0.9's bitcoin-cli

[5flags]

With 0.9, the idea seems to be moving away from using bitcoind as an RPC server, and towards using bitcoin-cli to control the server. Is there any info on how to do this? Will bitcoin-cli become the RPC server? Or do we send and parse JSON over the command line to bitcoin-cli?

I'm not following the thinking here.

[dserrano5]

Until now bitcoind was both the client and the server. The plan is to make bitcoind the server only, and bitcoin-cli the client.

[5flags]

Until now bitcoind was both the client and the server. The plan is to make bitcoind the server only, and bitcoin-cli the client.

Hmmm.

I'm currently using bitcoind and talking to it over RPC. What should I be doing now? Do I run both bitcoind AND bitcoin-cli? Sorry if I'm being dense.

[dserrano5]

bitcoind runs in the background just like before.

Whenever you need to ask it something via RPC, you do "bitcoin-cli foobar". As soon as you get the response, bitcoin-cli doesn't run anymore, like your daily ls/dir.

[5flags]

bitcoind runs in the background just like before.

Whenever you need to ask it something via RPC, you do "bitcoin-cli foobar". As soon as you get the response, bitcoin-cli doesn't run anymore, like your daily ls/dir.

OK, thanks. Seems like a step backwards to me, but I'll go with it.

[Foxpup]

OK, thanks. Seems like a step backwards to me, but I'll go with it.

No, it's a step forward. bitcoind now works like all other servers in that respect. If you're running, say, ftpd as an FTP server, you don't talk to the server by running ftpd <command>, instead you use a separate client program. It really never made any sense in the first place for bitcoind to function as either a server or a client depending on the context.

[Abdussamad]

Until now bitcoind was both the client and the server. The plan is to make bitcoind the server only, and bitcoin-cli the client.

Hmmm.

I'm currently using bitcoind and talking to it over RPC. What should I be doing now? Do I run both bitcoind AND bitcoin-cli? Sorry if I'm being dense.

You don't run bitcoin-cli at all. bitcoin-cli is only used over the command line interface hence the name. If you are communicating to bitcoind via http + jsonRPC there is no need to use bitcoin-cli.

[bananas]

Where is bitcoin-cli? Just downloaded 0.9 and there is no such file.

[Abdussamad]

Where is bitcoin-cli? Just downloaded 0.9 and there is no such file.

Depends on your OS and what you downloaded/installed. In the linux tarball it's in the bin/32 and bin/64 sub-directories.