Location of .onion address on windows machine?

[Carbonform]

Noob here, running full node on windows regrettably and just managed to run it through Tor hidden service albeit 0 incoming connections 10 outbound

Problem is I have no router access so I wanted to connect to my node via specter however I cant find it for the life of me as all info online is for different linux distros

[1715558633]

1715558633

[Cricktor]

Have a look into the debug.log file (the standard location is in the data directory of Bitcoin Core which on Windows should be %APPDATA%\Bitcoin\). When the node starts the log entries start off with lines like:

Code:

2024-04-20T10:33:38Z Bitcoin Core version v26.0.0 (release build)
...

After some lines and

Code:

...
2024-04-20T11:06:52Z init message: Done loading
...

you might find a line like this near the above "init message: Done loading" entry

Code:

2024-04-20T11:06:52Z [tor] Got service ID <redacted to preserve privacy>, advertising service <redacted to preserve privacy>.onion:8333

You should see there the onion address of your node.

You can also execute in a command line window bitcoin-cli.exe getnetworkinfo or getnetworkinfo in the console tab of the Bitcoin Core GUI window. The mostly last record of the above command's output for "localaddresses" also contains your local .onion address.

[Carbonform]

Have a look into the debug.log file (the standard location is in the data directory of Bitcoin Core which on Windows should be %APPDATA%\Bitcoin\). When the node starts the log entries start off with lines like:

Code:

2024-04-20T10:33:38Z Bitcoin Core version v26.0.0 (release build)
...

After some lines and

Code:

...
2024-04-20T11:06:52Z init message: Done loading
...

you might find a line like this near the above "init message: Done loading" entry

Code:

2024-04-20T11:06:52Z [tor] Got service ID <redacted to preserve privacy>, advertising service <redacted to preserve privacy>.onion:8333

You should see there the onion address of your node.

You can also execute in a command line window bitcoin-cli.exe getnetworkinfo or getnetworkinfo in the console tab of the Bitcoin Core GUI window. The mostly last record of the above command's output for "localaddresses" also contains your local .onion address.

Appreciate the reply sir but Ive tried all that. Here is my entire node start from debug

Code:

