Ethereum 101 on Windows

By Beej
Posted on December 23, 2016

background / baseline context

  • I’m not even remotely suggesting that this is new info but even though there’s some very friendly guides already cooking out there, I ran into mild snags and this is my attempt to really grease the rails on the way to running the greeter sample smart contract
  • now that we have Ubuntu running natively on Windows 10 this, the native windows binary path for what are obviously linuxy bits sorta feels like a less direct path to success but IIRC i had initial snags that kicked me in this direction
  • these commands target a local private net instance… we get free gas this way so i figure inhale that immediate gratification as quickly as possible and use that energy to conquer our next ether mountain

getting spun up and ready to spend some ether

  1. [Ethereum.org/cli][1] feels like the canonical starting point so keep that handy -BUT- for starters, the referenced Windows binary installation url was down for me as of this writing
  2. so here’s the [geth][2] install bits… geth is the preferred CLI based server and admin console (installed to C:\Program Files\Geth for me)
  3. and we’ll also need the [smart contract compiler “SOLC”][3] (C:\Program Files\cpp-ethereum)… make sure those are both in your path
  4. create a working folder for this instance (aka “private network”) and make it current, hereby referred to as {workdir}
  5. throw together a genesis.json like so, filling in the as blanks as noted (from here 1) 
     {
   "nonce": "0x0",
   "timestamp": "0x0",
   "parentHash": "0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
   "extraData": "0x0",
   "gasLimit": "0x8000000",
   "difficulty": "0x400",
   "mixhash": "0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
   "coinbase": "0x0",
   "alloc": { "0x0": {"balance": "20000000000000000000"}}
 }
  • nonce: throw in a self generated hex guid … one way to create a guid would be to install ScriptCS.exe and then System.Guid.NewGuid().ToString("n") … recommend installing ScriptCS and anything else via [Chocolatey][4] Windows package manager
  • coinbase & alloc: note that later we’ll replace those “0x0” values with your primary account number as where you want your mined ether to deposit and build up
    1. initialize your working folder files:
      geth -dev -datadir . init genesis.json

  1. do ourselves a big favor and create a default javascript file to toss in any of our own custom convenience routines to be available whenever the server starts up… save the following to e.g. helpers.js (referenced in the ethStart.cmd below)

     function balance() {
   return web3.fromWei(eth.getBalance(eth.accounts[0])) + " ethers"; 
 }

  2. save the following to ethStart.cmd and launch it to fire up the server

     geth -dev -mine -minerthreads 1 -datadir . -networkid 399524671 -etherbase 0x057c86cae703b08c59fa6a9f066dbcc241da52a7 -rpc -rpcapi "eth,net,web3,personal" -rpccorsdomain * -password pw.txt -preload "helpers.js" console
 ::move unlock into command line after primary account is created
 ::-unlock 0
    • 2 full CLI option reference
    • networkid: make yours up
    • datadir: crucial your other files are in the current working folder
    • dev: developer mode… this seems to make certain initialization steps do a faster minimal burn
    • unlock: this will prompt you for password and thereby start server with specified etherbase aka coinbase account unlocked to enable spending ether which is REQUIRED TO SUBMIT ANY TRANSACTIONS, including our first hello world sample smart contract!! =)
    • etherbase: update this with your primary account, next step…
    • password: create pw.txt with the same password you specify in next step…
    • rpc: fire up the http-rpc endpoint… defaults to: https://localhost:8545
    • preload: loads our custom convenience routines
  3. create your primary account: personal.newAccount("fill in a password") … this will output the hex number of your first account# aka primary aka eth.accounts[0]
  4. stop the server with CTRL-D
  5. plug this account# into genesis.json and ethStart.cmd > coinbase & alloc properties… and add the unlock parm back into ethStart.cmd
  6. drumroll… restart ethStart.cmd … watch for any errors in the output

  7. i had to wait a few minutes for mining activity like below to kick in… it would be interesting to hear what it’s doing during this extended delay… 

     I1222 23:12:12.999058 miner/worker.go:542] commit new work on block 8 with 0 txs & 0 uncles. Took 0s
 I1222 23:12:12.999559 miner/worker.go:542] commit new work on block 8 with 0 txs & 0 uncles. Took 0s
 I1222 23:13:13.817780 miner/worker.go:344] 🔨 Mined block (#8 / 7d659f91). Wait 5 blocks for confirmation
 I1222 23:13:13.818278 miner/worker.go:542] commit new work on block 9 with 0 txs & 0 uncles. Took 497.4µs
 I1222 23:13:13.818777 miner/worker.go:542] commit new work on block 9 with 0 txs & 0 uncles. Took 0s
 I1222 23:14:10.930228 miner/worker.go:344] 🔨 Mined block (#9 / b076ded1). Wait 5 blocks for confirmation
    • definitely try miner.start(1) from the geth javascript command line if nothing happens after say 3 minutes tops
    • good troubleshooting ref 3
  8. once you see mined block output, then try balance() and you should see a few ethers piling up in your kettle 
     "50 ethers"

