20 KiB
Grin - Basic Wallet
Wallet Files
A Grin wallet maintains its state in an LMDB database, with the master seed stored in a separate file. A wallet directory should contain:
wallet.seed # *** passphrase protected seed file (keep this private) ***
wallet_data # The lmdb data directory in which wallet outputs and transaction information are stored
By default Grin will look for these in the current working directory.
Logging + Output
Logging configuration for the wallet is read from grin.toml. To modify the wallet's logging output, copy grin.toml from the main grin directory
into the current wallet directory, and modify logging parameters. (Only parameters relevant to the wallet will be read.)
Switches common to all wallet commands
Grin Node Address
The wallet generally needs to talk to a running grin node in order to remain up-to-date and verify its contents. By default, the wallet
tries to contact a node at 127.0.0.1:13413. To change this, provide the -a switch to the wallet command, e.g.:
[host]$ grin wallet -a "http://192.168.0.2:1341" info
If commands that need to update from a grin node can't find one, they will generally inform you that the node couldn't be reached and the results verified against the latest chain information.
Password
All keys generated by your wallet are combinations of the master seed + a password. If no password is provided, it's assumed this
password is blank. If you do provide a password, all operations will use the seed+password and you will need to password to view or
spend any generated outputs. The password is specified with -p
[host]$ grin wallet -p mypassword info
Data Directory
You can override the directory to use for wallet files with the -d flag, e.g:
[host]$ grin wallet -d ./path/to/other/dir info
Basic Wallet Commands
grin wallet --help will display usage info and all flags.
grin wallet help [command] will deplay flags specific to the command, e.g grin wallet help listen
init
Before using a wallet a new seed file wallet.seed and storage database needs to be generated via grin wallet init -
[host]$ grin wallet init
Jul 30 15:25:20.999 INFO This is Grin version 0.3.0 (git testnet3-47-gaa64854), built for x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu by rustc 1.27.0 (3eda71b00 2018-06-19).
Jul 30 15:25:20.999 DEBG Built with profile "debug", features "" on Tue, 24 Jul 2018 14:53:51 GMT.
Jul 30 15:25:20.999 DEBG Generating wallet seed file at: ./wallet.seed
Jul 30 15:25:20.999 INFO Wallet seed file created
Jul 30 15:25:21.085 INFO Wallet database backend created
info
A summary of the wallet's contents can be retrieved from the wallet using the info command. Note that the Total sum may appear
inflated if you have a lot of unconfirmed outputs in your wallet (especially ones where a transaction is initiated by other parties
who then never it by posting to the chain). Currently Spendable is the most accurate field to look at here.
____ Wallet Summary Info as of 49 ____
Total | 3000.000000000
Awaiting Confirmation | 60.000000000
Immature Coinbase | 180.000000000
Currently Spendable | 2760.000000000
--------- | ---------
(Locked by previous transaction) | 0.000000000
listen
This opens a listener on the specified port, which will listen for:
- Coinbase Transaction from a mining server
- Transactions initiated by other parties
By default the listen commands runs in a manner that only allows access from the local machine. To open this port up
to other machines, use the -e switch:
[host]$ grin wallet -e listen
To change the port on which the wallet is listening, use the -l flag, e.g:
[host]$ grin wallet -l 14000 listen
The wallet will listen for requests until the process is cancelled with <Ctrl-C>. Note that external ports/firewalls need to be configured
properly if you're expecting requests from outside your local network (well out of the scope of this document).
send
This builds a transaction interactively with another running wallet, then posts the final transaction to the chain. As the name suggests, this is how you send Grins to another party.
The most important fields here are the destination (-d) and the amount itself. To send an amount to another listening wallet:
[host]$ grin wallet send -d "http://192.168.0.10:13415" 60.00
This will create a transaction with the other wallet listening at 192.168.0.10, port 13415 which credits the other wallet 60 grins while debiting the 60 Grin + fees from your wallet.
It's important to understand exactly what happens during a send command, so at a very basic level the send interaction goes as follows:
- Your wallet selects a number of unspent inputs from your wallet, enough to cover the 60 grins + fees.
- Your wallet locks these inputs so as not to select them for other transactions, and creates a change output in your wallet for the difference.
- Your wallet adds these inputs and outputs to a transaction, and sends the transaction to the recipient.
- The recipient adds their output for 60 grins to the transaction, and returns it to the sender.
- The sender completes signing of the transaction.
- The sender posts the transaction to the chain.
Outputs in your wallet will appear as unconfirmed or locked until the transaction hits the chain and is mined and validated.
Other flags here are:
-s'Selection strategy', which can be 'all' or 'smallest'. Since it's advantageous for outputs to be removed from the Grin chain, the default strategy for selecting inputs in Step 1 above is to use as many outputs as possible to consolidate your balance into a couple of outputs. This also drastically reduces your wallet size, so everyone wins. The downside is that the entire contents of your wallet remains locked until the transaction is mined validated on the chain. To instead only select just enough inputs to cover the amount you want to send + fees, use:
[host]$ grin wallet send -d "http://192.168.0.10:13415" -s smallest 60.00
-f'Fluff' Grin uses a protocol called 'Dandelion' which bounces your transaction directly through several listening nodes in a 'Stem Phase' before randomly 'Fluffing', i.e. broadcasting it to the entire network. This reduces traceability at the cost of lengthening the time before your transaction appears on the chain. To ignore the stem phase and broadcast immediately:
[host]$ grin wallet send -f -d "http://192.168.0.10:13415" 60.00
outputs
Simply displays all the the outputs in your wallet: e.g:
[host]$ grin wallet outputs
Wallet Outputs - Block Height: 49
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Key Id Child Key Index Block Height Locked Until Status Is Coinbase? Num. of Confirmations Value Transaction
================================================================================================================================================
13aea76c742ec6298360 2 1 4 Unspent true 49 60.000000000 37
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ef619c4cdda170f9a4eb 3 2 5 Unspent true 48 60.000000000 38
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
be5a6f68db3ff4b88786 4 3 6 Unspent true 47 60.000000000 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
753a4086bf73246f8206 5 4 7 Unspent true 46 60.000000000 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
b2bf4c3e64a67158989f 6 5 8 Unspent true 45 60.000000000 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
db427d890fe59824ee64 7 6 9 Unspent true 44 60.000000000 11
Spent outputs are not shown by default. To show them, provide the -s flag.
