Command Line (talerd)

This guide provides comprehensive documentation for talerd (the TALER daemon) and taler-cli (command-line interface) tools.

Overview

TALER provides two primary command-line tools:

talerd: The blockchain daemon that runs the full node
taler-cli: Command-line tool to interact with the running daemon

talerd - TALER Daemon

The talerd daemon is the core TALER blockchain node software.

Basic Usage

talerd [options]

Essential Options

Network Configuration

Option	Description	Default
`-listen`	Accept incoming connections	1 (enabled)
`-port=<port>`	Listen on specified port	23153 (mainnet)
`-maxconnections=<n>`	Maximum peer connections	128
`-addnode=<ip>`	Add a node to connect to	-
`-connect=<ip>`	Connect only to specified node	-
`-seednode=<ip>`	Connect to node for initial peers	-
`-proxy=<ip:port>`	Connect through SOCKS5 proxy	-
`-bind=<addr>`	Bind to specific address	All interfaces

Data Management

Option	Description	Default
`-datadir=<dir>`	Specify data directory	See below
`-prune=<n>`	Enable pruning (reduce disk usage to ~n MB)	0 (disabled)
`-dbcache=<n>`	Database cache size in MB	450
`-maxmempool=<n>`	Maximum mempool size in MB	300
`-blocksdir=<dir>`	Specify directory for block storage	datadir/blocks

Default Data Directories:

Windows: %APPDATA%\TALER\
macOS: ~/Taler/
Linux: ~/.taler/

RPC Server

Option	Description	Default
`-server`	Accept JSON-RPC commands	0 (disabled)
`-rpcuser=<user>`	RPC username	-
`-rpcpassword=<pw>`	RPC password	-
`-rpcport=<port>`	Listen for RPC on port	23152 (mainnet)
`-rpcbind=<addr>`	Bind RPC to address	127.0.0.1
`-rpcallowip=<ip>`	Allow RPC from IP (can use multiple times)	127.0.0.1

Mining & Staking

Option	Description	Default
`-gen`	Generate/mine coins	0 (disabled)
`-genproclimit=<n>`	Set mining threads (-1 = all cores)	-1
`-stakegen`	Enable stake generation (PoS)	1 (enabled)
`-reservebalance=<amt>`	Reserve amount not used for staking	0

Blockchain & Sync

Option	Description	Default
`-testnet`	Use test network	0 (mainnet)
`-reindex`	Rebuild blockchain index from blk*.dat files	0
`-reindex-chainstate`	Rebuild chainstate from current blocks	0
`-txindex`	Maintain full transaction index	0
`-addressindex`	Maintain address-based transaction index	0
`-timestampindex`	Maintain timestamp-based block index	0
`-spentindex`	Maintain full spent index	0

Wallet

Option	Description	Default
`-disablewallet`	Do not load wallet	0 (wallet enabled)
`-wallet=<file>`	Specify wallet file	wallet.dat
`-zapwallettxes=<mode>`	Delete all wallet transactions (1=keep metadata, 2=drop)	0
`-upgradewallet`	Upgrade wallet to latest format	0
`-salvagewallet`	Attempt to recover private keys from corrupt wallet	0

Logging & Debugging

Option	Description	Default
`-debug=<category>`	Enable debug logging (net, tor, mempool, rpc, bench, db)	0
`-debuglogfile=<file>`	Specify debug log file location	debug.log
`-printtoconsole`	Send trace/debug info to console	0
`-logtimestamps`	Prepend timestamps to debug output	1
`-shrinkdebugfile`	Shrink debug.log on startup	1

Performance

Option	Description	Default
`-par=<n>`	Set script verification threads (-1 = auto)	-1
`-checkblocks=<n>`	Number of blocks to check at startup	6
`-checklevel=<n>`	Thoroughness of block verification (0-4)	3

Daemon Control

Option	Description
`-daemon`	Run in background as daemon (Unix only)
`-pid=<file>`	Specify PID file location
`-conf=<file>`	Specify configuration file
`-version`	Print version information
`-help`	Show help message

Common talerd Usage Examples

Run Full Node with RPC Enabled

talerd -server -rpcuser=myuser -rpcpassword=mypassword

Run Pruned Node (Saves Disk Space)

talerd -prune=2000

Keeps approximately 2GB of blockchain data.

Run on Testnet

talerd -testnet

Enable PoW Mining

talerd -gen -genproclimit=4

Mines using 4 CPU cores.

Run as Background Daemon (Linux/macOS)

talerd -daemon

Run as Systemd Service (Linux)

For production server deployments, running talerd as a systemd service provides automatic startup, supervision, and logging.

