BitLab: A Bitcoin P2P Network and Blockchain Explorer

Logo

BitLab is an interactive command-line tool for exploring and interacting with the Bitcoin P2P network and blockchain. Inspired by SockLab, BitLab provides a user-friendly interface for learning and working with Bitcoin's peer-to-peer networking protocols without needing to write low-level C code. The tool allows users to perform a wide range of operations on the Bitcoin network, such as peer discovery, connecting to peers, sending messages, and retrieving blockchain data.

BitLab acts as a powerful educational resource and debugging tool for understanding how Bitcoin nodes communicate, synchronize blocks, and process transactions by interacting with the Bitcoin network in real-time. The tool is designed to be user-friendly, intuitive, and informative, providing users with a comprehensive view of the Bitcoin network's inner workings using the Bitcoin protocol.

• GitHub Repo
• Doxygen Docs

Table of Contents

• Installation
• Uninstallation
• Usage
• Config directory
• Features
• License

Requirements

Please run following:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y gcc libreadline-dev libssl-dev

Installation

‍[!NOTE] Default installation directory is /usr/local/bin

To install BitLab, simply run the following command in your terminal:

curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/milosz275/bitlab/main/install.sh | sudo bash

Uninstallation

To uninstall BitLab, simply run the following command in your terminal:

curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/milosz275/bitlab/main/uninstall.sh | sudo bash -s -- -y

Building from Source

To build BitLab from source, follow these steps:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/milosz275/bitlab.git

2. Change to the project directory:

   cd bitlab

3. Build the project:

   make

4. Use the main executable:

   bitlab/build/bin/main

Usage

Run help to display available commands and help [command] to view detailed information about specific one.

Config directory

The default configuration directory is ~/.bitlab. The configuration directory contains the following files:

• logs/bitlab.log: BitLab main log file
• history/cli_history.txt: BitLab CLI command history file

Please feel free to link logs and history to your current working directory:

ln -s ~/.bitlab/logs ./logs
ln -s ~/.bitlab/history ./history

‍[!NOTE] Running as root will create the configuration directory in /root/.bitlab.

Features

1. Peer Discovery

Easily find and connect with peers using various methods:

• Discovery Options:
  • Via Command Line Parameters
  • Predefined Seeds
  • DNS Lookup
• Bootstrapping with Peer Data:
  • Use the getaddr message to request an addr message containing active peers.
  • addr messages will provide a list of IP addresses and ports.
• Peer Information:
  • Print out IP addresses of discovered peers.
  • Perform recursive discovery to find given amounts of peers.

2. Connection to Peers

Seamlessly establish and maintain connections with peers:

• Initial Connection:
  • Exchange version messages to introduce versions.
  • Follow up with verack messages to confirm the connection is successful.

3. Peer Maintenance

Stay connected with active peers and monitor peer availability:

• Peer Availability Checks:
  • Use ping messages to check peer responsiveness and connection health.
• Network Alerts:
  • Send alert messages to notify peers of important network events.
  • alert has been deprecated because of security risks so it won't be implemented in this app. documentation thread

4. Error Handling & Diagnostics

Handle errors gracefully and communicate network events transparently:

• Error Reporting:
  • Use reject messages to report any client-side errors.
  • Deprecated in Bitcoin Core 0.18.0. source: documentation thread
• Diagnostics:
  • Use message messages to log diagnostics and troubleshooting information.

5. Block Inventory, Exchange, and Transactions

Efficiently share and request blocks and transactions with peers:

• Inventory Announcements:
  • Use inv messages to announce available blocks or transactions.
• Requesting Data:
  • getdata message: Request specific blocks or transactions by their hash.
  • getblocks message: Request an inventory list for blocks within a specified range.
  • getheaders message: Request headers of blocks in a specific range for easy synchronization.
• Transaction and Block Sharing:
  • tx message: Announce new transactions.
  • block message: Send or advertise a specific block.
  • headers message: Share up to 2,000 block headers for faster synchronization.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.