  9. here is my actual full happy output for your reference… don’t worry, all “secret” values herein (e.g. account#, password, etc) are local testnet only / completely sacrificial

     [C:\Users\beej1\AppData\Roaming\Ethereum\beejnet]ethStart
 geth -dev -mine -minerthreads 1 -datadir . -networkid 399524671 -etherbase 0x057c86cae703b08c59fa6a9f066dbcc241da52a7 -rpc -unlock 0 console
 I1222 23:07:20.578872 ethdb/database.go:83] Allotted 128MB cache and 1024 file handles to C:\Users\beej1\AppData\Roaming\Ethereum\beejnet\geth\chaindata
 I1222 23:07:20.620876 ethdb/database.go:176] closed db:C:\Users\beej1\AppData\Roaming\Ethereum\beejnet\geth\chaindata
 I1222 23:07:20.621873 node/node.go:175] instance: Geth/v1.5.3-stable-978737f5/windows/go1.7.3
 I1222 23:07:20.621873 ethdb/database.go:83] Allotted 128MB cache and 1024 file handles to C:\Users\beej1\AppData\Roaming\Ethereum\beejnet\geth\chaindata
 <span class="hl">I1222 23:07:20.661879 core/genesis.go:93] Genesis block already in chain. Writing canonical number<br /> I1222 23:07:20.662377 eth/backend.go:282] Successfully wrote custom genesis block: e5be92145a301820111f91866566e3e99ee344d155569e4556a39bc71238f3bc</span>
 I1222 23:07:20.662877 eth/backend.go:301] ethash used in test mode
 I1222 23:07:20.663381 eth/backend.go:193] Protocol Versions: [63 62], Network Id: 399524671
 I1222 23:07:20.663381 eth/backend.go:221] Chain config: {ChainID: 0 Homestead: <nil> DAO: <nil> DAOSupport: false EIP150: <nil> EIP155: <nil> EIP158: <nil>}
 I1222 23:07:20.663880 core/blockchain.go:214] Last header: #6 [1b77c210…] TD=917760
 I1222 23:07:20.664380 core/blockchain.go:215] Last block: #6 [1b77c210…] TD=917760
 I1222 23:07:20.664380 core/blockchain.go:216] Fast block: #6 [1b77c210…] TD=917760
 I1222 23:07:20.665379 p2p/server.go:336] Starting Server
 I1222 23:07:22.797260 p2p/discover/udp.go:217] Listening, enode://f2db422043fb3f846d2b429e0c2c99c1c2943ed2eea111d48dbafd203a250369e8c5ed56364d2248651647a094a4649529d3faf23e4b038f961ccc80cadf628a@[::]:61740
 I1222 23:07:22.798761 p2p/server.go:604] Listening on [::]:49887
 I1222 23:07:22.798761 whisper/whisperv2/whisper.go:176] Whisper started
 I1222 23:07:22.798761 eth/backend.go:481] Automatic pregeneration of ethash DAG ON (ethash dir: C:\Users\beej1\AppData\Ethash)
 I1222 23:07:22.799260 eth/backend.go:488] checking DAG (ethash dir: C:\Users\beej1\AppData\Ethash)
 I1222 23:07:22.800262 node/node.go:340] IPC endpoint opened: \.\pipe\geth.ipc
 I1222 23:07:22.813263 node/node.go:410] HTTP endpoint opened: https://localhost:8545
 Unlocking account 0 | Attempt 1/3
 <span class="hl">Passphrase: </span>
 I1222 23:08:28.727457 cmd/geth/accountcmd.go:200] Unlocked account 057c86cae703b08c59fa6a9f066dbcc241da52a7
 I1222 23:08:28.727954 miner/miner.go:137] Starting mining operation (CPU=1 TOT=2)
 I1222 23:08:28.728455 miner/worker.go:542] commit new work on block 7 with 0 txs & 0 uncles. Took 0s
 I1222 23:08:28.728955 vendor/github.com/ethereum/ethash/ethash.go:259] Generating DAG for epoch 0 (size 32768) (0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000)
 I1222 23:08:28.730457 vendor/github.com/ethereum/ethash/ethash.go:291] Generating DAG: 0%
 I1222 23:08:28.730958 vendor/github.com/ethereum/ethash/ethash.go:291] Generating DAG: 1%
 I1222 23:08:28.730958 vendor/github.com/ethereum/ethash/ethash.go:291] Generating DAG: 2%
 I1222 23:08:28.730958 vendor/github.com/ethereum/ethash/ethash.go:291] Generating DAG: 3%
 I1222 23:08:28.731456 vendor/github.com/ethereum/ethash/ethash.go:291] Generating DAG: 4%
 I1222 23:08:28.731456 vendor/github.com/ethereum/ethash/ethash.go:291] Generating DAG: 5%
 ... skipping ...
 I1222 23:08:28.752959 vendor/github.com/ethereum/ethash/ethash.go:291] Generating DAG: 97%
 I1222 23:08:28.752959 vendor/github.com/ethereum/ethash/ethash.go:291] Generating DAG: 98%
 I1222 23:08:28.752959 vendor/github.com/ethereum/ethash/ethash.go:291] Generating DAG: 99%
 I1222 23:08:28.753459 vendor/github.com/ethereum/ethash/ethash.go:291] Generating DAG: 100%
 I1222 23:08:28.753459 vendor/github.com/ethereum/ethash/ethash.go:276] Done generating DAG for epoch 0, it took 25.0043ms

