Using Chain Servers
The BitShares toolkit supports an alternative method of syncing long, continuous segments of blockchain via a feature called Chain Servers. The Chain Servers, unlike the normal P2P network, exist only to provide long sequences of blocks from the official chain. This allows for a more efficient initial sync. After syncing from a Chain Server, the client will connect to the P2P network as usual to keep in sync with the network. This means that while the client syncs from the Chain Server, it will have no connections to the P2P network. The status of the sync can be queried by running get_info in the console and noting the current head block number.
A future release of BitShares X will include a set of seed servers, which will allow clients to connect and sync from a chain server automatically. At the time of this writing, clients which wish to sync from a chain server must add one manually to their config.json file. A chain server for the BitShares X network is maintained by BitShares X user delegate.nathanhourt.com at 69.90.132.209.
To sync from this chain server, first locate your config.json file. This file will be located in the BitShares X data directory, which is placed in these locations by default:
- Windows:
%APPDATA%/BitShares X(Try going to Start->Run and opening %APPDATA%, then open the BitShares X folder) - Mac:
~/Library/Application Support/BitShares X(Open a Finder window and press Command-Shift-G, then paste in the path) - Linux:
~/.BitSharesX
In this folder, find the config.json file and open it with your preferred text editor (Mac users may use TextEdit and Windows users may use Notepad). In this file, find the chain_servers list, which is located by default immediately after the default_peers list. If you do not see chain_servers in your config.json, your config.json was created by an old version of BitShares X. Delete config.json and restart your client, then open it again. If there is still not a chain_servers section, update your BitShares X client.
When you have found the chain_servers section in your config.json, modify that section to add delegate.nathanhourt.com's chain server as follows:
"chain_servers": ["69.90.132.209:1375"],
When finished, there should only be one chain_servers line (ignore the chain_server section) and make sure that this line looks like the one above and ends with a comma. Save your changes and close config.json. The next time you start your client, it should sync from the new chain server before connecting to the P2P network.
To run a chain server of your own, open config.json as described above, and edit the chain_server section (not the chain_servers section as above). If this section does not exist, follow the instructions above to recreate your config.json.
In the chain_server config, set the enabled property to true, and set a listen_port for your chain server. Save your changes and restart your BitShares X client. If the chain server is configured correctly, part of the startup output of the client will say
Starting a chain server on port ####
where #### is the port you specified in your config file. Note that only command line clients may run a chain server; the GUI client cannot run a chain server.