Summary
Sometimes you need to get your wallet working as quickly as possible. Maybe your database got corrupted or your wallet has gone off on a rogue fork. Downloading a bootstrap is a timesaving shortcut. This document explains what a bootstrap file is, how to protect against security risks, and how to get your node up and running quickly and safely.
What is an ION coin ‘bootstrap’ file?
A ‘bootstrap’ is a remotely hosted file that contains the blockchain (ledger) from the Genesis block number 0 right up to the point at which it was then uploaded, this will be the last indexed blockheight contained within the file.
This contains all the transactions, data and some other information that has been verified and stored, then uploaded to a repository to be able to be then downloaded for offline use, such as in certain cases where client wallets cannot get a connections from the initial peer servers on the network or to verify transaction information offline, in some other manner. A bootstrap file is generally used to accelerate the initial client wallet or node setup, this additionally helps to offload data needing to be downloaded to the new wallet by the other peers and nodes on the network.
Download the ION bootstrap
If you are going to utilize any bootstrap file make sure to check the integrity and to make sure that it is from the correct source from where you are downloading it. In addition, make sure to verify the file that is downloaded is the actual one that was uploaded. Some files could be uploaded to appear from the correct source but actually contain exploits injected by a third-party hacker, there are also some website redirect hacks in place to make a fake website appear as the correct one.
ION bootstrap files are uploaded daily and hosted on:
https://github.com/MitchellCash/ion-bootstrap
Make sure to ONLY download ION bootstrap files from this repository and that there is the SSL padlock showing beside the website address, you can check the certificate is correct by clicking on it too.
It is a good idea to verify the SHA256SUMS match if you can, as in the next steps:
How to verify the source file
On the bootstrap download page will be displayed a link of the five most recent uploads and then beside them SHA256SUM file link.
Download the most recent bootstrap file then on the same page beside this there is a link to the relevant SHA256SUMS file, this is actually a text file containing the original files SHA256SUM hash which was created by the uploader, before uploading the file to the server.
By checking the SHA256SUMS hash matches with the file downloaded, you can be sure this is the actual one intentionally uploaded, and has not been corrupted, replaced, or messed with in any way.
Linux:
https://itsfoss.com/checksum-tools-guide-linux/
Mac OS
https://www.dyclassroom.com/howto-mac/how-to-verify-checksum-on-a-mac-md5-sha1-sha256-etc
Microsoft Windows
Install bootstrap
How to install the actual bootstrap
The bootstrap file is contained within a .zip file so this must be extracted to be able to copy into the data directory, you can do this directly from within the extraction software within the operating system machine and there are some third-party programs available to do this too.
Be sure to close down the wallet before carrying out this process:
Close your wallet gracefully (File -> Exit or ./ion-cli stop)*
*If running Qt client, wait for the shutdown message to disappear.
If running daemon, wait for the command line to reappear.
**It is best to make a backup of your wallet.dat and private keys for safety prior to carrying out any maintenance operations on the wallet.
Open the data directory
Via the file explorer of your operating system or via command console, go to your blockchain data directory:
Example ION coin core data directory
Data directory locations
Linux Data directory
By default ION will put its data here:
~/.ioncoin/
You need to issue the command "ls -a" to see directories that start with a dot.
If that's not it, you can do a search like this:
find / -name wallet.dat -print 2>/dev/null
Mac Data directory
By default ionomy will put its data here:
~/Library/Application Support/ioncoin
To search for the above data directory:
Open Finder and Go to: `~/Library` *NOT* `/Library` as it’s a big difference.
From there, navigate to “Application Support” -> ioncoin
Windows data directory
Go to Start -> Run (or press WinKey+R) and run this:
%APPDATA%\ioncoin
ionomy's data folder will open. For most users, this is the following locations:
C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Application data\ioncoin (XP)
C:\Users\YourUserName\Appdata\Roaming\ioncoin (Vista and 7, 8 & 10)
"AppData" and "Application data" are hidden by default. (Show hidden files and folders from the menu to enable viewing).*
*The above locations are the default for the ION coin core data directory, but it is possible to store the ION coin data files in any other drive or folder, this will then become the working data directory.
You will see some files and folders there including chainstate, peers.dat, wallet.dat and so on*
*Enabling showing of hidden files and folders may be required.
Now the data directory is opened, the bootstrap must be copied into there.*
*Depending upon the file system and applications installed, you may be able to just drag the bootstrap.dat file from within the downloaded archive file directly into the ioncoin data directory - in it’s entirety. If it is not possible to extract or manually ‘drag’ into the data directory, you will need some file archive extraction software such as Winzip, 7Zip and others commonly available.
Example of Operating system archive file opening before extraction
Example of extracted bootstrap.dat within the ion coin core data directory
Now the bootstrap.dat file which was contained within the bootstrap.dat.zip file has been copied to the ioncoin data directory, restart the client wallet. After the splash screen has displayed, you will see a message in the status bar of ‘Importing blocks from disk’:
This will import the blockchain blocks directly from the bootstrap.dat file up to the latest block number when the file was archived and uploaded, after this block number has been imported, the client wallet will then switch over to resume downloading (synchronizing) blocks over the ION coin network from other client wallets, nodes and peers.
When the process has finished, a green check mark will display in the notifications bar.
You can then check the blockchain data is correct (and the client wallet is on the right chain) via the command line or console by doing (for example) :
getblockhash 1245559
A return will show of:
Then open an ION coin block explorer:
https://chainz.cryptoid.info/ion/block.dws?1245559.htm
and check the block hash is the same:
As the blockchain block height hashsum is the same, the correct chain and data are present; you can now continue to use the wallet normally as the bootstrap blockchain import and re-index process is complete.
If you should get stuck during any part of the process, please email support@ionomy.com for assistance.
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