2024-04-29T06:46:08Z Bitcoin Core version v25.0.0 (release build)
2024-04-29T06:46:08Z InitParameterInteraction: parameter interaction: -proxy set -> setting -upnp=0
2024-04-29T06:46:08Z InitParameterInteraction: parameter interaction: -proxy set -> setting -natpmp=0
2024-04-29T06:46:08Z InitParameterInteraction: parameter interaction: -proxy set -> setting -discover=0
2024-04-29T06:46:08Z InitParameterInteraction: parameter interaction: -onlynet excludes IPv4 and IPv6 -> setting -dnsseed=0
2024-04-29T06:46:08Z Qt 5.15.5 (static), plugin=windows (static)
2024-04-29T06:46:08Z Static plugins:
2024-04-29T06:46:08Z  QWindowsIntegrationPlugin, version 331520
2024-04-29T06:46:08Z  QWindowsVistaStylePlugin, version 331520
2024-04-29T06:46:08Z Style: windowsvista / QWindowsVistaStyle
2024-04-29T06:46:08Z System: Windows 10 Version 2009, x86_64-little_endian-llp64
2024-04-29T06:46:08Z Screen: \\.\DISPLAY2 1280x720, pixel ratio=3.0
2024-04-29T06:46:08Z Using the 'x86_shani(1way,2way)' SHA256 implementation
2024-04-29T06:46:08Z Using RdSeed as an additional entropy source
2024-04-29T06:46:08Z Using RdRand as an additional entropy source
2024-04-29T06:46:08Z GUI: "registerShutdownBlockReason: Successfully registered: Bitcoin Core didn't yet exit safely…"
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Default data directory C:\Users\Taconator3000\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Using data directory D:\
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Config file: D:\bitcoin.conf
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Config file arg: disablewallet="0"
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Config file arg: listen="1"
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Config file arg: listenonion="1"
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Config file arg: onion="127.0.0.1:9050"
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Config file arg: onlynet="onion"
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Config file arg: proxy="127.0.0.1:9050"
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Config file arg: proxyrandomize="1"
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Config file arg: rpcauth=****
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Config file arg: rpcpassword=****
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Config file arg: rpcport="8332"
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Config file arg: rpcuser=****
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Config file arg: server="1"
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Setting file arg: dbcache = "4096"
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Setting file arg: onion = "127.0.0.1:9050"
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Setting file arg: par = "15"
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Setting file arg: server = true
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Using at most 125 automatic connections (2048 file descriptors available)
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Using 16 MiB out of 16 MiB requested for signature cache, able to store 524288 elements
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Using 16 MiB out of 16 MiB requested for script execution cache, able to store 524288 elements
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Script verification uses 14 additional threads
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z scheduler thread start
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Binding RPC on address ::1 port 8332
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Binding RPC on address 127.0.0.1 port 8332
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z [http] creating work queue of depth 16
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Config options rpcuser and rpcpassword will soon be deprecated. Locally-run instances may remove rpcuser to use cookie-based auth, or may be replaced with rpcauth. Please see share/rpcauth for rpcauth auth generation.
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Using rpcauth authentication.
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z [http] starting 4 worker threads
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Using wallet directory D:\
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z init message: Verifying wallet(s)…
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Using /16 prefix for IP bucketing
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z init message: Loading P2P addresses…
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Loaded 65238 addresses from peers.dat  156ms
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z init message: Loading banlist…
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z SetNetworkActive: true
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Cache configuration:
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z * Using 2.0 MiB for block index database
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z * Using 8.0 MiB for chain state database
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z * Using 4086.0 MiB for in-memory UTXO set (plus up to 286.1 MiB of unused mempool space)
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z init message: Loading block index…
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Assuming ancestors of block 000000000000000000035c3f0d31e71a5ee24c5aaf3354689f65bd7b07dee632 have valid signatures.
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Setting nMinimumChainWork=000000000000000000000000000000000000000044a50fe819c39ad624021859
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Opening LevelDB in D:\blocks\index
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Opened LevelDB successfully
2024-04-29T06:46:09Z Using obfuscation key for D:\blocks\index: 0000000000000000
2024-04-29T06:46:13Z LoadBlockIndexDB: last block file = 4259
2024-04-29T06:46:13Z LoadBlockIndexDB: last block file info: CBlockFileInfo(blocks=26, size=41623023, heights=841308...841333, time=2024-04-29...2024-04-29)
2024-04-29T06:46:13Z Checking all blk files are present...
2024-04-29T06:48:10Z Initializing chainstate Chainstate [ibd] @ height -1 (null)
2024-04-29T06:48:10Z Opening LevelDB in D:\chainstate
2024-04-29T06:48:10Z Opened LevelDB successfully
2024-04-29T06:48:10Z Using obfuscation key for D:\chainstate: 51f7db2fd055050b
2024-04-29T06:48:10Z Loaded best chain: hashBestChain=000000000000000000018491979607466dd7e90253234970fe856324e1a1b97c height=841333 date=2024-04-29T06:28:43Z progress=0.999996
2024-04-29T06:48:10Z [snapshot] allocating all cache to the IBD chainstate
2024-04-29T06:48:10Z Opening LevelDB in D:\chainstate
2024-04-29T06:48:10Z Opened LevelDB successfully
2024-04-29T06:48:10Z Using obfuscation key for D:\chainstate: 51f7db2fd055050b
2024-04-29T06:48:10Z [Chainstate [ibd] @ height 841333 (000000000000000000018491979607466dd7e90253234970fe856324e1a1b97c)] resized coinsdb cache to 8.0 MiB
2024-04-29T06:48:10Z [Chainstate [ibd] @ height 841333 (000000000000000000018491979607466dd7e90253234970fe856324e1a1b97c)] resized coinstip cache to 4086.0 MiB
2024-04-29T06:48:10Z init message: Verifying blocks…
2024-04-29T06:48:10Z Verifying last 6 blocks at level 3
2024-04-29T06:48:10Z Verification progress: 0%
2024-04-29T06:48:11Z Verification progress: 16%
2024-04-29T06:48:11Z Verification progress: 33%
2024-04-29T06:48:12Z Verification progress: 50%
2024-04-29T06:48:12Z Verification progress: 66%
2024-04-29T06:48:12Z Verification progress: 83%
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z Verification progress: 99%
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z Verification: No coin database inconsistencies in last 6 blocks (16005 transactions)
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z  block index          123741ms
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z Setting NODE_NETWORK on non-prune mode
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z block tree size = 841334
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z nBestHeight = 841333
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z loadblk thread start
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z torcontrol thread start
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z Leaving InitialBlockDownload (latching to false)
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z Bound to 127.0.0.1:8334
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z Bound to [::]:8333
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z Bound to 0.0.0.0:8333
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z Loaded 2 addresses from "anchors.dat"
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z 2 block-relay-only anchors will be tried for connections.
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z init message: Starting network threads…
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z net thread start
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z DNS seeding disabled
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z addcon thread start
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z opencon thread start
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z msghand thread start
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z init message: Done loading
2024-04-29T06:48:13Z GUI: Platform customization: "windows"
2024-04-29T06:48:25Z New outbound peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=841334, peer=0 (block-relay-only)
2024-04-29T06:48:28Z Saw new header hash=000000000000000000032e1cecf170a76757b9bad0c114255dde54839f4e890d height=841334

