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Mist Browser

Join the chat at https://gitter.im/ethereum/mist Build Status develop branch Code Climate

The Mist browser is the tool of choice to browse and use Ðapps.

For the Mist API see the MISTAPI.md.

Installation

If you want install the app from a pre-built version on the release page, you can simply run the executeable after download.

For updating simply download the new version and copy it over the old one (keep a backup of the old one if you want to be sure).

Config folder

The data folder for Mist is stored in other places:

  • Windows %APPDATA%\Mist
  • macOS ~/Library/Application Support/Mist
  • Linux ~/.config/Mist

Development

For development, a Meteor server will to be started to assist with live reload and CSS injection. Once a Mist version is released the Meteor frontend part is bundled using meteor-build-client npm package to create pure static files.

Dependencies

To run mist in development you need:

  • Node.js v6.x (use the prefered installation method for your OS)
  • Meteor javascript app framework
  • Yarn package manager
  • Electron v1.3.13 cross platform desktop app framework
  • Gulp build and automation system

Install the later ones via:

$ curl https://install.meteor.com/ | sh
$ curl -o- -L https://yarnpkg.com/install.sh | bash
$ yarn global add electron@1.3.13
$ yarn global add gulp

Initialisation

Now you're ready to initialise Mist for development:

$ git clone https://github.com/ethereum/mist.git
$ cd mist
$ yarn

To update Mist in the future, run:

$ cd mist
$ git pull
$ yarn

Run Mist

For development we start the interface with a Meteor server for autoreload etc. Start the interface in a separate terminal window:

$ cd mist/interface && meteor --no-release-check

In the original window you can then start Mist with:

$ cd mist
$ electron .

NOTE: client-binaries (e.g. geth) specified in clientBinaries.json will be checked during every startup and downloaded if out-of-date, binaries are stored in the config folder

NOTE: use --help to display available options, e.g. --loglevel debug (or trace) for verbose output

Run the Wallet

Start the wallet app for development, in a separate terminal window:

$ cd mist/interface && meteor --no-release-check

// and in another terminal

$ cd my/path/meteor-dapp-wallet/app && meteor --port 3050

In the original window you can then start Mist using wallet mode:

$ cd mist
$ electron . --mode wallet

Connecting to node via HTTP instead of IPC

This is useful if you have a node running on another machine, though note that it's less secure than using the default IPC method.

$ electron . --rpc http://localhost:8545

Passing options to Geth

You can pass command-line options directly to Geth by prefixing them with --node- in the command-line invocation:

$ electron . --mode mist --node-rpcport 19343 --node-networkid 2

The --rpc Mist option is a special case. If you set this to an IPC socket file path then the --ipcpath option automatically gets set, i.e.:

$ electron . --rpc /my/geth.ipc

...is the same as doing...

$ electron . --rpc /my/geth.ipc --node-ipcpath /my/geth.ipc

Using Mist with a privatenet

To run a private network you will need to set the IPC path, network id and data folder:

$ electron . --rpc ~/Library/Ethereum/geth.ipc --node-networkid 1234  --node-datadir ~/Library/Ethereum/privatenet

NOTE: since ipcpath is also a Mist option you do not need to also include a --node-ipcpath option.

You can also launch geth separately with the same options prior starting Mist.

Deployment

Our build system relies on gulp and electron-builder.

Dependencies

meteor-build-client bundles the meteor-based interface. Install it via:

$ npm install -g meteor-build-client

Furthermore cross-platform builds require additional electron-builder dependencies. On macOS those are:

// windows deps
$ brew install wine --without-x11 mono makensis

// linux deps
$ brew install gnu-tar libicns graphicsmagick xz

Generate packages

To generate the binaries for Mist run:

$ gulp

To generate the Ethereum Wallet (this will pack the one Ðapp from https://github.com/ethereum/meteor-dapp-wallet):

$ gulp --wallet

The generated binaries will be under dist_mist/release or dist_wallet/release.

Options

platform

To build binaries for specific platforms (default: all available) use the following flags:

// on mac
$ gulp --win --linux --mac

// on linux
$ gulp --win --linux

// on win
$ gulp --win
walletSource

With the walletSource you can specify the Wallet branch to use, default is master:

$ gulp --wallet --walletSource develop

Options are:

  • master
  • develop
  • local Will try to build the wallet from [mist/]../meteor-dapp-wallet/app

Note: applicable only when combined with --wallet

Checksums

Spits out the MD5 checksums of distributables.

It expects installer/zip files to be in the generated folders e.g. dist_mist/release

$ gulp checksums [--wallet]

Testing

First make sure to build Mist with:

$ gulp [--wallet]

Then run the tests:

$ gulp test [--wallet]

Note: Integration tests are not yet supported on Windows.