FAQ

Building Parity

How do I build the cutting-edge version of Parity?

Once you have cloned the source directory and installed Rust, just use cargo and copy the resulting binary:

cargo build --release

How do I install Parity after building?

• On Windows: copy target/release/parity C:/Windows
• On Mac/Linux: cp -f target/release/parity /usr/local/bin

How do I upgrade Parity to the latest cutting-edge version?

Simply follow the instructions above to build & install. The new version will replace the old. Nothing additional is needed.

How do I do a cross-build for ARM/Raspberry Pi?

See the documentation for docker build for ARM.

Trying to build on Windows, I get link failed mentioning kernel32.lib?

Make sure you have set up your 64-bit variables in the build shell before issuing cargo build:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\bin\amd64\vcvars64.bat"

How do I build and run tests?

First make sure you have the cross-client consensus tests installed:

git submodule init
git submodule update

Then you just run ./test.sh. You can run individual tests with cargo test -p <package-name>.

Basic Operation

How do I enable pruning?

Since Parity 1.2 state-trie pruning is enabled by default.

How do I enable tracing?

Transaction tracing, available in Parity 1.1 and above, enables all CALL/CREATE information (i.e. "internal transactions") to be efficiently searched and filtered. More information can be found on the dedicated Wiki page.

Backup, Restore and Files

Where can I find Parity's local files?

In Windows, the $HOME parameter is equivalent to C:\Users\{CurrentUser}. Parity's local files live in $HOME/.parity making it C:\Users\{CurrentUser}\.parity.

How do I backup my blockchain?

You can just export it to a file:

parity export $HOME/ethereum-chain-backup.rlp

How do I restore my blockchain from a previous backup?

Just use import:

parity import $HOME/ethereum-chain-backup.rlp

How do I backup/restore my keys?

See Backing-up-&-Restoring.

Coming from Geth

Why doesn't --geth option work?

It's only available on version 1.2 and above. Check parity --version to make sure you're not on an older version.

How do I import my chain from Geth?

See Importing a Chain from Geth.

How do I import my keys from Geth?

They get imported automatically.

How do I import a key made outside of Geth? (e.g. myetherwallet.com)

Simply copy it into your $HOME/.ethereum/keystore directory. Parity will import all keys found there.

Mining and Transacting

None of my JSONRPC requests work - they all fail with no output. WTF?

As a safeguard against a certain type of attack, Parity requires you to use a special content type. Just add -H "Content-Type: application/json" to your curl command.

When I start Parity with the homestead_test.json I get a 0 block chain, but loading ethminer never mines a block.

homestead_test.json is a file meant for testing on a chain very similar to the Homestead chain. As such it is of equivalent (substantial) difficulty to mine on it. Rather what you need is something of minimal mining difficulty, like Morden. See more instructions here.

Why do my transactions not get mined?

Your gas price is probably too low. Try increasing the gas price to 20Gwei by appending , gasPrice: 20000000000 into your transaction spec or sendTransaction options.

All my eth_sendTransaction calls only return "0x00000000...000000000" as a return value.

You're probably trying to send from a locked account. Ensure you use the --unlock (to specify which account(s) to unlock) and --password (to pass in the file contain any passwords needed to unlock those acocunts) so that the account(s) from which you're sending the transaction are unlocked.

Testnet & Private Chains

When I switched to a testnet, my main chain wallets still appear. Might it be unsafe?

Parity does not (yet) bother distinguishing keystores between the different networks. To avoid potential cross-network transaction-replay attacks, ensure all private networks have a reasonably high number for the accountStartNonce parameter. Morden has the value of "0x0100000", which is considered safe.

Note, the security of --unlock for an active mainnet account is unchanged, regardless of which network you are on. You are heavily discouraged from ever using --unlock and instead use the Secure Transaction Signer.