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129 lines
9.5 KiB
129 lines
9.5 KiB
3 years ago
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# Bitcoin Core file system
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**Contents**
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- [Data directory location](#data-directory-location)
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- [Data directory layout](#data-directory-layout)
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- [Multi-wallet environment](#multi-wallet-environment)
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- [Berkeley DB database based wallets](#berkeley-db-database-based-wallets)
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- [SQLite database based wallets](#sqlite-database-based-wallets)
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- [GUI settings](#gui-settings)
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- [Legacy subdirectories and files](#legacy-subdirectories-and-files)
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- [Notes](#notes)
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## Data directory location
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The data directory is the default location where the Bitcoin Core files are stored.
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1. The default data directory paths for supported platforms are:
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Platform | Data directory path
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---------|--------------------
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Linux | `$HOME/.bitcoin/`
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macOS | `$HOME/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/`
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Windows | `%APPDATA%\Bitcoin\` <sup>[\[1\]](#note1)</sup>
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2. A custom data directory path can be specified with the `-datadir` option.
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3. All content of the data directory, except for `bitcoin.conf` file, is chain-specific. This means the actual data directory paths for non-mainnet cases differ:
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Chain option | Data directory path
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-------------------------------|------------------------------
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`-chain=main` (default) | *path_to_datadir*`/`
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`-chain=test` or `-testnet` | *path_to_datadir*`/testnet3/`
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`-chain=signet` or `-signet` | *path_to_datadir*`/signet/`
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`-chain=regtest` or `-regtest` | *path_to_datadir*`/regtest/`
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## Data directory layout
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Subdirectory | File(s) | Description
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-------------------|-----------------------|------------
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`blocks/` | | Blocks directory; can be specified by `-blocksdir` option (except for `blocks/index/`)
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`blocks/index/` | LevelDB database | Block index; `-blocksdir` option does not affect this path
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`blocks/` | `blkNNNNN.dat`<sup>[\[2\]](#note2)</sup> | Actual Bitcoin blocks (in network format, dumped in raw on disk, 128 MiB per file)
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`blocks/` | `revNNNNN.dat`<sup>[\[2\]](#note2)</sup> | Block undo data (custom format)
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`chainstate/` | LevelDB database | Blockchain state (a compact representation of all currently unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) and metadata about the transactions they are from)
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`indexes/txindex/` | LevelDB database | Transaction index; *optional*, used if `-txindex=1`
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`indexes/blockfilter/basic/db/` | LevelDB database | Blockfilter index LevelDB database for the basic filtertype; *optional*, used if `-blockfilterindex=basic`
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`indexes/blockfilter/basic/` | `fltrNNNNN.dat`<sup>[\[2\]](#note2)</sup> | Blockfilter index filters for the basic filtertype; *optional*, used if `-blockfilterindex=basic`
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`indexes/coinstats/db/` | LevelDB database | Coinstats index; *optional*, used if `-coinstatsindex=1`
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`wallets/` | | [Contains wallets](#multi-wallet-environment); can be specified by `-walletdir` option; if `wallets/` subdirectory does not exist, wallets reside in the [data directory](#data-directory-location)
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`./` | `anchors.dat` | Anchor IP address database, created on shutdown and deleted at startup. Anchors are last known outgoing block-relay-only peers that are tried to re-connect to on startup
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`./` | `banlist.dat` | Stores the addresses/subnets of banned nodes (deprecated). `bitcoind` or `bitcoin-qt` no longer save the banlist to this file, but read it on startup if `banlist.json` is not present.
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`./` | `banlist.json` | Stores the addresses/subnets of banned nodes.
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`./` | `bitcoin.conf` | User-defined [configuration settings](bitcoin-conf.md) for `bitcoind` or `bitcoin-qt`. File is not written to by the software and must be created manually. Path can be specified by `-conf` option
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`./` | `bitcoind.pid` | Stores the process ID (PID) of `bitcoind` or `bitcoin-qt` while running; created at start and deleted on shutdown; can be specified by `-pid` option
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`./` | `debug.log` | Contains debug information and general logging generated by `bitcoind` or `bitcoin-qt`; can be specified by `-debuglogfile` option
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`./` | `fee_estimates.dat` | Stores statistics used to estimate minimum transaction fees required for confirmation
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`./` | `guisettings.ini.bak` | Backup of former [GUI settings](#gui-settings) after `-resetguisettings` option is used
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`./` | `ip_asn.map` | IP addresses to Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs) mapping used for bucketing of the peers; path can be specified with the `-asmap` option
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`./` | `mempool.dat` | Dump of the mempool's transactions
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`./` | `onion_v3_private_key` | Cached Tor onion service private key for `-listenonion` option
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`./` | `i2p_private_key` | Private key that corresponds to our I2P address. When `-i2psam=` is specified the contents of this file is used to identify ourselves for making outgoing connections to I2P peers and possibly accepting incoming ones. Automatically generated if it does not exist.
