Testnet and devnets

With the release of GoByte Core 12.3, GoByte added support for a great new feature — named devnets. Devnets are developer networks that combine some aspects of testnet (the global and public testing network) and some aspects of regtest (the local-only regression testing mode that provides controlled block generation). Unlike testnet, multiple independent devnets can be created and coexist without interference. For practical documentation on how to use devnets, see the developer documentation or this blog post.

Testnet is a fully functioning GoByte blockchain with the one key exception that because the GoByte on the network can be created freely, it has no value. This currency, known as tGBX, can be requested from a faucet to help developers test new versions of GoByte, as well as test network operations using identical versions of the software before they are carried out on the mainnet. There are a few other key differences:

  • Testnet operates on port 13455 (instead of 12455)
  • Testnet addresses start with “n” instead of “G”, ADDRESSVERSION is 112 (instead of 38)
  • Testnet balances are denominated in tGBX (instead of GBX)
  • Protocol message header bytes are 0xcee2caff (instead of 0xbf0c6bbd)
  • Bootstrapping uses different DNS seeds: testnet-dns.gobyte.network, testnet-dns2.gobyte.network
  • Launching GoByte Core in testnet mode shows an orange splash screen

To start GoByte Core in testnet mode, find your gobyte.conf file and enter the following line:

testnet = 1

Masternodes

Installing a masternode under testnet generally follows the same steps as the mainnet masternode installation guide, but with a few key differences:

  • You will probably be running a development version of GoByte instead of the stable release. See here for a list of builds, then choose the latest successful build and click Artifacts to view a list of binaries.
  • When opening the firewall, port 13455 must be opened instead of (or in addition to) 12455. Use this command: ufw allow 13455/tcp
  • Your desktop wallet must be running in testnet mode. Add the following line to gobyte.conf: testnet = 1
  • When sending the collateral, you can get the 1000 tGBX for free from a faucet (see above)
  • You cannot use gobyteman to install development versions of GoByte. See the link to downloadable builds above.
  • Your masternode configuration file must also specify testnet mode. Add the following line when setting up gobyte.conf on the masternode: testnet = 1
  • As for mainnet masternodes, the RPC username and password must contain alphanumeric characters only
  • When cloning sentinel, you may need to clone the development branch using the -b option, for example: git clone -b core-v0.12.2.x https://github.com/gobytecoin/sentinel.git
  • Once sentinel is installed, modify ~/.gobytecore/sentinel/sentinel.conf, comment the mainnet line and uncomment: network=testnet
  • The wallet holding the masternode collateral will expect to find the masternode.conf file in ~/.gobytecore/testnet3/masternode.conf instead of ~/.gobytecore/masternode.conf.

Testnet 12.3

In September 2020, the GoByte team announced the start of testing of the upcoming GoByte 12.3 release. Extensive internal testing has already been done on the 12.2 code, but there are numerous bugs that can only be revealed with actual use by real people. The GoByte team invites anybody who is interested to download the software and become active on testnet. This release includes:

  • Named Devnets, to help developers quickly create multiple independent devnets
  • New format of network message signatures
  • Governance system improvements
  • PrivateSend improvements
  • Additional indexes cover P2PK now
  • Support for pruned nodes in Lite Mode
  • New Masternode Information Dialog

Discussion:

Latest test binaries:

Testnet 12.2

In October 2017, the GoByte team announced the launch of a testnet for public testing of the upcoming 12.2 release of the GoByte software. Extensive internal testing has already been done on the 12.2 code, but there are numerous bugs that can only be revealed with actual use by real people. The GoByte team invites anybody who is interested to download the software and become active on testnet. This release includes:

  • DIP0001 implementation https://github.com/dashpay/dips/blob/master/dip-0001.md
  • 10x transaction fee reduction (including InstantSend fee)
  • InstantSend vulnerability fix
  • Lots of other bug fixes and performance improvements
  • Experimental BIP39/BIP44 complaint HD wallet (disabled by default, should be fully functional but there is no GUI yet)

Discussion:

Latest successfully built develop branch binaries: