Wallet Backup Question

[ranlo]

Hey there! I'm wondering, for those of us with multiple wallets on our computers...

Is it possible/safe to back up the wallet files when the clients are running?

My idea was to set up an automatic backup that keeps scanning the files to see when they're updated and then back them up when it detects changes ("incremental backup"). In this, I would be leaving the clients open all the time.

Is this a safe method though, or will it cause problems with properly backing up the wallet when the client is still running?

Thanks in advance!

[1714750636]

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[1714750636]

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[ranlo]

what client are you using? If you are using bitcoin-qt you can use RPC to do a backup while the client is running.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Original_Bitcoin_client/API_calls_list

You want the command "backup"

BTC, FTC, WDC, DGC, DVC and MNC, lol. All using the -qt versions as far as I know.

Here's another question regarding that...

We only have to do backups when SENDING funds, right? So we can keep receiving all month long but if nothing was sent out, backing up over and over isn't necessary?

[ranlo]

what client are you using? If you are using bitcoin-qt you can use RPC to do a backup while the client is running.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Original_Bitcoin_client/API_calls_list

You want the command "backup"

BTC, FTC, WDC, DGC, DVC and MNC, lol. All using the -qt versions as far as I know.

Here's another question regarding that...

We only have to do backups when SENDING funds, right? So we can keep receiving all month long but if nothing was sent out, backing up over and over isn't necessary?

They recommend backing up every 100 transactions, cause that is how big the key pool is, so you can make that bigger, and then go longer without a backup.

Got ya. So the transactions only means outgoing, right? Ex. if there was 1 outgoing transaction but 500 incoming, that would still just be 1 out of the 100? (Assuming you aren't creating new incoming addresses for specific things, I mean)

[ranlo]

what client are you using? If you are using bitcoin-qt you can use RPC to do a backup while the client is running.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Original_Bitcoin_client/API_calls_list

You want the command "backup"

BTC, FTC, WDC, DGC, DVC and MNC, lol. All using the -qt versions as far as I know.

Here's another question regarding that...

We only have to do backups when SENDING funds, right? So we can keep receiving all month long but if nothing was sent out, backing up over and over isn't necessary?

They recommend backing up every 100 transactions, cause that is how big the key pool is, so you can make that bigger, and then go longer without a backup.

Got ya. So the transactions only means outgoing, right? Ex. if there was 1 outgoing transaction but 500 incoming, that would still just be 1 out of the 100? (Assuming you aren't creating new incoming addresses for specific things, I mean)

I would say yes cause of change addresses.

Thanks for confirming all of this, . I really appreciate it!