop, Bitcoin Core GUI will be automatically started minimized in the task bar.
You have now completed installing Bitcoin Core. If you have any questions, please ask in one of Bitcoins many communities,
such as Bitcoin StackExchange, BitcoinTalk technical support, or the #bitcoin IRC chatroom on Freenode.
To support the Bitcoin network, you also need to allow incoming connections. Please read the Network Configuration section for
details.

Bitcoin Core Daemon

If you can provide instructions and screenshots for running the latest version of Bitcoin Core daemon on OS X Yosemite, please
open an issue and well tell you what we need.

Network Conguration
If you want to support the Bitcoin network, you must allow inbound connections.
When Bitcoin Core starts, it establishes 8 outbound connections to other full nodes so it can download the latest blocks and
transactions. If you just want to use your full node as a wallet, you dont need more than these 8 connectionsbut if you want to
support lightweight clients and other full nodes on the network, you must allow inbound connections.
Servers connected directly to the Internet usually dont require any special configuration. You can use the testing instructions
below to confirm your server-based node accepts inbound connections.
Home connections are usually filtered by a router or modem. Bitcoin Core will request your router automatically configure itself to
allow inbound connections to Bitcoins port, port 8333. Unfortunately many routers dont allow automatic configuration, so you

must manually configure your router. You may also need to configure your firewall to allow inbound connections to port 8333.
Please see the following subsections for details.

Testing Connections
The BitNodes project provides an online tool to let you test whether your node accepts inbound connections. To use it, start
Bitcoin Core (either the GUI or the daemon), wait 10 minutes, and then visit the GetAddr page. The tool will attempt to guess your
IP addressif the address is wrong (or blank), you will need to enter your address manually.

After you press Check Node, the tool will inform you whether your port is open (green box) or not open (red box). If you get the
green box, you dont need to do anythingyou accept inbound connections. If you get the red box, please read the enabling
connections subsection.
For confirmation that you accept inbound connections, you can use Bitcoin Core. Bitcoin Core cant tell you directly whether you
allow inbound connections, but it can tell you whether or not you currently have any inbound connections. If your node has been
online for at least 30 minutes, it should normally have inbound connections. If want to check your peer info using Bitcoin Core,
choose the appropriate instructions below:
Peer info in Bitcoin Core GUI
Peer info in Bitcoin Core daemon

GUI Peer Info

In the bottom right corner of the Bitcoin Core GUI are several icons. If you hover over the signal strength icon, it will tell you how
many connections you have. The icon wont turn green until you have more than 8 active connections, which only happens if
inbound connections are allowed.

For confirmation, you can go to the Help menu, choose Debug Window, and open the Information tab. In the Network section, it
will tell you exactly how many inbound connections you have. If the number is greater than zero, then inbound connections are
allowed.

If you dont have inbound connections, please read the instructions for enabling inbound connections.

Daemon Peer Info

The getconnectioncount command will tell you how many connections you have. If you have more than 8 connections, inbound
connections are allowed. For example:

$ bitcoin-cli getconnectioncount
52

For confirmation, you can use the getpeerinfo command to get information about all of your peers. Each peers details will
include an inbound field set to true if the connection is inbound. If you have any inbound connections, then inbound connections
are allowed.
If you dont have inbound connections, please read instructions for enabling inbound connections.

Enabling Connections
If Bitcoin Core cant automatically configure your router to open port 8333, you will need to manually configure your router. Weve
tried to make the following instructions generic enough to cover most router models; if you need specific help with your router,
please ask for help on a tech support site such as SuperUser.
Enabling inbound connections requires two steps, plus an extra third step for firewall users:
1. Giving your computer a static (unchanging) internal IP address by configuring the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
on your router.
2. Forwarding inbound connections from the Internet through your router to your computer where Bitcoin Core can process them.
3. Configuring your firewall to allow inbound connections. This step mainly applies to Windows users, as Mac OS X and most
Linuxes do not enable a firewall by default.

