### Table of Contents

1. [About](#About)

2. [Getting Started](#GettingStarted)

    1. [Installation](#Installation)

        1. [Windows](#WindowsInstallation)

        2. [Linux/BSD/MacOSX/POSIX](#PosixInstallation)

        3. [Gentoo Linux](#GentooInstallation)

    2. [Configuration](#Configuration)

    3. [Controlling and Querying pod via podctl](#BtcctlConfig)

    4. [Mining](#Mining)

3. [Help](#Help)

    1. [Startup](#Startup)

        1. [Using bootstrap.dat](#BootstrapDat)

    2. [Network Configuration](#NetworkConfig)

    3. [Wallet](#Wallet)

4. [Contact](#Contact)

    1. [IRC](#ContactIRC)

    2. [Mailing Lists](#MailingLists)

5. [Developer Resources](#DeveloperResources)

    1. [Code Contribution Guidelines](#ContributionGuidelines)

    2. [JSON-RPC Reference](#JSONRPCReference)

    3. [The btcsuite Bitcoin-related Go Packages](#GoPackages)

<a name="About" />

### 1. About

pod is a full node bitcoin implementation written in [Go](http://golang.org), licensed under
the [copyfree](http://www.copyfree.org) ISC License.

This project is currently under active development and is in a Beta state. It is extremely stable and has been in
production use since October 2013, but

It properly downloads, validates, and serves the block chain using the exact rules (including consensus bugs) for block
acceptance as Bitcoin Core. We have taken great care to avoid pod causing a fork to the block chain. It includes a full
block validation testing framework which contains all of the 'official' block acceptance tests (and some additional
ones) that is run on every pull request to help ensure it properly follows consensus. Also, it passes all of the JSON
test data in the Bitcoin Core code.

It also properly relays newly mined blocks, maintains a transaction pool, and relays individual transactions that have
not yet made it into a block. It ensures all individual transactions admitted to the pool follow the rules required by
the block chain and also includes more strict checks which filter transactions based on miner requirements ("standard"
transactions).

One key difference between pod and Bitcoin Core is that pod does _NOT_ include wallet functionality and this was a very
intentional design decision. See the blog entry [here](https://blog.conformal.com/pod-not-your-moms-bitcoin-daemon) for
more details. This means you can't actually make or receive payments directly with pod. That functionality is provided
by the [btcwallet](https://github.com/p9c/p9/walletmain).

<a name="GettingStarted" />

### 2. Getting Started

<a name="Installation" />

**2.1 Installation**

The first step is to install pod. See one of the following sections for details on how to install on the supported
operating systems.

<a name="WindowsInstallation" />

**2.1.1 Windows Installation**<br />

- Install the MSI available at: https://github.com/p9c/p9/releases

- Launch pod from the Start Menu

<a name="PosixInstallation" />

**2.1.2 Linux/BSD/MacOSX/POSIX Installation**

- Install Go according to the installation instructions here: http://golang.org/doc/install

- Ensure Go was installed properly and is a supported version:

```bash
$ go version
$ go env GOROOT GOPATH
```

NOTE: The `GOROOT` and `GOPATH` above must not be the same path. It is recommended that `GOPATH` is set to a directory
in your home directory such as `~/goprojects` to avoid write permission issues. It is also recommended to
add `$GOPATH/bin` to your `PATH` at this point.

- Run the following commands to obtain pod, all dependencies, and install it:

```bash
$ go get -u github.com/Masterminds/glide
$ git clone https://github.com/parallelcointeam/parallelcoin $GOPATH/src/github.com/parallelcointeam/parallelcoin
$ cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/parallelcointeam/parallelcoin
$ glide install
$ go install . ./cmd/...
```

- pod (and utilities) will now be installed in `$GOPATH/bin`. If you did not already add the bin directory to your
  system path during Go installation, we recommend you do so now.

**Updating**

- Run the following commands to update pod, all dependencies, and install it:

```bash
$ cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/parallelcointeam/parallelcoin
$ git pull && glide install
$ go install . ./cmd/...
```

<a name="GentooInstallation" />

**2.1.2.1 Gentoo Linux Installation**

- Install Layman and enable the Bitcoin overlay.

    - https://gitlab.com/bitcoin/gentoo

- Copy or symlink `/var/lib/layman/bitcoin/Documentation/package.keywords/pod-live` to `/etc/portage/package.keywords/`

- Install pod: `$ emerge net-p2p/pod`

<a name="Configuration" />

**2.2 Configuration**

pod has a number of [configuration](http://godoc.org/github.com/parallelcointeam/parallelcoin) options, which can be
viewed by running: `$ pod --help`.