 Welcome to the Geth JavaScript console!

 instance: Geth/v1.5.3-stable-978737f5/windows/go1.7.3
 coinbase: 0x057c86cae703b08c59fa6a9f066dbcc241da52a7
 at block: 6 (Thu, 22 Dec 2016 22:58:56 PST)
 datadir: C:\Users\beej1\AppData\Roaming\Ethereum\beejnet
 modules: admin:1.0 debug:1.0 eth:1.0 miner:1.0 net:1.0 personal:1.0 rpc:1.0 shh:1.0 txpool:1.0 web3:1.0

 I1222 23:12:12.999058 miner/worker.go:542] commit new work on block 8 with 0 txs & 0 uncles. Took 0s
 I1222 23:12:12.999559 miner/worker.go:542] commit new work on block 8 with 0 txs & 0 uncles. Took 0s
 I1222 23:13:13.817780 miner/worker.go:344] 🔨 Mined block (#8 / 7d659f91). Wait 5 blocks for confirmation
 I1222 23:13:13.818278 miner/worker.go:542] commit new work on block 9 with 0 txs & 0 uncles. Took 497.4µs
 I1222 23:13:13.818777 miner/worker.go:542] commit new work on block 9 with 0 txs & 0 uncles. Took 0s
 I1222 23:14:10.930228 miner/worker.go:344] 🔨 Mined block (#9 / b076ded1). Wait 5 blocks for confirmation

saving “greeter” sample smart contract to your blockchain

now we can jump into the [greeter hello world sample][5]

  1. save this to greeter.js

     var _greeting = "Hello World!"
  
 var greeterContract = web3.eth.contract(greeterCompiled.greeter.info.abiDefinition);</p> 

 var greeter = greeterContract.new(_greeting,{from:web3.eth.accounts[0], data: greeterCompiled.greeter.code, gas: 300000}, function(e, contract){
  
   if(!e) {
     if(!contract.address) {
       console.log("Contract transaction send: TransactionHash: " + contract.transactionHash + " waiting to be mined...");
     } else {
       console.log("Contract mined! Address: " + contract.address);
       console.log(contract);
     }
   }

 })

  2. fire that greeter.js which compiles the greeter contract and send it off to be committed to your blockchain via: loadScript("greeter.js")

    expected output:

     I1222 23:58:58.069301 internal/ethapi/api.go:1045] Tx(0x293ae70fcfaa52d875cbc8fb72937da69983724016321eea944eda2b1a87732b) created: 0xec99e07dc19d075761456f8c33558ba2148eb048
 Contract transaction send: TransactionHash: 0x293ae70fcfaa52d875cbc8fb72937da69983724016321eea944eda2b1a87732b waiting to be mined...
  3. again, sit and twiddle your thumbs for an excruciatingly long time (7 minutes for me!?!?)… and hopefully you eventually see output 
     Contract mined! Address: 0xec99e07dc19d075761456f8c33558ba2148eb048
  4. now we finally get to do: greeter.greet() expected output 
     "Hello World!"

