How to preallocate multiple accounts with ether for geth --dev chain?

Question

I'm trying to set up a private chain with geth using --dev that has several accounts with lots of ether. It seems unclear if this is possible anymore according to this.

Here's what I tried on geth 1.4.x and 1.5:

geth --datadir data --dev --password <(echo -n foobar) account new
geth --datadir data --dev --password <(echo -n foobar) account new
geth --datadir data --dev --password <(echo -n foobar) account new

Then init like so:

geth --datadir data --dev --password <(echo -n foobar) init custom.json

Then running geth with mine:

geth --datadir data --dev --password <(echo -n foobar) \
  --unlock 0,1,2 \
  --verbosity 6 \
  --rpc --rpcaddr "0.0.0.0" --rpccorsdomain '"*"' --nodiscover \
  --rpcapi "admin,db,eth,debug,miner,net,shh,txpool,personal,web3" \
  --mine --minerthreads 1 --gasprice 0

Then I use curl to check the balance of the accounts. Result is 0x0.

If I remove the --dev option there is balance, but it takes forever as it then uses the real DAG. I don't want that as this if for testing.

How to best get multiple preallocated accounts with lots of ether for a private dev chain?

Thanks!

Possible duplicate of How to add more Ether on a private blockchain — BokkyPooBah, Aug 06 '16 at 21:32
@BokkyPooBah yes that works but it's for a private chain without --dev — murrekatt, Aug 07 '16 at 07:17
--dev is just some additional configs - see https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/blob/master/cmd/utils/flags.go#L125-L128 and https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/blob/master/cmd/utils/flags.go#L724-L744 . maxpeers=0, listenaddr=:0,whisper is enabled, powtest is true and something to do with the olympic genesis block and the gas price. What you can do otherwise is use --dev, mine and move the ETH to your other account. There does not seem to be a convenient way to set preallocated accounts using the --dev setup. — BokkyPooBah, Aug 07 '16 at 07:33
@BokkyPooBah yes I know it's possible to move ether but as this used to work I'd like to know maybe it still does or if not why it isn't anymore :) — murrekatt, Aug 07 '16 at 07:40
From https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/releases, With the coming of Geth 1.4 we've deprecated the --genesis <json_file> flag and replaced with a geth init <json file> sub command. This means that you'll no longer be able to mix the destructive --genesis flag with other flags. — BokkyPooBah, Aug 07 '16 at 07:44
@BokkyPooBah yes I have read that too. I use init with a custom genesis that has accounts as I would like them in alloc. I.e. first I run new account and then I adjust the custom genesis and then run init. No balance if I have the --dev flag. — murrekatt, Aug 07 '16 at 07:47
Possible duplicate of Not able to assign ethers to account in private chain — galahad, Sep 30 '16 at 08:49

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 29 '16 at 15:57

2

It is suppossed to be done by editing your custom genesis file of your testnet. adding something like:

//The genesis file
"alloc":{
        "address":{
                  "balance": "1000000"
                  }
        }
}

Source: https://souptacular.gitbooks.io/ethereum-tutorials-and-tips-by-hudson/content/private-chain.html

answered Sep 29 '16 at 15:57

KanekiDev

671
3
10

This does not work anymore for dev...hence my question. – murrekatt Sep 29 '16 at 20:52
Ok, if i find any other solution for this, i'll tell you. – KanekiDev Sep 30 '16 at 06:44
Tried a bit ago and it worked for me. Check that you are starting the testnet properly with your custom genesis file. – KanekiDev Sep 30 '16 at 07:41
I don't use testnet... --dev and private chain – murrekatt Oct 03 '16 at 13:00
1

using --dev causes your private to start with a preconfigured set of options. So no chance to preallocate as you are not using a custom Genesis.json file but a preconfigured one. – KanekiDev Oct 04 '16 at 07:08
it used to work and was documented but changed. the reason --dev is interesting is because of the lack of DAG... – murrekatt Oct 04 '16 at 12:56

Lee · Answer 2 · 2019-11-26T14:23:06.220

I did it like this:

Initialise geth in dev mode with the -- flag

geth --dev --allow-insecure-unlock

Never do this in mainnet mode.
Attach a web3 js console
Run this to create 10 unlocked accounts and fund them from the default account:

for (i=0;i<10;i++){ a = personal.newAccount('pwd') personal.unlockAccount(a,'pwd',0) web3.eth.sendTransaction({from:eth.accounts[0],to:eth.accounts[i+1],value:1000000000000}) }

How to preallocate multiple accounts with ether for geth --dev chain?

2 Answers2