<a name="BtcctlConfig" />

**2.3 Controlling and Querying pod via podctl**

podctl is a command line utility that can be used to both control and query pod
via [RPC](http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_procedure_call). pod does **not** enable its RPC server by default; You
must configure at minimum both an RPC username and password or both an RPC limited username and password:

- pod.conf configuration file

```
[Application Options]
rpcuser=myuser
rpcpass=SomeDecentp4ssw0rd
rpclimituser=mylimituser
rpclimitpass=Limitedp4ssw0rd
```

- podctl.conf configuration file

```
[Application Options]
rpcuser=myuser
rpcpass=SomeDecentp4ssw0rd
```

OR

```
[Application Options]
rpclimituser=mylimituser
rpclimitpass=Limitedp4ssw0rd
```

For a list of available options, run: `$ podctl --help`

<a name="Mining" />

**2.4 Mining**

pod supports the `getblocktemplate` RPC. The limited user cannot access this RPC.

**1. Add the payment addresses with the `miningaddr` option.**

```
[Application Options]
rpcuser=myuser
rpcpass=SomeDecentp4ssw0rd
miningaddr=12c6DSiU4Rq3P4ZxziKxzrL5LmMBrzjrJX
miningaddr=1M83ju3EChKYyysmM2FXtLNftbacagd8FR
```

**2. Add pod's RPC TLS certificate to system Certificate Authority list.**

`cgminer` uses [curl](http://curl.haxx.se/) to fetch data from the RPC server. Since curl validates the certificate by
default, we must install the `pod` RPC certificate into the default system Certificate Authority list.

**Ubuntu**

1. Copy rpc.cert to /usr/share/ca-certificates: `# cp /home/user/.pod/rpc.cert /usr/share/ca-certificates/pod.crt`

2. Add pod.crt to /etc/ca-certificates.conf: `# echo pod.crt >> /etc/ca-certificates.conf`

3. Update the CA certificate list: `# update-ca-certificates`

**3. Set your mining software url to use https.**

`$ cgminer -o https://127.0.0.1:11048 -u rpcuser -p rpcpassword`

<a name="Help" />

### 3. Help

<a name="Startup" />

**3.1 Startup**

Typically pod will run and start downloading the block chain with no extra configuration necessary, however, there is an
optional method to use a `bootstrap.dat` file that may speed up the initial block chain download process.

<a name="BootstrapDat" />

**3.1.1 bootstrap.dat**

- [Using bootstrap.dat](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/docs/using_bootstrap_dat.md)

<a name="NetworkConfig" />

**3.1.2 Network Configuration**

- [What Ports Are Used by Default?](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/docs/default_ports.md)

- [How To Listen on Specific Interfaces](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/docs/configure_peer_server_listen_interfaces.md)

- [How To Configure RPC Server to Listen on Specific Interfaces](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/docs/configure_rpc_server_listen_interfaces.md)

- [Configuring pod with Tor](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/docs/configuring_tor.md)

<a name="Wallet" />

**3.1 Wallet**

pod was intentionally developed without an integrated wallet for security reasons. Please
see [btcwallet](https://github.com/btcsuite/btcwallet) for more information.

<a name="Contact" />

### 4. Contact

<a name="ContactIRC" />

**4.1 IRC**

- [irc.freenode.net](irc://irc.freenode.net), channel `#pod`

<a name="MailingLists" />

**4.2 Mailing Lists**

- <a href="mailto:pod+subscribe@opensource.conformal.com">pod</a>: discussion of pod and its packages.

- <a href="mailto:pod-commits+subscribe@opensource.conformal.com">pod-commits</a>:
  readonly mail-out of source code changes.

<a name="DeveloperResources" />

### 5. Developer Resources

<a name="ContributionGuidelines" />

- [Code Contribution Guidelines](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/docs/code_contribution_guidelines.md)

<a name="JSONRPCReference" />

- [JSON-RPC Reference](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/docs/json_rpc_api.md)

- [RPC Examples](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/docs/json_rpc_api.md#ExampleCode)

<a name="GoPackages" />

- The btcsuite Bitcoin-related Go Packages:

    - [btcrpcclient](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/rpcclient) - Implements a robust and easy to use
      Websocket-enabled Bitcoin JSON-RPC client

    - [btcjson](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/btcjson) - Provides an extensive API for the underlying JSON-RPC
      command and return values

    - [wire](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/wire) - Implements the Bitcoin wire protocol

    - [peer](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/peer) - Provides a common base for creating and managing Bitcoin
      network peers.

    - [blockchain](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/blockchain) - Implements Bitcoin block handling and chain
      selection rules

    - [blockchain/fullblocktests](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/blockchain/fullblocktests) - Provides a set of
      block tests for testing the consensus validation rules

    - [txscript](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/txscript) - Implements the Bitcoin transaction scripting
      language

    - [btcec](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/btcec) - Implements support for the elliptic curve cryptographic
      functions needed for the Bitcoin scripts

    - [database](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/database) - Provides a database interface for the Bitcoin block
      chain

    - [mempool](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/mempool) - Package mempool provides a policy-enforced pool of
      unmined bitcoin transactions.

    - [util](https://github.com/p9c/p9/util) - Provides Bitcoin-specific convenience functions and types

    - [chainhash](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/chaincfg/chainhash) - Provides a generic hash type and
      associated functions that allows the specific hash algorithm to be abstracted.

    - [connmgr](https://github.com/p9c/p9/tree/master/connmgr) - Package connmgr implements a generic Bitcoin network
      connection manager.