Bitcoin

Build Instructions

link: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin
linux build

# there is a document about linux build instruction (./doc/build-unix.md)
$ cmake -B build
$ cd ./build
$ make
# if you need to install binaries
$ make install

Mining Instructions

Wallet setup for mining

To start mining on your regtest node, you need to have a wallet set up to receive mining rewards.

# If you use bitcoin as test node mode, You can modify the ".bitcoin/bitcoin.conf" file like below
# testnet=1

# Wallet commands
$ bitcoin-cli createwallet "mywallet"
$ bitcoin-cli listwallets
$ bitcoin-cli getwalletinfo

# Load your wallet when your wallet is already created
$ bitcoin-cli loadwallet "mywallet"

# Start mining to a new address of your wallet
$ YOUR_ADDRESS=$(bitcoin-cli getnewaddress)
$ echo $YOUR_ADDRESS >> ~/.bitcoin/mining_address.txt

# Or load an latest address from file (last line)
$ YOUR_ADDRESS=$(tail -n 1 ~/.bitcoin/mining_address.txt)

# It is only for regtest or testnet mode (It is a feature for testing purpose)
# Fist agument is number of blocks to mine
# Second argument is your bitcoin address to receive mining rewards
$ bitcoin-cli generatetoaddress 1 $YOUR_ADDRESS
# Mine 1..100 blocks to your address -> mininum 100 blocks are needed to spend mining rewards
$ bitcoin-cli generatetoaddress 100 $YOUR_ADDRESS

# Check your "hdkeypath" field if "m/84h/1h/0h/0/7" --> it is bech32 address and the wallet index is 7
$ bitcoin-cli getaddressinfo $YOUR_ADDRESS

# Check private key of the address you are mining to (be careful with private keys!)
# Look at the 7th entry (index 7) for the private key information
$ bitcoin-cli listdescriptors true | jq

# See mining rewards in your wallet
# total balance should increase after mining
$ bitcoin-cli getbalance
# each mined block reward
$ bitcoin-cli listreceivedbyaddress 1 true

Mining (Full Node)

# There is a document about mining instruction (./doc/mining.md)
$ bitcoind

Mining (RegTest)

# RegTest mode is for local testing purpose
# You can set up your own private bitcoin network
bitcoind -regtest
# or
CONF_FILE=~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
cat > $CONF_FILE << 'EOF'
regtest=1

[regtest]
server=1
rpcuser=root
rpcpassword=root
rpcallowip=127.0.0.1
rpcbind=127.0.0.1
rpcport=8332
fallbackfee=0.00001
mintxfee=0.00001
txindex=1
EOF

bitcoind

Mining (TestNet)

# Setting up a full node is needed too large storage space (over 500GB)
# But testnet is having small storage space (around 50GB)
# If you want to set up test net node, run the following command
# It is enough to test bitcoin commands
$ bitcoind -testnet
# or
$ echo "testnet=1" >> ~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
$ bitcoind

Bitcoin Directory Structure

witnessjo ~/.bitcoin  $ ls -al
total 27544
drwx------  5 witnessjo witnessjo     4096 Nov  3 22:59 .
drwx------ 45 witnessjo witnessjo     4096 Nov  3 23:11 ..
-rw-------  1 witnessjo witnessjo      221 Nov  3 22:59 banlist.json
-rw-------  1 witnessjo witnessjo        6 Nov  3 22:59 bitcoind.pid
drwx------  3 witnessjo witnessjo     4096 Nov  3 23:04 blocks
drwx------  2 witnessjo witnessjo     4096 Nov  3 22:59 chainstate
-rw-------  1 witnessjo witnessjo       75 Nov  3 22:59 .cookie
-rw-------  1 witnessjo witnessjo 28154187 Nov  3 23:11 debug.log
-rw-------  1 witnessjo witnessjo        0 Nov  3 22:59 .lock
-rw-------  1 witnessjo witnessjo     4210 Nov  3 22:59 peers.dat
-rw-------  1 witnessjo witnessjo      193 Nov  3 22:59 settings.json
drwx------  3 witnessjo witnessjo     4096 Nov  3 23:05 wallets

banlist.json: list of banned peers
bitcoind.pid: process id file
blocks/: block files
chainstate/: UTXO set database
.cookie: authentication cookie for RPC
debug.log: log file
peers.dat: known peers
settings.json: user settings
wallets/: wallet data

How to see the chainstate files (chainstate directory)

The chainstate directory contains LevelDB files representing the UTXO set.
You can use the `leveldb` tools to inspect the contents, but it’s generally not human-readable.

For practical purposes, use Bitcoin Core’s RPC commands to query UTXO information.