Step 1: Create systemd service file

Create /etc/systemd/system/talerd.service:

[Unit]
Description=TALER Daemon
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=forking
User=taler
Group=taler
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/talerd -daemon
ExecStop=/usr/local/bin/taler-cli stop
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Step 2: Create taler user (if not exists):

sudo useradd -r -m -s /bin/bash taler

Step 3: Set permissions:

sudo chown -R taler:taler /home/taler/.taler

Step 4: Enable and start service:

# Reload systemd to recognize new service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

# Enable service to start on boot
sudo systemctl enable talerd

# Start the service
sudo systemctl start talerd

# Check status
sudo systemctl status talerd

Useful systemd commands:

# Stop the service
sudo systemctl stop talerd

# Restart the service
sudo systemctl restart talerd

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u talerd -f

# Disable auto-start
sudo systemctl disable talerd

Custom Data Directory

talerd -datadir=/mnt/blockchain/taler

Connect to Specific Nodes Only

talerd -connect=192.168.1.100:23153 -connect=192.168.1.101:23153

Enable Transaction Indexing

talerd -txindex

Required for full block explorer functionality.

Reindex Blockchain

talerd -reindex

Useful if blockchain database is corrupted.

taler-cli - Command Line Interface

taler-cli is used to send JSON-RPC commands to a running talerd instance.

Basic Usage

taler-cli [options] <command> [params]

Connection Options

Option	Description	Default
`-rpcuser=<user>`	RPC username	-
`-rpcpassword=<pw>`	RPC password	-
`-rpcport=<port>`	RPC port	23152
`-rpcconnect=<ip>`	RPC server address	127.0.0.1
`-datadir=<dir>`	Data directory (for reading conf)	See above
`-testnet`	Use testnet	0

Essential Commands

Node Information

# Get general node information
taler-cli getinfo

# Get blockchain information
taler-cli getblockchaininfo

# Get network information
taler-cli getnetworkinfo

# Get peer connection count
taler-cli getconnectioncount

# Get detailed peer info
taler-cli getpeerinfo

Blockchain Queries

# Get current block count
taler-cli getblockcount

# Get block hash by height
taler-cli getblockhash 12345

# Get block details by hash
taler-cli getblock <blockhash>

# Get transaction details
taler-cli gettransaction <txid>

# Get raw transaction (hex)
taler-cli getrawtransaction <txid>

# Get mempool info
taler-cli getmempoolinfo

# Get transactions in mempool
taler-cli getrawmempool

Wallet Operations

# Get wallet balance
taler-cli getbalance

# Get new receiving address
taler-cli getnewaddress

# List recent transactions
taler-cli listtransactions

# List unspent outputs
taler-cli listunspent

# Send coins
taler-cli sendtoaddress <address> <amount>

# Create raw transaction
taler-cli createrawtransaction '[{"txid":"...","vout":0}]' '{"address":amount}'

# Sign raw transaction
taler-cli signrawtransaction <hex>

# Send raw transaction
taler-cli sendrawtransaction <hex>

Staking Commands

# Get staking status
taler-cli getstakingstatus

# Get staking info
taler-cli getstakinginfo

Node Control

# Stop the daemon
taler-cli stop

# Get memory pool statistics
taler-cli getmempoolinfo

# Estimate fee for transaction
taler-cli estimatefee <blocks>

Configuration File

Instead of passing command-line options every time, create a configuration file.

Location

Windows: %APPDATA%\TALER\taler.conf
macOS: ~/Taler/taler.conf
Linux: ~/.taler/taler.conf

Example Full Node Configuration

# Network settings
listen=1
port=23153
maxconnections=128

# RPC server
server=1
rpcuser=yourusername
rpcpassword=your_strong_password_here
rpcport=23152
rpcallowip=127.0.0.1

# Performance
dbcache=1024
maxmempool=300
par=-1

# Indexing (optional, required for full block explorer)
txindex=1

# Logging
printtoconsole=0
logtimestamps=1

Example Mining Node Configuration

# Network
listen=1
maxconnections=64

# RPC
server=1
rpcuser=miner
rpcpassword=mining_password

# Mining
gen=1
genproclimit=8

# Performance
dbcache=2048

Example Pruned Node Configuration

# Network
listen=1
maxconnections=64

# Pruning
prune=2000

# RPC
server=1
rpcuser=pruned
rpcpassword=password

# Performance
dbcache=512

Example Staking Configuration

# Network
listen=1
maxconnections=128

# RPC
server=1
rpcuser=staker
rpcpassword=staking_password

# Staking
stakegen=1
reservebalance=10

# Performance
dbcache=1024

Environment Variables

You can also configure talerd and taler-cli using environment variables:

export TALER_DATA_DIR=/custom/path
export TALER_RPC_USER=myuser
export TALER_RPC_PASSWORD=mypassword

