How to Connect to the Testnet

Testnet 10 is the supported testnet. Testnet 7 may remain active, but is no longer officially supported by Chinilla.

---

How to join testnet

These steps assume you have Chinilla installed.

Step 1. Run chinilla init

Step 2. If you do not already have keys generated then run chinilla keys generate

Step 3. Edit ~\.chinilla\vanillanet\config\config.yaml to include testnet10 values

If you are running a version of Chinilla higher than 1.2.11, proceed to step 3a below. If you are running version 1.2.11 or below, you will need to manually edit the config.yaml file to include testnet10 values. You can edit this file using a simple text editor such as Notepad, Vi, Nano, etc. or the IDE of your choice. In config.yaml, add the following testnet10 sections:

...
farmer:
...
    config:
...
      testnet10:
        address_prefix: thcx
        default_full_node_port: 58444
...
    constants:
...
      testnet10:
        AGG_SIG_ME_ADDITIONAL_DATA: ae83525ba8d1dd3f09b277de18ca3e43fc0af20d20c4b3e92ef2a48bd291ccb2
        DIFFICULTY_CONSTANT_FACTOR: 10052721566054
        DIFFICULTY_STARTING: 30
        EPOCH_BLOCKS: 768
        GENESIS_CHALLENGE: ae83525ba8d1dd3f09b277de18ca3e43fc0af20d20c4b3e92ef2a48bd291ccb2
        GENESIS_PRE_FARM_FARMER_PUZZLE_HASH: 3d8765d3a597ec1d99663f6c9816d915b9f68613ac94009884c4addaefcce6af
        GENESIS_PRE_FARM_POOL_PUZZLE_HASH: d23da14695a188ae5708dd152263c4db883eb27edeb936178d4d988b8f3ce5fc
        MEMPOOL_BLOCK_BUFFER: 10
        MIN_PLOT_SIZE: 18
        NETWORK_TYPE: 1 

After the above code has been added to your config.yaml, move further down the file and replace the existing entries with the following values:

full_node:
...
  dns_servers:
  - dns-introducer-testnet10.chinilla.com
...
  introducer_peer:
    host: introducer-testnet10.chinilla.com
...
wallet:
...
  introducer_peer:
    host: introducer-testnet10.chinilla.com
...

Once those replacements have been made, search the config.yaml file for all instances of the selected_network parameter, which should all show a value of vanillanet (or potentially a different testnet). Change all selected_network parameters to show a value of testnet10. Save the file. If you have previously run chinilla start for this installation, at this point run chinilla stop all -d to ensure that no vanillanet processes are still running.

Step 3a. Run chinilla configure --testnet true

If you are running a version of Chinilla greater than 1.2.11, do not perform the actions in Step 3 above, and instead run chinilla configure --testnet true, as this command will make your client automatically select and configure itself for the currently-active testnet. If you have previously run chinilla start for this installation, at this point run chinilla stop all -d to ensure that no vanillanet processes are still running.

Step 4. Create a directory named db in the Chinilla root directory.

Once in root directory (~/.chinilla/vanillanet), you can run mkdir db and cd db on Linux or if using the Windows/macOS GUI you can create the folder as normal.

Step 5. Download the Official Testnet DB (optional)

This step is optional, but it will speed up syncing with the testnet

For Linux users wget https://download.chinilla.com/testnet10/blockchain_v1_testnet10.sqlite.gz while in the directory. Windows users can download it from https://downloads.chinilla.com/testnet10/ and move it to the db folder you created in step 4.

Make sure to unzip the database before continuing to the next step.

Step 6. Starting Your Node and Getting Peers

To start your node, run chinilla start farmer and wait for it to start. Once your node has started, you can connect to Chinilla's testnet node by using chinilla show -a testnet10-node.chinilla.com:58444. You can use chinilla show -s to check your sync status, and once fully synced you can run chinilla wallet show to see your wallet. chinilla wallet get_address will give you your testnet wallet address, which will differentiate itself from your vanillanet wallet by beginning with thcx instead of hcx.

Step 7. (Optional) Getting funds

Go to Chinilla testnet faucet and input your testnet address from step 6. If it says you are in the queue, it has worked. Funds will not appear in your wallet until you are fully synced to the blockchain.

What to do if you are having trouble with setting up testnet

Join Our Keybase and join the #testnet channel for support