getnetworkinfo in console

Code:


{
  "version": 250000,
  "subversion": "/Satoshi:25.0.0/",
  "protocolversion": 70016,
  "localservices": "0000000000000409",
  "localservicesnames": [
    "NETWORK",
    "WITNESS",
    "NETWORK_LIMITED"
  ],
  "localrelay": true,
  "timeoffset": -1,
  "networkactive": true,
  "connections": 10,
  "connections_in": 0,
  "connections_out": 10,
  "networks": [
    {
      "name": "ipv4",
      "limited": true,
      "reachable": false,
      "proxy": "127.0.0.1:9050",
      "proxy_randomize_credentials": true
    },
    {
      "name": "ipv6",
      "limited": true,
      "reachable": false,
      "proxy": "127.0.0.1:9050",
      "proxy_randomize_credentials": true
    },
    {
      "name": "onion",
      "limited": false,
      "reachable": true,
      "proxy": "127.0.0.1:9050",
      "proxy_randomize_credentials": true
    },
    {
      "name": "i2p",
      "limited": true,
      "reachable": false,
      "proxy": "",
      "proxy_randomize_credentials": false
    },
    {
      "name": "cjdns",
      "limited": true,
      "reachable": false,
      "proxy": "127.0.0.1:9050",
      "proxy_randomize_credentials": true
    }
  ],
  "relayfee": 0.00001000,
  "incrementalfee": 0.00001000,
  "localaddresses": [
  ],
  "warnings": ""
}

I tried

Code:

bitcoin-qt.exe getnetworkinfo

in command prompt but that only started bitcoin core?

Here is my peers window showing onion outbound connections



Anyone got any ideas why my tor hidden service is really hidden?  

[Cricktor]

Code:

2024-04-29T06:46:08Z GUI: "registerShutdownBlockReason: Successfully registered: Bitcoin Core didn't yet exit safely…"

You should pay attention to close your Bitcoin Core GUI gracefully via File menu and Quit, wait until it actually all closes.


