204 lines
7.2 KiB
Markdown
204 lines
7.2 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Getting Started with Geth
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permalink: docs/getting-started
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sort_key: A
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---
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To use Geth, you need to install it first. You can install Geth in a variety
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of ways that you can find in the "[Install and Build](install-and-build/installing-geth)" section.
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These include installing it via your favorite package manager, downloading a
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standalone pre-built binary, running it as a docker container or building it yourself.
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For this guide, we assume you have Geth installed and are ready to find out how to use it.
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The guide shows you how to create accounts, sync to a network, and then send transactions
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between accounts.
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This guide uses [Clef](clef/tutorial), which is our preferred tool for signing transactions with Geth,
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and will replace Geth's account management.
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## Initialize Clef
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First, initialize Clef with a random master seed, which is also encrypted with the password you define.
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The password must be at least 10 characters.
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```shell
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clef init
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```
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## Create accounts
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Create two accounts with the `clef newaccount` command,
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set a password for each of them, and note the public address for each.
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Clef outputs a debug message about `Failed to reload keystore contents`, we fix that in a later step.
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## Start Geth
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### Networks
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You can connect a Geth node to several different networks using the network name as an argument.
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These include the main Ethereum network, [a private network](getting-started/private-net) you create,
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and three test networks that use different consensus algorithms:
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- **Ropsten**: Proof-of-work test network
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- **Rinkeby**: Proof-of-authority test network
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- **Görli**: Proof-of-authority test network
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For this guide, we use the Görli network. The default port is 30303, so you need to enable at least
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outgoing access from your node to that port.
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### Sync modes
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You can start Geth in one of three different sync modes using the `--syncmode "<mode>"`
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argument that determines what sort of node it is in the network.
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These are:
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- **Full**: Downloads all blocks (including headers, transactions, and receipts) and
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generates the state of the blockchain incrementally by executing every block.
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- **Fast**: Downloads all blocks (including headers, transactions and
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receipts), verifies all headers, and downloads the state and verifies it against the
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headers.
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- **Snap** (Default): Same functionality as fast, but with a faster algorithm.
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- **Light**: Downloads all block headers, block data, and verifies some randomly.
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For this tutorial, we use a `light` sync:
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## Start Clef
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Start Clef, setting the keystore and chain id (goerli is 5) for the network we want to connect to:
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```shell
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clef --keystore <GETH_DATA_DIR>/keystore --chainid 5
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```
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To begin with, you see errors about a missing keystore, and we fix that soon.
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Under Linux the default Geth data directory is `~/.ethereum`
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## Start Geth
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Open another command line window and run command below, which also enables the
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[Geth RPC interface](clef/tutorial) (see below), and sets Clef as the transaction signer.
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```shell
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geth --goerli --syncmode "light" --http --signer=<CLEF_LOCATION>/clef.ipc
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```
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By default Clef's location under Linux is `~/.clef`, but the signer's location cannot
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include a `~` so replace it with your home directory.
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## Get ETH
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Unless you have Ether in another account on the Görli network, you can use a
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[faucet](https://goerli-faucet.slock.it/) to send ETH to one of your new account addresses to use for this guide.
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## Connect to Geth with IPC or RPC
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You can interact with Geth in two ways: Directly with the node using the JavaScript
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console over IPC, or connecting to the node remotely over HTTP using RPC.
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IPC allows you to do more, especially when it comes to creating and interacting
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with accounts, but you need direct access to the node.
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RPC allows remote applications to access your node but has limitations and security
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considerations, and by default only allows access to methods in the `eth` and `shh`
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namespaces. Find out how to override this setting [in the RPC docs](rpc/server#http-server).
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## Using IPC
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### Connect to console
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Connect to the IPC console on a node from another terminal window:
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```shell
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geth attach <IPC_LOCATION>
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```
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You can see the IPC location in the output of the network node `geth` process. By default, when using
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Görli, it is `~/.ethereum/goerli/geth.ipc`.
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### Check account balance
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```javascript
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web3.fromWei(eth.getBalance("<ADDRESS_1>"),"ether")
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```
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Getting the balance of an account does not require a signed transaction,
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so Clef does not ask for approval, and Geth returns the value.
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Note that this step requires the initial synchronization to end. If you get an error message, return to the
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console with the network node Geth and wait until it is synchronized. You
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know that your Geth is synchronized when it is only importing a small number of blocks (one or two, usually)
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at a time.
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### Send ETH to account
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Send 0.01 ETH from the account that you added ETH to with the Görli faucet,
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to the second account you created:
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```javascript
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eth.sendTransaction({from:"<ADDRESS_1>",to:"<ADDRESS_2>", value: web3.toWei(0.01,"ether")})
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```
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This action does require signing the transaction, so go to the command line window with Clef running
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to see that Clef prompts you to approve it, and when you do, asks you for the password for the account you are
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sending the ETH from. If the password is correct, Geth proceeds with the transaction.
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To check, get the account balance of the second account:
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```javascript
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web3.fromWei(eth.getBalance("<ADDRESS_2>"),"ether")
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```
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## Using RPC
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### Connect to RPC
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You can use standard HTTP requests to connect to a Geth node using the RPC APIs, using
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this syntax:
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```shell
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curl -X POST http://<GETH_IP_ADDRESS>:8545 \
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-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
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--data'{"jsonrpc":"2.0", "method":"<API_METHOD>", "params":[], "id":1}'
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```
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### Check account balance
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```shell
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curl -X POST http://<GETH_IP_ADDRESS>:8545 \
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-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
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--data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0", "method":"eth_getBalance", "params":["<ADDRESS_1>","latest"], "id":1}'
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```
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Getting the balance of an account does not require a signed transaction, so Geth returns the value without invoking
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Clef. Note that the value returned is in hexadecimal and WEI. To get the ETH value, convert to decimal and divide by 10^18.
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### Send ETH to accounts
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Send 0.01 ETH from the account that you added ETH to with the Görli faucet, to the second account you created:
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```shell
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curl -X POST http://<GETH_IP_ADDRESS>:8545 \
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-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
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--data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0", "method":"eth_sendTransaction", "params":[{"from": "<ADDRESS_1>","to": "<ADDRESS_2>","value": "0x9184e72a"}], "id":1}'
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```
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This action does require signing, so Clef prompts you to approve it, and if you do,
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asks you for the password of the account from which you are sending the ETH. If the password is correct,
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Geth proceeds with the transaction.
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To check, get the account balance of the second account:
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```shell
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curl -X POST http://<GETH_IP_ADDRESS>:8545 \
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-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
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--data '{"jsonrpc":"2.0", "method":"eth_getBalance", "params":["<ADDRESS_2>","latest"], "id":1}'
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```
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