Blockchain – What to look for in Bitcoin Core log files when something goes wrong

I saw a suggestion to read the logs…

That’s a good suggestion.

Normally that isn’t necessary. A program should explain to the user when it cannot do something. However, if a data file is deleted, renamed, or moved, its foundations are compromised in ways that the program’s designers did not anticipate. In these situations, log files are a good place to understand the content. the problem is.

You can see program options to increase the amount of information recorded for all programs, not just Bitcoin Core. For example, there may be a debug option. -d or -debug Command line flags.

…but honestly I’m not sure what I’m looking for.

We’re looking for anything that looks like a major error rather than a routine activity. Most often they are marked with words such as “error”, “failure”, “impossible”, “rejected”, etc.

We are also looking for messages related to actions taken immediately before the unwanted behavior occurred. In your example, you are looking for messages containing the words “wallet”, “file”, or “open” by clicking “Open Wallet”. In Bitcoin Core, wallets are stored in a file called “wallet.dat”, so it’s a good idea to look for it.

These messages are most likely near the end of the log file, so it’s a good idea to start there.

When you see a line in the log file that looks interesting, look at nearby lines to get an idea of ​​what the program is trying to do and what might happen next. If you’re posting log excerpts on a Q&A website like this one, include about 10 lines on either side of what caught your attention. No one wants to read hundreds of lines, so don’t include too much. Don’t post too little.