Reddit ALTcointip bot

Introduction

For introduction to and use of ALTcointip bot, see http://www.reddit.com/r/ALTcointip/wiki/index

Getting Started

NEW: See altcointip-chef for Chef-automated installation and configuration of ALTcointip bot.

Python Dependencies

The following Python libraries are necessary to run ALTcointip bot:

• jinja2 (http://jinja.pocoo.org/)
• pifkoin (https://github.com/dpifke/pifkoin)
• praw (https://github.com/praw-dev/praw)
• sqlalchemy (http://www.sqlalchemy.org/)
• yaml (http://pyyaml.org/wiki/PyYAML)

You can install jinja2, praw, sqlalchemy, and yaml using pip (Python Package Index tool) or a package manager in your OS. For pifkoin, you'll need to copy or symlink its "python" subdirectory to src/ctb/pifkoin.

Database

Create a new MySQL database instance and run included SQL file altcointip.sql to create necessary tables. Create a MySQL user and grant it all privileges on the database. If you don't like to deal with command-line MySQL, use phpMyAdmin.

Coin Daemons

Download one or more coin daemon executable. Create a configuration file for it in appropriate directory (such as ~/.mycoin/mycoin.conf for Litecoin), specifying rpcuser, rpcpassword, rpcport, and server=1, then start the daemon. It will take some time for the daemon to download the blockchain, after which you should verify that it's accepting commands (such as mycoind getinfo and mycoind listaccounts).

Reddit Account

You should create a dedicated Reddit account for your bot. Initially, Reddit will ask for CAPTCHA input when bot posts a comment or message. To remove CAPTCHA requirement, the bot account needs to accumulate positive karma.

Configuration

Copy included set of configuration files src/conf-sample/ as src/conf/ and edit reddit.yml, db.yml, coins.yml, and regex.yml, specifying necessary settings.

Most configuration options are described inline in provided sample configuration files.

Running the Bot

1. Ensure MySQL is running and accepting connections given configured username/password
2. Ensure each configured coin daemon is running and responding to commands
3. Ensure Reddit authenticates configured user. Note that from new users Reddit will require CAPTCHA responses when posting and sending messages. You will be able to type in CAPTCHA responses when required.
4. Execute _start.sh from src directory. The command will not return for as long as the bot is running.

Here's the first few lines of DEBUG-level console output during successful initialization.

