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authorWladimir J. van der Laan <laanwj@gmail.com>2018-10-20 08:43:11 +0200
committerWladimir J. van der Laan <laanwj@gmail.com>2018-10-20 08:43:34 +0200
commit6746a8951923513590dd241912cb67100f6e0aac (patch)
tree5a54357dd6f3433bfa501a9128d1da934c85fcaa
parentd433239a8d549762ae8715bda9ab0f641927198c (diff)
parent1fb3c167c3cbd4a432a064b299439b3430157dda (diff)
Merge #14497: docs: Add doc/bitcoin-conf.md
1fb3c167c3cbd4a432a064b299439b3430157dda Add `doc/bitcoin-conf.md` (Hennadii Stepanov) Pull request description: From the IRC: > 2018-10-16T05:35:03 \<wumpus\> if something can be solved by better documentation, please work on documentation! > 2018-10-16T05:35:12 \<wumpus\> don't change the code instead Refs: - #14370 - #14427 - #14494 Based on the BITCOIN.CONF(5) manual page written by Micah Anderson \<micah@debian.org\> for the Debian system. Tree-SHA512: 16393c9073c027fa1c46f8b59651e60b9a3159b3aeb9b3102040c292d2787f32b1ead5977957ac3ac0759a4bf626650a2325b68ad84320964ac089ffc2d3b4f4
-rw-r--r--doc/README.md1
-rw-r--r--doc/bitcoin-conf.md37
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diff --git a/doc/README.md b/doc/README.md
index c2187ca3b3..de33c1b5b9 100644
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@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ The Bitcoin repo's [root README](/README.md) contains relevant information on th
### Miscellaneous
- [Assets Attribution](assets-attribution.md)
+- [bitcoin.conf Configuration File](bitcoin-conf.md)
- [Files](files.md)
- [Fuzz-testing](fuzzing.md)
- [Reduce Traffic](reduce-traffic.md)
diff --git a/doc/bitcoin-conf.md b/doc/bitcoin-conf.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..88ecb8fe65
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+++ b/doc/bitcoin-conf.md
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# `bitcoin.conf` Configuration File
+
+The configuration file is used by `bitcoind`, `bitcoin-qt` and `bitcoin-cli`.
+
+All command-line options (except for `-?`, `-help`, `-version` and `-conf`) may be specified in a configuration file, and all configuration file options (except for `includeconf`) may also be specified on the command line. Command-line options override values set in the configuration file and configuration file options override values set in the GUI.
+
+## Configuration File Format
+
+The configuration file is a plain text file and consists of `option=value` entries, one per line. Leading and trailing whitespaces are removed.
+
+In contrast to the command-line usage:
+- an option must be specified without leading `-`;
+- a value of the given option is mandatory; e.g., `testnet=1` (for chain selection options), `noconnect=1` (for negated options).
+
+### Blank lines
+
+Blank lines are allowed and ignored by the parser.
+
+### Comments
+
+A comment starts with a number sign (`#`) and extends to the end of the line. All comments are ignored by the parser.
+
+Comments may appear in two ways:
+- on their own on an otherwise empty line (_preferable_);
+- after an `option=value` entry.
+
+### Network specific options
+
+Network specific options can be:
+- placed into sections with headers `[main]` (not `[mainnet]`), `[test]` (not `[testnet]`) or `[regtest]`;
+- prefixed with a chain name; e.g., `regtest.maxmempool=100`.
+
+## Configuration File Path
+
+The configuration file is not automatically created; you can create it using your favorite text editor. By default, the configuration file name is `bitcoin.conf` and it is located in the Bitcoin data directory, but both the Bitcoin data directory and the configuration file path may be changed using the `-datadir` and `-conf` command-line options.
+
+The `includeconf=<file>` option in the `bitcoin.conf` file can be used to include additional configuration files.