I don't run Bitcoin Core in Windows, I run my Core in Linux and not with the GUI. Unfortunately I can't tell you if the Windows version does or doesn't log the node's hidden service onion address. My Linux version does and I don't have a special debug log setting in my bitcoin.conf file, except for

Code:

# Logging
logips=1
shrinkdebugfile=0

Your setup only allows connections via tor (same as mine) and all your peers have indeed only onion addresses. So, that part is working properly. What did you install for Tor? Maybe you can find there some log entries indicating the onion address of your node?

I'm not sure if the reason could be that your Core can't properly communicate via the torcontrol. A log entry that torcontrol thread started is in your debul.log. Check if you have your Tor properly configured for Windows environment (can't help here much, but there are certainly thread on the topic Tor setup on Windows in this forum, too).

I tried

Code:

bitcoin-qt.exe getnetworkinfo

in command prompt but that only started bitcoin core?

That's not what I wrote in my post:

Code:

bitcoin-cli.exe getnetworkinfo

You don't want to start another Core GUI as this can mess up your data directory. Not sure if your second GUI detected the presence of the first one and exited gracefully.

Anyway, running in Console window or command line should give same result and in yours "localaddresses" is empty for whatever reason.

In my /etc/tor/torrc I have the following settings:

Code:

ControlPort 9051
CookieAuthentication 1
CookieAuthFileGroupReadable 1
ExitPolicy reject *:*

All other stuff in my torrc is commented out and defaults apply accordingly.

My Bitcoin Core doesn't use the deprecated settings rpcuser=..., rpcpassword=... or rpcauth=..., instead cookie file authentication is active.

[nc50lc]

Anyone got any ideas why my tor hidden service is really hidden?  

I have Bitcoin Core in Windows, I've copied your config to reproduce the issue and the line mentioned by Cricktor shows up in the debug.log:

Code:

2024-04-30T03:59:39Z Bitcoin Core version v26.0.0 (release build)
...
2024-04-30T03:59:39Z System: Windows 10 Version 2009, x86_64-little_endian-llp64
...
2024-04-30T03:59:40Z Config file arg: listen="1"
2024-04-30T03:59:40Z Config file arg: listenonion="1"
2024-04-30T03:59:40Z Config file arg: onlynet="onion"
2024-04-30T03:59:40Z Config file arg: onion="127.0.0.1:9150"
2024-04-30T03:59:40Z Config file arg: proxy="127.0.0.1:9150"
...
2024-04-30T03:59:54Z [tor] Got service ID ygfjdib...o7myd, advertising service ygfjdib...o7myd.onion:8333
2024-04-30T03:59:54Z AddLocal(ygfjdib...o7myd.onion:8333,x)

I have to mention that I set the 3 lines under "Control Port" instructed in the tutorial below, without it, the onion address wont show up:
Try to follow either instruction number 2 or 3 from this tutorial: github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/tor.md
If you decided to follow number 3 instead, your onion address would be the one you set in -externalip.

[Carbonform]

You should pay attention to close your Bitcoin Core GUI gracefully via File menu and Quit, wait until it actually all closes.

noted

I don't run Bitcoin Core in Windows, I run my Core in Linux and not with the GUI.

Yeah Im kinda regretting the decision to run this node on windows as I'm not at the linux level however most of the guides out there are linux based so prob would have been easier. As a novice a lot of these guides omit steps on the expectation that you should know..which I dont

Your setup only allows connections via tor (same as mine) and all your peers have indeed only onion addresses. So, that part is working properly. What did you install for Tor? Maybe you can find there some log entries indicating the onion address of your node?

I'm not sure if the reason could be that your Core can't properly communicate via the torcontrol. A log entry that torcontrol thread started is in your debul.log. Check if you have your Tor properly configured for Windows environment (can't help here much, but there are certainly thread on the topic Tor setup on Windows in this forum, too).