user@host:/opt/altcointip/altcointip/src$ ./_start.sh
INFO:cointipbot:CointipBot::init_logging(): -------------------- logging initialized --------------------
DEBUG:cointipbot:CointipBot::connect_db(): connecting to database...
INFO:cointipbot:CointipBot::connect_db(): connected to database altcointip as altcointip
DEBUG:cointipbot:CtbCoin::__init__(): connecting to Peercoin...
DEBUG:bitcoin:Read 5 parameters from /opt/altcointip/coins/ppcoin/ppcoin.conf
DEBUG:bitcoin:Making HTTP connection to 127.0.0.1:19902
INFO:cointipbot:CtbCoin::__init__():: connected to Peercoin
INFO:cointipbot:Setting tx fee of 0.010000
DEBUG:bitcoin:Starting "settxfee" JSON-RPC request
DEBUG:bitcoin:Got 36 byte response from server in 4 ms
DEBUG:cointipbot:CtbCoin::__init__(): connecting to Primecoin...
DEBUG:bitcoin:Read 5 parameters from /opt/altcointip/coins/primecoin/primecoin.conf
DEBUG:bitcoin:Making HTTP connection to 127.0.0.1:18772
INFO:cointipbot:CtbCoin::__init__():: connected to Primecoin
INFO:cointipbot:Setting tx fee of 0.010000
DEBUG:bitcoin:Starting "settxfee" JSON-RPC request
DEBUG:bitcoin:Got 36 byte response from server in 1 ms
DEBUG:cointipbot:CtbCoin::__init__(): connecting to Megacoin...
DEBUG:bitcoin:Read 5 parameters from /opt/altcointip/coins/megacoin/megacoin.conf
DEBUG:bitcoin:Making HTTP connection to 127.0.0.1:17950
INFO:cointipbot:CtbCoin::__init__():: connected to Megacoin
INFO:cointipbot:Setting tx fee of 0.010000
DEBUG:bitcoin:Starting "settxfee" JSON-RPC request
DEBUG:bitcoin:Got 36 byte response from server in 1 ms
DEBUG:cointipbot:CtbCoin::__init__(): connecting to Litecoin...
DEBUG:bitcoin:Read 5 parameters from /opt/altcointip/coins/litecoin/litecoin.conf
DEBUG:bitcoin:Making HTTP connection to 127.0.0.1:19332
INFO:cointipbot:CtbCoin::__init__():: connected to Litecoin
INFO:cointipbot:Setting tx fee of 0.020000
DEBUG:bitcoin:Starting "settxfee" JSON-RPC request
DEBUG:bitcoin:Got 36 byte response from server in 2 ms
DEBUG:cointipbot:CtbCoin::__init__(): connecting to Namecoin...
DEBUG:bitcoin:Read 5 parameters from /opt/altcointip/coins/namecoin/namecoin.conf
DEBUG:bitcoin:Making HTTP connection to 127.0.0.1:18336
INFO:cointipbot:CtbCoin::__init__():: connected to Namecoin
INFO:cointipbot:Setting tx fee of 0.010000
DEBUG:bitcoin:Starting "settxfee" JSON-RPC request
DEBUG:bitcoin:Got 36 byte response from server in 1 ms
DEBUG:cointipbot:CtbCoin::__init__(): connecting to Bitcoin...
DEBUG:bitcoin:Read 5 parameters from /opt/altcointip/coins/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
DEBUG:bitcoin:Making HTTP connection to 127.0.0.1:18332
INFO:cointipbot:CtbCoin::__init__():: connected to Bitcoin
INFO:cointipbot:Setting tx fee of 0.000100
DEBUG:bitcoin:Starting "settxfee" JSON-RPC request
DEBUG:bitcoin:Got 36 byte response from server in 1 ms
DEBUG:cointipbot:CtbExchange::__init__(): initialized exchange crypto-trade.com
DEBUG:cointipbot:CtbExchange::__init__(): initialized exchange www.bitstamp.net
DEBUG:cointipbot:CtbExchange::__init__(): initialized exchange bter.com
DEBUG:cointipbot:CtbExchange::__init__(): initialized exchange blockchain.info
DEBUG:cointipbot:CtbExchange::__init__(): initialized exchange campbx.com
DEBUG:cointipbot:CtbExchange::__init__(): initialized exchange vircurex.com
DEBUG:cointipbot:CtbExchange::__init__(): initialized exchange pubapi.cryptsy.com
DEBUG:cointipbot:CtbExchange::__init__(): initialized exchange btc-e.com
DEBUG:cointipbot:CointipBot::connect_reddit(): connecting to Reddit...
INFO:cointipbot:CointipBot::connect_reddit(): logged in to Reddit as ALTcointip
...

ALTcointip bot is configured by default to append INFO-level log messages to logs/info.log, and WARNING-level log messages to logs/warning.log, while DEBUG-level log messages are output to the console.

Cron: Backups

Backups are very important! The last thing you want is losing user wallets or record of transactions in the databse.

There are three simple backup scripts included that support backing up database, wallets, and configuration files to local directory and (optionally) to a remote host with rsync. Make sure to schedule regular backups with cron and test whether they are actually performed. Example cron configuration:

0 8,20 * * * cd /opt/altcointip/altcointip/src && python _backup_db.py ~/backups
0 9,21 * * * cd /opt/altcointip/altcointip/src && python _backup_wallets.py ~/backups
0 10 * * * cd /opt/altcointip/altcointip/src && python _backup_config.py ~/backups

Cron: Statistics

ALTcointip bot can be configured to generate tipping statistics pages (overall and per-user) and publish them using subreddit's wiki. After you configure and enable statistics in configuration, add the following cron job to update the main statistics page periodically:

0 */3 * * * cd /opt/altcointip/altcointip/src && python _update_stats.py

What If I Want To Enable More Cryptocoins Later?

If you want to add a new cryptocoin after you already have a few registered users, you need to retroactively create the new cryptocoin address for users who have already registered. See src/_add_coin.py for details.