combdownloader-ng

README

Comb Downloader NG

Comb downloader NG is a tool to sync a haircomb wallet with a bitcoin full node.

Description

Setting up a bitcoin qt in RPC mode to serve blocks is not simple, it's done differently across the versions, and if not done correctly, may expose your BTC wallet to your network. That's why there's this tool, that can sync your haircomb wallet by connecting to any bitcoin full node, locally or remotely.

Quick start

Run any recent version of bitcoin-qt, combfullui and this tool. No config needed.

0.1.3

Improved price charter support. Realtime loops. Multiple uploaders. Fix crash if lna or rna is nil.

0.1.2

Tor privacy fix. Support HTTP2 for the internal (:8332) socket.

0.1.1

Fixed pinger thread leak. Fixes download interrupt after 2 minutes bug when syncing from a local node.

0.1.0

Initial version, able to catch up with bitcoin nodes in mainnet and testnet mode, more testing needed

Command line options

my-btc-full-node=127.0.0.1:8333

This specifies the Bitcoin Full node under the user's control whose blockchain is assumed to be the valid chain. By default, the localhost full node is used. Because the downloader follows this blockchain, the haircomb core will also follow this chain. Make sure you control and trust the node specified, otherwise the remote BTC node operator may serve you some incorrect blockchain. Can be IPv4, domain, IPv6 or Tor.

testnet

Sync with testnet. Changes genesis hash / default your btc node port / default RPC server port

regtest=genesishash

Sync with regtest. Sets the genesis hash / default your btc node port / default RPC server port

add-node=127.0.0.1:8333

Adds a block puller node. Can be IPv4, domain, IPv6 or Tor. These nodes are only used to download blocks from, not headers. Option can be used multiple times.

addnode=127.0.0.1:8333

Same as add-node.

checkpoint=hash

Specify a bitcoin block hash to use as checkpoint. This block must be reached, otherwise no download is made.

extra-nodes=5

Specify how many extra block puller nodes, for instance 5 nodes, are discovered and used. They are discovered from the bitcoin P2P network. Don't use this option if you need extra privacy or want to sync over the LAN only.

comb-nodes=5

Specify how many extra comb (accelerator + bloom) nodes, for instance 5 nodes, are discovered and used. They are discovered from the bitcoin P2P network. Don't use this option if you need extra privacy or want to sync over the LAN only.

uploader=ip:port

Starts a bitcoin server on ip:port. Enter 0.0.0.0:8333 to open port 8333 to the public. Used to seed headers, accelerators and blooms to help any nodes who need them. This does serve (proxies) full blocks to bitcoin nodes, there a risk of large-scale traffic from your node. To limit the maximum count of nodes that can connect, use ip:port/maximum.

accelerator=hash

Use this option to add a highest accelerator hash. That hash must be contained within the provided files, otherwise no accelerated download is made. Watch out for Accelerator hash could not be activated errors when using this option.

add-file-ro=filename.hax

Add accelerator file READ ONLY. Multiple accelerator files can be provided, they will all be used. If the files could be untrusted, please use the accelerator option to defend yourself.

add-file-rw=filename.hax

Add accelerator file READ WRITEABLE. Multiple accelerator files can be provided, they will all be used. If the files could be untrusted, please use the accelerator option to defend yourself.

usecase-accelerator

Enables extra data for the accelerator file generator application (transactions IDs in blocks). Not needed for accelerated download.

usecase-pricecharts

Enables extra data for the price charts appliaction.

force-tor

Force tor for all connections.

tor

Specifies tor ip:port. Port is usually 9150 or 9151.

timeout

Pings each node every this many seconds.

miner-difficulty=number

Specifies miner-difficulty. Enter 0 to deactivate miner. The minimal difficulty (very cpu light) is 1.

miner-functions=number

Specifies miner-functions. Enter 0 to deactivate miner. The recommended value is 7.

gossip=ip:port

Adds ip:port to address book. Tells other nodes about ip:port, both when they want to know about nodes, or just when they connect. Gossip can be specified multiple times.

nodes-cap=number

Capacity of the map containing all known IPs.

v

Print version and exit.

h

Print help and exit.

Unused options (could be removed in future version, don't do anything in this version)

recycle-headers, reorg, bottom, acc-cap, bannednodes-cap, nested, force-bloom