lbry.tech/documents/resources/regtest-setup.md

title	description
Regtest Setup	Regtest is a parallel testing network for the LBRY blockchain. Learn how to use it in this resource article.

Why Use Regtest

A regtest server provides for a way to instantly generate blocks so that transactions can be instantaneous, which ultimately means no waiting for confirmations from the blockchain. Also, it’s not a problem if you accidentally corrupt your wallet, since no real funds are lost! Delete the files and setup a new one.

Setup

To begin setting up the network, there are a few things you need.

You'll need a Linux or a Mac distribution to run all this. A virtual machine is fine. Note: These instructions specifically were tested on Ubuntu version 16.04.

Virtual Environment

First up it's a good idea to create a Python virtual environment. This requires you to have a functional python2.7 setup, with the Python package manager pip installed. To create a new virtual environment in a folder lbry-env, run this: virtualenv -p /usr/bin/python2.7 lbry-env To enter the environment, run: source lbry-env/bin/activate.

lbrycrd

You need to download a build of lbrycrd from here, no installation required. To configure lbrycrd you need to create a file at ~/.lbrycrd/lbrycrd.conf, containing the following:

rpcuser=test
rpcpassword=test
rpcport=18332
regtest=1
server=1
txindex=1
daemon=1
listen=0
discover=0

lbryum-server

To install lbryum-server, you first need to install the package leveldb. After that, download the source from here, and run the following not inside the environment:

cd lbryum-server
sudo pip2 install -r requirements.txt

If you're not running debian/*buntu or a derivative of those, you need to edit the configure file a bit. In line 11, remove the apt-get line and manually install the required packages. In line 51, change adduser to useradd and on the same line, change --disabled-password to -p !.

sudo ./configure
sudo python2 setup.py install

The sudo ./configure command creates a new user in the system by the name "lbryum", which is the user through which we'll be running the server. lbryum-server also needs W/R access to /var/lbryum-server. To do that run:

sudo chown -R lbryum /var/lbryum-server

When installed, append/use the following config options to the /etc/lbryum.conf file:

[lbrycrdd]
lbrycrdd_host = localhost
lbrycrdd_port = 18332
# user and password from lbrycrd.conf
lbrycrdd_user = test
lbrycrdd_password = test

[network]
type=lbrycrd_regtest

lbryum

To install lbryum, first download the source from here. To install it, run the following inside the virtual environment:

cd lbryum
pip2 install -r requirements.txt
pip2 install -e .

After installation completes, you must set the config option for lbryum using:

lbryum setconfig default_servers '{ "localhost": { "t": "50001" }}'
lbryum setconfig chain 'lbrycrd_regtest'

Alternatively, you can create a file touch ~/.lbryum/config and paste the following config:

{
  "chain": "lbrycrd_regtest",
  "default_servers": {
    "localhost": {
      "t": "50001"
    }
  }
}

lbry

Download source from here, and run the following inside the environment:

cd lbry
pip2 install -r requirements.txt
pip2 install -e .
mkdir ~/.lbrynet
touch ~/.lbrynet/daemon_settings.yml

Append the following in the newly created ~/.lbrynet/daemon_settings.yml file:

blockchain_name: lbrycrd_regtest
lbryum_servers:
- localhost:50001
reflect_uploads: false
share_usage_data: false
use_upnp: false

Last step

Go to the lbryum folder once again and run:

pip2 install -e .

This is to ensure that lbrynet-daemon uses the correct wallet.

Firing up the regtest server

Wallet backup

To start off, if you've already used LBRY on your machine, you need to backup the wallet by copying the folders ~/.lbrynet and ~/.lbryum and then deleting them to start from fresh. Run mkdir ~/.lbryum

Now it should be all set-up. Just execute the commands in the following order, and the regtest server should be good to go.

1) lbrycrd

To run the lbrycrd daemon, run the following in the lbrycrd folder: ./lbrycrdd

To generate blocks, run ./lbrycrd-cli generate <num_of_blocks> You'll need to generate some blocks to get the network going. Start off by generating at least 100. ./lbrycrd-cli generate 173

If you'd prefer a more verbose output from lbrycrdd, run lbrycrd using: ./lbrycrdd -printtoconsole

2) lbryum-server

To run the server, run:

sudo runuser -l lbryum -c 'lbryum-server --conf=/etc/lbryum.conf'

Note: conf flag can be left out if the config is in the default directory(default: /etc/lbryum.conf)

3) lbryum

To run the lbryum, run:

lbryum daemon start

Generate some more blocks, get a wallet address by running: lbryum getunusedaddress and then send some credits to your wallet by doing ./lbrycrd-cli sendtoaddress <address> <num_of_credits>

4) lbry

You can now run lbrynet-daemon, and it should connect to the lbryum. Now you can use the regtest stack as you would normally use lbryum.

Shutdown

To stop the network, run lbrynet-cli daemon_stop, lbryum daemon stop, and kill the lbryum-server process and stop lbrycrd by lbrycrdd-cli stop. If you want to use your wallet and the official servers again, backup the new regtest wallet, and replace it with your own.

Note 1

You need to generate a few blocks every time you make a new transaction in the form of send, receive, claim, update, publish, support, tip, etc. for it to show up in the daemon and lbryum, etc.

Note 2

If something goes wrong and you get a "Block not found" error, remember to delete /var/lbryum-server before trying again.

Cheatsheet

Required processes in the correct order

lbrycrdd

sudo runuser -l lbryum -c 'lbryum-server --conf=/etc/lbryum.conf'

lbryum daemon start

lbrynet-daemon

Generate blocks

lbrycrd-cli generate 5

Get a wallet address

lbryum getunsusedaddress

Send credits from lbrycrd to your wallet

lbrycrd-cli sendtoaddress <address> <num_of_credits>