Fun next steps…

1. Get BlockApps Strato rolling

  • Strato4 is a convenient REST API layer on top of raw Ethereum

    Each BlockApps node exposes a RESTful api to interact with the node. This allows you to deploy contracts/publish transactions with simple REST calls. Bloc-server also generates a REST api for each smart contract you deploy with it. This allows for a clean separation from your dapps frontend and smart contracts

  • [Solidity extension for Visual Studio][6] has an nicely easy run through on setting up BlockApps</p>
  • [BlockApps Strato GitHub Readme][7] is also short install guide with the following steps
  1. install nodeJS / npm via: choco install nodejs
  2. npm install -g blockapps-bloc
  3. test your Ethereum dev net apiUrl is listening: curl https://localhost:8545, expecting output: {"jsonrpc":"2.0","error":{"code":-32600,"message":"EOF"}}
  4. create a fresh BlockApps project…
    1. CD into PARENT directory of your new project folder
    2. block init and follow the prompts - the Visual Studio extension link has nice screenshots
      • you be prompted for “blockchain profile”, select the default “strato-dev”… [explained here a little][8]
    3. then CD into your project folder
    4. bloc genkey - will prompt for password and create initial “admin” user, expecting output: transaction successfully mined!
  5. bloc start fires up the Strato server listening for REST requests, expecting output: 
     bloc is listening on https://0.0.0.0:8000
 api is pointed to https://localhost:8545 with profile strato-dev
    • that’s pretty cool we’re running on top of our own custom dev net
  6. (open yet another CMD window) curl "https://localhost:8000/users", expecting: ["admin"]
  7. continue on with the guides…
  8. particularly [this Ether transfer example][9]
    • tip, curl "https://localhost:8000/users/admin" yields the necessary user address number
    • sample transfer: curl -X POST -d "password=ann0ying&toAddress=39b32d2be0c29c1011f7d1481f945b9d355cae96&value=10" https://localhost:8000/users/admin/a962a8e09ae6a096258d988588f2e8639cd2a664/send
    • ran into this error: {"errorTags":["transactionResult","submitTransaction","Transaction"],"message":"txHash must be a hex string (got: [object Object])"}
    • [only mention of this kind of error i’ve found so far has no response][10]
    • i got node.exe JS file breakpoints working in Visual Studio 2015… a little tricky because bloc “spawn”s the main web listener as child process… so basically tweak this %appdata%\npm\node_modules\blockapps-bloc\bin\main.js line as so var server = spawn('node', ['--debug-brk=5859', 'app.js' ]); and follow this [VS guide][11]
    • debugging showed me the underlying error back from ethereum is missing request id… which i ran across firing basic curl requests at ethereum when i left out {“id”: number} on my curl calls… so i hacked that into the source {myProj}\node_modules\blockapps-js\js\Transaction.js but then…
    • the next error i’m stuck on now is The method _ does not exist/is not available… so something is off
    • even though Strato is basically happy with my Ethereum install enough to execute the new user APIs no problem
    • i posted [issue on their forum][12]…
    • [update 2016-12-24] not only did support respond promptly next day but it was [Kieren James-Lubin][13] (kjameslubin) the founder no less! turns out, quote: “You must run a Strato node to be able to use bloc. No other Ethereum client supports it… You can use strato-dev4.blockapps.net:9000 or launch one from the Azure market place or contact us at hello@blockapps.net to install.”… so, that is welcome clarity straight from the horse’s mouth… a rare luxury that i am grateful for on this christmas eve… we’ll hop over to those other options … and the adventure continues… 🙂

 

2. get cracking on some real DAPPs!!

  • [comprehensive guide][14]

Handy References

  • [BlockApps Strato full REST API][15]
  • another short and sweet private network getting started guide that filled in several blanks for me ↩
  • all the geth CLI options ↩
  • good getting started guide with troubleshooting tips ↩
  • What's the real value in using BlockApps Strato? ↩ </fn> </ul> </footnotes> [1]: https://ethereum.org/cli [2]: https://geth.ethereum.org/downloads/ [3]: https://github.com/ethereum/webthree-umbrella/releases [4]: https://chocolatey.org/ [5]: https://ethereum.org/greeter [6]: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/caleteet/2016/04/01/solidity-integration-with-visual-studio/ [7]: https://github.com/blockapps/bloc [8]: https://www.npmjs.com/package/blockapps-js#blockapps-profiles [9]: https://www.blockapps.net/dashboard/quick-starts/bloc-keyserver [10]: https://github.com/blockapps/issues/issues/6#issuecomment-225995947 [11]: https://github.com/Microsoft/nodejstools/issues/197#issuecomment-113581676 [12]: https://forums.blockapps.net/#!/issues:ethereum-error-on-private-d [13]: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kjameslubin [14]: https://medium.com/@ConsenSys/a-101-noob-intro-to-programming-smart-contracts-on-ethereum-695d15c1dab4#.ezop8r22z [15]: https://blockapps.net/documentation#get-addresses
Tags: BlockChain Security
Share: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn