counterparty-lib 9.55.4
Counterparty Protocol Reference Implementation
License: MIT
Keywords: counterparty

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Description
===========

``counterparty-lib`` is the reference implementation of the
`Counterparty Protocol <https://counterparty.io>`__.

**Note:** for the command-line interface to ``counterparty-lib``, see
```counterparty-cli`` <https://github.com/CounterpartyXCP/counterparty-cli>`__.

Installation
============

For a simple Docker-based install of the Counterparty software stack,
see `this guide <http://counterparty.io/docs/federated_node/>`__.

Manual installation
===================

Download the newest `patched Bitcoin
Core <https://github.com/btcdrak/bitcoin/releases>`__ and create a
``bitcoin.conf`` file with the following options:

::

    rpcuser=bitcoinrpc
    rpcpassword=rpc
    server=1
    txindex=1
    addrindex=1
    rpctimeout=300

**Note:** you can and should replace the RPC credentials. Remember to
use the changed RPC credentials throughout this document.

Then, download and install ``counterparty-lib``:

::

    $ git clone https://github.com/CounterpartyXCP/counterparty-lib.git
    $ cd counterparty-lib
    $ sudo pip3 install --upgrade -r requirements.txt
    $ sudo python3 setup.py install

Followed by ``counterparty-cli``:

::

    $ git clone https://github.com/CounterpartyXCP/counterparty-cli.git
    $ cd counterparty-cli
    $ sudo pip3 install --upgrade -r requirements.txt
    $ sudo python3 setup.py install

Note on **sudo**: both counterparty-lib and counterparty-server can be
installed by non-sudoers. Please refer to external documentation for
instructions on using pip without root access and other information
related to custom install locations.

Then, launch the daemon via:

::

    $ counterparty-server bootstrap
    $ counterparty-server --backend-password=rpc start

Basic Usage
===========

Via command-line
----------------

(Requires ``counterparty-cli`` to be installed.)

-  The first time you run the server, you may bootstrap the local
   database with: ``$ counterparty-server bootstrap``

-  Start the server with: ``$ counterparty-server start``

-  Check the status of the server with:
   ``$ counterparty-client getinfo``

-  For additional command-line arguments and options:
   ``$ counterparty-server --help`` ``$ counterparty-client --help``

Via Python
----------

Bare usage from Python is also possible, without installing
``counterparty-cli``:

::

    $ python3
    >>> from counterpartylib import server
    >>> db = server.initialise(<options>)
    >>> server.start_all(db)

Configuration and Operation
===========================

The paths to the **configuration** files, **log** files and **database**
files are printed to the screen when starting the server in ‘verbose’
mode: ``$ counterparty-server --verbose start``

By default, the **configuration files** are named ``server.conf`` and
``client.conf`` and located in the following directories:

-  Linux: ``~/.config/counterparty/``
-  Windows: ``%APPDATA%\Counterparty\``

Client and Server log files are named
``counterparty.client.[testnet.]log`` and
``counterparty.server.[testnet.]log``, and located in the following
directories:

-  Linux: ``~/.cache/counterparty/log/``
-  Windows: ``%APPDATA%\Local\Counterparty\counterparty\Logs``

Counterparty API activity is logged in ``server.[testnet.]api.log`` and
``client.[testnet.]api.log``.

Counterparty database files are by default named
``counterparty.[testnet.]db`` and located in the following directories:

-  Linux: ``~/.local/share/counterparty``
-  Windows: ``%APPDATA%\Roaming\Counterparty\counterparty``

Configuration File Format
-------------------------

Manual configuration is not necessary for most use cases. "back-end" and
"wallet" are used to access Bitcoin server RPC.

A ``counterparty-server`` configuration file looks like this:

::

    [Default]
    backend-name = addrindex
    backend-user = <user>
    backend-password = <password>
    rpc-host = 0.0.0.0
    rpc-user = <rpcuser>
    rpc-password = <rpcpassword>

The ``force`` argument can be used either in the server configuration
file or passed at runtime to make the server keep running in the case it
loses connectivity with the Internet and falls behind the back-end
database. This may be useful for *non-production* Counterparty servers
that need to maintain RPC service availability even when the backend or
counterparty server has no Internet connectivity.

A ``counterparty-client`` configuration file looks like this:

::

    [Default]
    wallet-name = bitcoincore
    wallet-connect = localhost
    wallet-user = <user>
    wallet-password = <password>
    counterparty-rpc-connect = localhost
    counterparty-rpc-user = <rpcuser>
    counterparty-rpc-password = <password>

Developer notes
===============

Versioning
----------

-  Major version changes require a full (automatic) rebuild of the
   database.
-  Minor version changes require a(n automatic) database reparse.
-  All protocol changes are retroactive on testnet.

Continuous integration
----------------------

-  TravisCI is setup to run all tests with 1 command and generate a
   coverage report and let ``python-coveralls`` parse and upload it. It
   does runs with ``--skiptestbook=all`` so it will not do the reparsing
   of the bootstrap files.
-  CircleCI is setup to split the tests as much as possible to make it
   easier to read the error reports. It also runs the
   ``integration_test.test_book`` tests, which reparse the bootstrap
   files.

Further Reading
===============

-  `Official Project Documentation <http://counterparty.io/docs/>`__

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