Configuring DHCP
In order for your router to direct incoming port 8333 connections to your computer, it needs to know your computers internal IP

address. However, routers usually give computers dynamic IP addresses that change frequently, so we need to ensure your router
always gives your computer the same internal IP address.
Start by logging into your routers administration interface. Most routers can be configured using one of the following URLs, so
keep clicking links until you find one that works. If none work, consult your routers manual.
http://192.168.0.1 (some Linksys/Cisco models)
http://192.168.1.1 (some D-Link/Netgear models)
http://192.168.2.1 (some Belkin/SMC models)
http://192.168.123.254 (some US Robotics models)
http://10.0.1.1 (some Apple models)
Upon connecting, you will probably be prompted for a username and password. If you configured a password, enter it now. If not,
the Router Passwords site provides a database of known default username and password pairs.
After logging in, you want to search your routers menus for options related to DHCP, the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.
These options may also be called Address Reservation. For example, the router page shown below calls the option we need
DHCP Reservation:

In the reservation configuration, some routers will display a list of computers and devices currently connected to your network,
and then let you select a device to make its current IP address permanent:

If thats the case, find the computer running Bitcoin Core in the list, select it, and add it to the list of reserved addresses. Make a
note of its current IP addresswell use the address in the next section.
Other routers require a more manual configuration. For these routers, you will need to look up the fixed address (MAC address) for
your computers network card and add it to the list. This operation diers by operating system:
Windows 7 & 8: Press Win-R (Windows key plus the R key) to open the Run dialog. Type cmd to open the console. Type
ipconfig /all and find the result that best matches your connectionusually a wireless connection. Look for a line that

starts with Physical Address and contains a value like this:

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 01-23-45-67-89-AB

Replace all the dashes with colons, so the address looks like this: 01:23:45:67:89:AB. Use that address in the instructions
below.

Linux: open a terminal and type ifconfig . Find the result that best matches your connectiona result starting with wlan
indicates a wireless connection. Find the field that starts with HWaddr and copy the immediately following field that looks like
01:23:45:67:89:ab. Use that value in the instructions below.
Mac OS X: open a terminal and type ifconfig . Find the result that best matches your connectiona result starting with en1
usually indicates a wireless connection. Find the field that starts with ether: and copy the immediately following field that
looks like 01:23:45:67:89:ab. Use that value in the instructions below.
Once you have the MAC address, you can fill it into to your routers manual DHCP assignment table, as illustrated below. Also
choose an IP address and make a note of it for the instructions in the next subsection. After entering this information, click the
Add or Save button.

Then reboot your computer to ensure it gets assigned the address you selected and proceed to the Port Forwarding instructions
below.

Port Forwarding
For this step, you need to know the local IP address of the computer running Bitcoin Core. You should have this information from
configuring the DHCP assignment table in the subsection above.
Login to your router using the same steps described near the top of the DHCP subsection. Look for an option called Port
Forwarding, Port Assignment, or anything with Port in its name. On the some routers, this option is buried in an Applications &
Gaming menu.
The port forwarding settings should allow you to map an external port on your router to the internal port of a device on your
network as shown in the screenshot below.

Both the external port and the internal port should be 8333 for Bitcoin. (You may also want to map port 18333 for Bitcoins testnet,
although this guide does not cover using testnet.) Make sure the IP address you enter is the same one you configured in the
previous subsection.
After filling in the details for the mapping, save the entry. You should not need to restart anything. Start Bitcoin Core (if you havent
already) and follow the Testing Connections instructions to test your connection.
If you still cant connect and you use a firewall, you probably need to change your firewall settings. See the Firewall section below.
If something else went wrong, its probably a problem with your router configuration. Re-read the instructions above to see if you

missed anything, search the web for help with port forwarding, and ask for help on sites like SuperUser.
We cant provide direct support, but if you see a way to improve these instructions, please open an issue.

Firewall Configuration
Firewalls block inbound connections. To use Bitcoin, you need to configure your computers firewall to allow connections to port
8333. This is usually as easy as starting your firewall configuration software and defining a new rule to allow inbound connections
to port 8333. For additional information for Windows, see the links below:
Instructions for Windows Firewall
Instructions for Norton Firewall
Instructions for Mcafee Personal Firewall
Mac OS X comes with its firewall disabled by default, but if you have enabled it, see the section Allowing Specific Applications
from the ocial Apple guide.
Ubuntu also comes with its firewall disabled by default, but if you have enabled it, see the Ubuntu wiki page for information about
adding port forwarding rules.
Once you have allowed inbound connections to port 8333, start Bitcoin Core (if you havent already) and follow the Testing
Connections instructions to test your connection.
If something else went wrong re-read the DHCP, port forwarding, and firewall instructions above to see if you missed anything,
search the web for help with port forwarding and opening firewall ports, and ask for help on sites like SuperUser.
We cant provide direct support, but if you see a way to improve these instructions, please open an issue.