All I did was copy that bitcoin.config file save and run. The node crashed so I tried looking for solutions. This guide https://miloserdov.org/?p=1839 alerted to the fact that I needed to install TOR as a service to keep it running. Soon as I did that and started bitcoin core I got oputbound running peers. I havent configured tor and I have no torrc file in the tor directory and have no idea what torcontrol is

That's not what I wrote in my post:
bitcoin-cli.exe getnetworkinfo

Yeah sorry I assumed that was the executable for linux or something cuz the only exe I have in is bitcoin\bitcoin-qt
I found bitcoin-cli in the daemon folder and this is what I got

Code:

c:\Program Files\Bitcoin\daemon>bitcoin-cli.exe getnetworkinfo
error: Could not locate RPC credentials. No authentication cookie could be found, and RPC password is not set.  See -rpcpassword and -stdinrpcpass.

[Carbonform]

I have to mention that I set the 3 lines under "Control Port" instructed in the tutorial below, without it, the onion address wont show up:
Try to follow either instruction number 2 or 3 from this tutorial: github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/tor.md
If you decided to follow number 3 instead, your onion address would be the one you set in -externalip.

Appreciate the reply

As I was telling Cricktor above I'm feeling this is a little over my head - I dont have a torrc file in my tor directory so I tried saving a torrc file there with those 3 lines. The node crashed so I deleted it again

That tutorial is a hard follow. In number 2 'Cookie authentication' where is the CookieAuthFile and how do I enable read access?

Number 3; I save

Code:

 HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/bitcoin-service/
HiddenServicePort 8333 127.0.0.1:8334

as torrc file and run

Code:

 ./bitcoind -proxy=127.0.0.1:9050 -externalip=7zvj7a2imdgkdbg4f2dryd5rgtrn7upivr5eeij4cicjh65pooxeshid.onion -listen

from what location? and how do I generate my onion address?

[Cricktor]

How about this guide as a starting point to setup Tor on Windows: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Setting_up_a_Tor_hidden_service#Windows --- I took only a quick look and didn't spot immediate problems, don't sell your car by my words. 

I'm pretty sure the Tor project also has a decent tutorial or how-to available. Youtube likely has a ton of tutorials for Windows, too.

[Carbonform]

How about this guide as a starting point to setup Tor on Windows: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Setting_up_a_Tor_hidden_service#Windows --- I took only a quick look and didn't spot immediate problems, don't sell your car by my words. 

I'm pretty sure the Tor project also has a decent tutorial or how-to available. Youtube likely has a ton of tutorials for Windows, too.

my node already has tor enabled, I just dont seem to have an onion address anywhere to plug into specter to hook up to the node

[nc50lc]

As I was telling Cricktor above I'm feeling this is a little over my head - I dont have a torrc file in my tor directory so I tried saving a torrc file there with those 3 lines. The node crashed so I deleted it again

The directories in the tutorial is geared towards Linux; for Windows, use Windows folder structure.

So, in number 3 (preferred for your use-case), for example.
Your torrc file should have something like this if you want to save your "Bitcoin Onion Service" directory to Drive D:

Code:

HiddenServiceDir D:/Bitcoin-onion-service
HiddenServicePort 8333 127.0.0.1:8334

After you restart Tor, you'll see such folder in D:/ and you can find a "hostname" file containing the onion address that you need to set as --externalip.

[Cricktor]

In addition to what nc50lc wrote, I found this:
https://superuser.com/questions/1631178/how-to-configure-tor-as-service-on-windows/1631196#1631196
(my link to Bitcoin wiki alone isn't sufficient now that I took a closer look)

In the directory where you installed Tor files you create a text file (without extension .txt of course) torrc which you fill with config options as indicated by nc50lc. My above link shows then how to start Tor as a Windows service and checking it's running properly.

[Carbonform]

excellent, that worked!

[Cricktor]

Could you summarize what worked out for you, so other users may benefit from your final working solution?

[Carbonform]

The guides suggested are great and self explanatory for most ppl

I just fell into the usual normie traps; not being cmd savvy, not knowing I had to dl python to run rpcauth to get the output, not restarting tor and setting torrc as a txt file

So yeah if your like me and have tor running and cant find that onion address, get that torrc file sorted as above