[host]$ grin wallet -s outputs
txs
Every time an operation is performed in your wallet (receive coinbase, send, receive), an entry is added to an internal transaction log
containing vital information about the transaction. Because the Mimblewimble chain contains no identifying information whatsoever,
this transaction log is necessary in order to allow your wallet to keep track of what was sent and received. To view the contents of the
transaction log, use the txs
[host]$ grin wallet txs
Transaction Log - Block Height: 49
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Id Type Shared Transaction Id Creation Time Confirmed? Confirmation Time Num. Inputs Num. Outputs Amount Credited Amount Debited Fee Net Difference
==========================================================================================================================================================================================================================================
1 Confirmed Coinbase None 2018-07-20 19:46:45.658263284 UTC true 2018-07-20 19:46:45.658264768 UTC 0 1 60.000000000 0.000000000 None 60.000000000
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 Confirmed Coinbase None 2018-07-20 19:46:45.658424352 UTC true 2018-07-20 19:46:45.658425102 UTC 0 1 60.000000000 0.000000000 None 60.000000000
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 Confirmed Coinbase None 2018-07-20 19:46:45.658541297 UTC true 2018-07-20 19:46:45.658542029 UTC 0 1 60.000000000 0.000000000 None 60.000000000
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 Confirmed Coinbase None 2018-07-20 19:46:45.658657246 UTC true 2018-07-20 19:46:45.658657970 UTC 0 1 60.000000000 0.000000000 None 60.000000000
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Confirmed Coinbase None 2018-07-20 19:46:45.658864074 UTC true 2018-07-20 19:46:45.658864821 UTC 0 1 60.000000000 0.000000000 None 60.000000000
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 Received Tx 03715cf6-f29b-4a3a-bda5-b02cba6bf0d9 2018-07-20 19:46:46.120244904 UTC false None 0 1 60.000000000 0.000000000 None 60.000000000
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To see the inputs/outputs associated with a particular transaction, use the -i switch providing the Id of the given transaction, e.g:
[host]$ grin wallet txs -i 6
Transaction Log - Block Height: 49
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Id Type Shared Transaction Id Creation Time Confirmed? Confirmation Time Num. Inputs Num. Outputs Amount Credited Amount Debited Fee Net Difference
===========================================================================================================================================================================================================
6 Received Tx 03715cf6-f29b-4a3a-bda5-b02cba6bf0d9 2018-07-20 19:46:46.120244904 UTC false None 0 1 60.000000000 0.000000000 None 60.000000000
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wallet Outputs - Block Height: 49
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Key Id Child Key Index Block Height Locked Until Status Is Coinbase? Num. of Confirmations Value Transaction
================================================================================================================================================
a7aebee71fdd78396ae6 9 5 0 Unconfirmed false 0 60.000000000 6
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
cancel
Everything before Step 6 in the send phase above happens completely locally in the wallets' data storage and separately from the chain.
Since it's very easy for a sender, (through error or malice,) to fail to post a transaction to the chain, it's very possible for the contents
of a wallet to become locked, with all outputs unable to be selected because the wallet is waiting for a transaction that will never hit
the chain to complete. For example, in the output from grin wallet txs -i 6 above, the transaction is showing as confirmed == false
meaning the wallet has not seen any of the associated outputs on the chain. If it's evident that this transaction will never be posted, locked
outputs can be unlocked and associate unconfirmed outputs removed with the cancel command.
Running against the data above:
[host]$ grin wallet cancel -i 6
[host]$ grin wallet txs -i 6
Transaction Log - Block Height: 49
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Id Type Shared Transaction Id Creation Time Confirmed? Confirmation Time Num. Inputs Num. Outputs Amount Credited Amount Debited Fee Net Difference
=======================================================================================================================================================================================================================
6 Received Tx - Cancelled 03715cf6-f29b-4a3a-bda5-b02cba6bf0d9 2018-07-20 19:46:46.120244904 UTC false None 0 1 60.000000000 0.000000000 None 60.000000000
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note that the Receive transaction has been cancelled, and the corresponding output was removed from the wallet. If I were the sender, my change output would have been deleted, and any outputs that were locked for the transaction would again be available for use in another transaction.
Be sure to use this command with caution, as there are many edge cases and possible attacks that still need to be dealt with, particularly if you're
the recipient of a transaction. For the time being please be 100% certain that the relevant transaction is never, ever going to be posted before
running grin wallet cancel
restore
NB the wallet restore command still needs some development work.. you may have issues with a restored wallet for the time being. If you're just trying,
to unlock outputs locked by failed test transactions, use the cancel command above
It is possible to restore a wallet from nothing but the seed file. To do this, ensure you're in an empty directory with nothing but the wallet seed file, (and not mining into it with your grin node) and run the command:
grin wallet restore
Note this operation can potentially take a long time. (More detail will be filled in about this operation after further development).