Monitoring & Maintenance

Check Sync Progress

taler-cli getblockchaininfo | grep "verificationprogress"

View Debug Log

Linux/macOS:

tail -f ~/.taler/debug.log

Windows:

type %APPDATA%\TALER\debug.log

Monitor Network Connections

watch -n 5 'taler-cli getpeerinfo | grep addr'

Check Mempool Size

taler-cli getmempoolinfo

Estimate Network Hash Rate

taler-cli getmininginfo

Troubleshooting

RPC Connection Refused

Problem: taler-cli cannot connect to talerd

Solutions:

Ensure talerd is running: ps aux | grep talerd
Check RPC is enabled in taler.conf: server=1
Verify RPC credentials match in both talerd and taler-cli
Check firewall isn’t blocking port 23152

Blockchain Sync Stuck

Problem: Node stops syncing at certain block height

Solutions:

# Stop daemon
taler-cli stop

# Reindex blockchain
talerd -reindex

# Or rebuild chainstate only (faster)
talerd -reindex-chainstate

High Memory Usage

Problem: talerd consuming too much RAM

Solutions:

# Reduce database cache
talerd -dbcache=256

# Reduce mempool size
talerd -maxmempool=100

Wallet Won’t Load

Problem: Wallet fails to load on startup

Solutions:

# Attempt to salvage wallet
talerd -salvagewallet

# Or upgrade wallet format
talerd -upgradewallet

Advanced Usage

Running Multiple Nodes

Run separate mainnet and testnet nodes:

Mainnet:

talerd -datadir=/data/taler-mainnet -port=23153 -rpcport=23152

Testnet:

talerd -testnet -datadir=/data/taler-testnet -port=33153 -rpcport=33152

Custom Network Seeds

Add specific seed nodes for initial peer discovery:

talerd -seednode=seed1.talercoin.org -seednode=seed2.talercoin.org

Blockchain Analysis

Enable full indexing for analysis:

talerd -txindex -addressindex -timestampindex -spentindex

Note: Requires full blockchain reindex and significantly increases disk usage.

Security Best Practices

RPC Security

Use Strong Passwords:
```
rpcpassword=$(openssl rand -base64 32)
```
Restrict RPC Access:
```
rpcallowip=127.0.0.1
rpcbind=127.0.0.1
```
Never expose RPC to public internet without proper authentication and encryption

File Permissions

Protect configuration file:

chmod 600 ~/.taler/taler.conf

Firewall Configuration

Only expose P2P port (23153), not RPC port (23152):

# Allow P2P
sudo ufw allow 23153/tcp

# Block RPC from external
sudo ufw deny 23152/tcp

Next Steps

Docker Deployment: Run TALER node in containers with Docker
Mining & Staking: Learn about block generation in Mining & Staking
RPC Reference: Full RPC API documentation in Developer Documentation

Documentation

Overview

talerd - TALER Daemon

Basic Usage

Essential Options

Network Configuration

Data Management

RPC Server

Mining & Staking

Blockchain & Sync

Wallet

Logging & Debugging

Performance

Daemon Control

Common talerd Usage Examples

Run Full Node with RPC Enabled

Run Pruned Node (Saves Disk Space)

Run on Testnet

Enable PoW Mining

Run as Background Daemon (Linux/macOS)

Run as Systemd Service (Linux)

Custom Data Directory

Connect to Specific Nodes Only

Enable Transaction Indexing

Reindex Blockchain

taler-cli - Command Line Interface

Basic Usage

Connection Options

Essential Commands

Node Information

Blockchain Queries

Wallet Operations

Staking Commands

Node Control

Configuration File

Location

Example Full Node Configuration

Example Mining Node Configuration

Example Pruned Node Configuration

Example Staking Configuration

Environment Variables

Monitoring & Maintenance

Check Sync Progress

View Debug Log

Monitor Network Connections

Check Mempool Size

Estimate Network Hash Rate

Troubleshooting

RPC Connection Refused

Blockchain Sync Stuck

High Memory Usage

Wallet Won’t Load

Advanced Usage

Running Multiple Nodes

Custom Network Seeds

Blockchain Analysis

Security Best Practices

RPC Security

File Permissions

Firewall Configuration

Next Steps

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