add a separate channel for server commands

[electrum-server.git] / HOWTO.md

diff --git a/HOWTO.md b/HOWTO.md
index 5ac4397..af81673 100644 (file)
--- a/HOWTO.md
+++ b/HOWTO.md
@@ -97,21 +97,22 @@ our ~/bin directory:
     $ chmod +x ~/src/electrum/server/server.py
     $ ln -s ~/src/electrum/server/server.py ~/bin/electrum-server
 
-### Step 3. Download Bitcoind stable & patch it
+### Step 3. Download bitcoind
 
-In order for the latest versions of Electrum to work properly we currently recommend bitcoind 0.8.5 stable.  
-0.8.5 can be downloaded from github or sourceforge and it needs to be patched with an electrum specific patch.
-bitcoin@master i.e. git head may not currently work with electrum-server even if the patch applies cleanly.
+Older versions of Electrum used to require a patched version of bitcoind. 
+This is not the case anymore since bitcoind supports the 'txindex' option.
+We currently recommend bitcoind 0.8.6 stable.
 
-    $ cd ~/src && wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/bitcoin/files/Bitcoin/bitcoin-0.8.5/bitcoin-0.8.5-linux.tar.gz
-    $ tar xfz bitcoin-0.8.5-linux.tar.gz
-    $ cd bitcoin-0.8.5-linux/src
-    $ patch -p1 < ~/src/electrum/server/patch/patch
-    $ cd src
+If your package manager does not supply a recent bitcoind and prefer to compile
+here are some pointers for Ubuntu:
+
+    $ cd ~/src && wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/bitcoin/files/Bitcoin/bitcoin-0.8.6/bitcoin-0.8.6-linux.tar.gz
+    $ tar xfz bitcoin-0.8.6-linux.tar.gz
+    $ cd bitcoin-0.8.6-linux/src/src
     $ sudo apt-get install make g++ python-leveldb libboost-all-dev libssl-dev libdb++-dev 
     $ make USE_UPNP= -f makefile.unix
-    $ strip ~/src/bitcoin-0.8.5-linux/src/src/bitcoind
-    $ ln -s ~/src/bitcoin-0.8.5-linux/src/src/bitcoind ~/bin/bitcoind
+    $ strip ~/src/bitcoin-0.8.6-linux/src/src/bitcoind
+    $ ln -s ~/src/bitcoin-0.8.6-linux/src/src/bitcoind ~/bin/bitcoind
 
 ### Step 4. Configure and start bitcoind
 
@@ -127,8 +128,15 @@ Write this in `bitcoin.conf`:
     rpcuser=<rpc-username>
     rpcpassword=<rpc-password>
     daemon=1
+    txindex=1
+
+
+If you have an existing installation of bitcoind and have not previously
+set txindex=1 you need to reindex the blockchain by running
 
-Restart `bitcoind`:
+    $ bitcoind -reindex
+
+If you have a fresh copy of bitcoind start `bitcoind`:
 
     $ bitcoind
 
@@ -283,20 +291,18 @@ Two more things for you to consider:
 
 The magic moment has come: you can now start your Electrum server:
 
-    $ electrum-server
+    $ start
 
 You should see this on the screen:
 
     starting Electrum server
     cache: yes
 
-If you want to stop Electrum server, open another shell and run:
+If you want to stop Electrum server, use the 'stop' script:
+
+    $ stop
 
-    $ electrum-server stop
 
-You should also take a look at the 'start' and 'stop' scripts in
-`~/src/electrum/server`. You can use them as a starting point to create a
-init script for your system.
 
 ### Step 13. Test the Electrum server
 
@@ -311,7 +317,7 @@ addresses and transactions history. You can see the number of blocks and
 response time in the Server selection window. You should send/receive some
 bitcoins to confirm that everything is working properly.
 
-### Step 13. Join us on IRC, subscribe to the server thread
+### Step 14. Join us on IRC, subscribe to the server thread
 
 Say hi to the dev crew, other server operators and fans on 
 irc.freenode.net #electrum and we'll try to congratulate you