# latest UTXO information can be queried using
$ TXID=$(bitcoin-cli getblock $(bitcoin-cli getbestblockhash) 2 | jq -r '.tx[0].txid')
$ bitcoin-cli gettxout $TXID 0
{
    "bestblock": "0000000000000000111424bacbcd919fc9f237f05e10127d3c8d00faeb4dc0e5",
    "confirmations": 315,
    "value": 25.01631000,
    "scriptPubKey": {
        "asm": "OP_DUP OP_HASH160 ed306ae5bc7cf7c3b7f0fe956149a7bd73d25ff2 OP_EQUALVERIFY OP_CHECKSIG",
        "desc": "addr(1Nd99aNgYWpKkqcqSMgWtdtVDadewAS5F7)#26ytyu96",
        "hex": "76a914ed306ae5bc7cf7c3b7f0fe956149a7bd73d25ff288ac",
        "address": "1Nd99aNgYWpKkqcqSMgWtdtVDadewAS5F7",
        "type": "pubkeyhash"
    },
    "coinbase": true
}
## description
# bestblock: hash of the block containing this UTXO
# confirmations: number of confirmations
# value: amount of bitcoin in this UTXO
# scriptPubKey: details about the script that locks this UTXO
# coinbase: indicates if this UTXO is from a coinbase transaction (conbase transactions are special transactions that create new bitcoins)

How to see the block files (blocks directory)

The blocks directory contains blk*.dat files which store the raw block data.
You can use Bitcoin Core’s RPC commands to retrieve and decode block data.

How to start bitcoin mining

To start mining on your full node, you need to have a wallet set up to receive mining rewards.
Use the following command to start mining:

Wallet Instructions

Create a new wallet

You can create a new wallet using the following command:
```
$ bitcoin-cli createwallet "mywallet"
```

List wallets

To list all loaded wallets, use:
```
$ bitcoin-cli listwallets
```

Get wallet info

To get information about the currently loaded wallet, use:
```
$ bitcoin-cli getwalletinfo
```

Load previously created wallet

To load a previously created wallet, use:
```
$ bitcoin-cli loadwallet "mywallet"
```

Get more detailed information about wallet

To see generated addresses in your wallet, use :

# this show only addresses having transactions
bitcoin-cli listaddressgroupings

# this show all addresses in your wallet
bitcoin-cli listreceivedbyaddress 0 true

To generate a new address in your wallet, use:
```
bitcoin-cli getnewaddress
```

Mining to a specific address and checking balance

To mine to a specific address instantly (!!! only for regtest or testnet mode), use:

# Set your mining address
YOUR_ADDRESS=$(bitcoin-cli getnewaddress)
echo $YOUR_ADDRESS >> ~/.bitcoin/mining_address.txt
bitcoin-cli generatetoaddress 1 $YOUR_ADDRESS

# Start mining 100 blocks to your address
bitcoin-cli generatetoaddress 100 $YOUR_ADDRESS

Send bitcoin from your address to another address

To send bitcoin from your address to another address, use: #+begin_src bash

YOUR_ADDRESS=$(tail -n 1 ~/.bitcoin/mining_address.txt)

bitcoin-cli listunspent 1 9999999 ‘["’"$YOUR_ADDRESS"’"]’ bitcoin-cli listunspent | jq “.[] | select(.address==\"$YOUR_ADDRESS\”)"

RECEIVER_ADDRESS=$(bitcoin-cli getnewaddress) bitcoin-cli sendtoaddress $RECEIVER_ADDRESS 10.0

bitcoin-cli getbalance bitcoin-cli listreceivedbyaddress 1 true

HD Key Management

# Dump public key of your mining address
bitcoin-cli -regtest -rpcwallet=mywallet gethdkeys '{"private": false}' >> ~/.bitcoin/mining_public_keys.txt

Network Monitoring (Block Explorer)

btc-rpc-explorer

An Official blockchain explorer

link: https://github.com/janoside/btc-rpc-explorer

# Before running btc-rpc-explorer, make sure your bitcoind is running with RPC server enabled.
# You need to set up config file (~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf) like below
#####################
# server=1
# rpcuser=root
# rpcpassword=root
# rpcallowip=127.0.0.1
# rpcbind=127.0.0.1


## for regtest network
# regtest=1 (for using regtest network as default)
#
# [regtest]
# rpcuser=root
# rpcpassword=root
# rpcallowip=127.0.0.1
# rpcbind=127.0.0.1
#####################

# And restart your bitcoind process
pkill bitcoind
bitcoind --daemon

# Or for regtest network
bitcoind -regtest -rpcport=8332 -port=8333

# Then run btc-rpc-explorer
# Default bitcoind rpc port is 8332
git clone https://github.com/janoside/btc-rpc-explorer
docker build -t btc-rpc-explorer ./btc-rpc-explorer
docker run -it --network host \
       -e BTCEXP_HOST=0.0.0.0 \
       -e BTCEXP_PORT=3002 \
       -e BTCEXP_BITCOIND_HOST=127.0.0.1 \
       -e BTCEXP_BITCOIND_PORT=8332 \
       -e BTCEXP_BITCOIND_USER=root \
       -e BTCEXP_BITCOIND_PASS=root \
       -e BTCEXP_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD="" \
       btc-rpc-explorer

Bitcoin

[Witness Jo]

2025/11/03

Bitcoin

Build Instructions

Mining Instructions

Wallet setup for mining

Mining (Full Node)

Mining (RegTest)

Mining (TestNet)

Bitcoin Directory Structure

How to see the chainstate files (chainstate directory)

How to see the block files (blocks directory)

How to start bitcoin mining

Wallet Instructions

Create a new wallet

List wallets

Get wallet info

Load previously created wallet

Get more detailed information about wallet

Mining to a specific address and checking balance

Send bitcoin from your address to another address

HD Key Management

Network Monitoring (Block Explorer)

btc-rpc-explorer