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`./` | `peers.dat` | Peer IP address database (custom format)
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`./` | `settings.json` | Read-write settings set through GUI or RPC interfaces, augmenting manual settings from [bitcoin.conf](bitcoin-conf.md). File is created automatically if read-write settings storage is not disabled with `-nosettings` option. Path can be specified with `-settings` option
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`./` | `.cookie` | Session RPC authentication cookie; if used, created at start and deleted on shutdown; can be specified by `-rpccookiefile` option
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`./` | `.lock` | Data directory lock file
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## Multi-wallet environment
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Wallets are Berkeley DB (BDB) or SQLite databases.
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1. Each user-defined wallet named "wallet_name" resides in the `wallets/wallet_name/` subdirectory.
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2. The default (unnamed) wallet resides in `wallets/` subdirectory; if the latter does not exist, the wallet resides in the data directory.
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3. A wallet database path can be specified with the `-wallet` option.
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4. `wallet.dat` files must not be shared across different node instances, as that can result in key-reuse and double-spends due the lack of synchronization between instances.
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5. Any copy or backup of the wallet should be done through a `backupwallet` call in order to update and lock the wallet, preventing any file corruption caused by updates during the copy.
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### Berkeley DB database based wallets
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Subdirectory | File(s) | Description
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-------------|-------------------|-------------
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`database/` | BDB logging files | Part of BDB environment; created at start and deleted on shutdown; a user *must keep it as safe* as personal wallet `wallet.dat`
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`./` | `db.log` | BDB error file
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`./` | `wallet.dat` | Personal wallet (a BDB database) with keys and transactions
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`./` | `.walletlock` | BDB wallet lock file
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### SQLite database based wallets
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Subdirectory | File | Description
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-------------|----------------------|-------------
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`./` | `wallet.dat` | Personal wallet (a SQLite database) with keys and transactions
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`./` | `wallet.dat-journal` | SQLite Rollback Journal file for `wallet.dat`. Usually created at start and deleted on shutdown. A user *must keep it as safe* as the `wallet.dat` file.
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## GUI settings
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`bitcoin-qt` uses [`QSettings`](https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qsettings.html) class; this implies platform-specific [locations where application settings are stored](https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qsettings.html#locations-where-application-settings-are-stored).
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## Legacy subdirectories and files
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These subdirectories and files are no longer used by Bitcoin Core:
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Path | Description | Repository notes
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---------------|-------------|-----------------
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`blktree/` | Blockchain index; replaced by `blocks/index/` in [0.8.0](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/release-notes/release-notes-0.8.0.md#improvements) | [PR #2231](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/2231), [`8fdc94cc`](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/commit/8fdc94cc8f0341e96b1edb3a5b56811c0b20bd15)
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`coins/` | Unspent transaction output database; replaced by `chainstate/` in 0.8.0 | [PR #2231](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/2231), [`8fdc94cc`](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/commit/8fdc94cc8f0341e96b1edb3a5b56811c0b20bd15)
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`blkindex.dat` | Blockchain index BDB database; replaced by {`chainstate/`, `blocks/index/`, `blocks/revNNNNN.dat`<sup>[\[2\]](#note2)</sup>} in 0.8.0 | [PR #1677](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/1677)
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`blk000?.dat` | Block data (custom format, 2 GiB per file); replaced by `blocks/blkNNNNN.dat`<sup>[\[2\]](#note2)</sup> in 0.8.0 | [PR #1677](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/1677)
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`addr.dat` | Peer IP address BDB database; replaced by `peers.dat` in [0.7.0](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/release-notes/release-notes-0.7.0.md) | [PR #1198](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/1198), [`928d3a01`](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/commit/928d3a011cc66c7f907c4d053f674ea77dc611cc)
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`onion_private_key` | Cached Tor onion service private key for `-listenonion` option. Was used for Tor v2 services; replaced by `onion_v3_private_key` in [0.21.0](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/release-notes/release-notes-0.21.0.md) | [PR #19954](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/19954)
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## Notes
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<a name="note1">1</a>. The `/` (slash, U+002F) is used as the platform-independent path component separator in this document.
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<a name="note2">2</a>. `NNNNN` matches `[0-9]{5}` regex.
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