Web3.js: personal API support missing

[digitaldonkey]

As far as I understood from the docs there should be a web3.eth.personal object, but there isn't.

This was allredy mentioned in https://github.com/ethereum/web3.js/pull/288 , but the linked Info in the tread is missing. Or is there another way to load and unlock a account with web3?

[chriseth]

This is part of the admin interface. We might add it at some point. Especially the c++ implementation will eventually use a nodejs script to attach to the admin interface, which will also need these endpoints.

[digitaldonkey]

There there currently no way to load and unlock a account with web3-API?
I can can only work with unlocked user? This will prevent anyone from providing webservices with the API.
Or did I miss something else?

[frozeman]

This API is not available by default over HTTP, so you would need either to use IPC or you add them specifically as flags.

Then you could use something like: https://github.com/ethereum/mist/blob/master/modules/web3Admin.js

[lexansoft]

@frozeman The web3Admin.js trick only works wih ipc provider. The JSON-HTTP still returns the command unlockAccount is not implemented...

[frozeman]

you need to start you geth with the ipcapi flag:

--ipcapi "admin,db,eth,debug,miner,net,shh,txpool,personal,web3"
https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Command-Line-Options

[lexansoft]

Great. Thank you.

Alexandre Naverniouk

On Mon, Feb 15, 2016 at 1:47 AM, Fabian Vogelsteller <
[email protected]> wrote:

Closed #388 https://github.com/ethereum/web3.js/issues/388.

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub
https://github.com/ethereum/web3.js/issues/388#event-550447421.

[digitaldonkey]

I'm not sure if I understood. Maybe someone can clearify.

Summarizing:

In order to use personal API in my web3 based App:

1) I need to start geth with rpc and ipc API

geth --rpc --rpccorsdomain="*" --ipcapi "admin,db,eth,debug,miner,net,shh,txpool,personal,web3"  --ipcpath "/tmp/geth.ipc"

2) I should implement personal API (or the required functions) simmilar to the web3Admin.js

Remaining questions

After I can Use IPC functionality over RPC? (This sounds somehow strange to me)
How do I know the specific parameters for personal API?
If it is "so easy", why nobody implemented it yet?

[mwmeyer]

@digitaldonkey I am not sure if this will help you but I was facing a related issue and tried the geth command you had listed but it didn't work. I eventually found a command that did though.

After starting the node with the following geth command:

geth --rpc --rpcaddr="0.0.0.0" --rpccorsdomain="*" --rpcapi="db,eth,net,web3,personal,web3"

I was able to unlock an account and send a transaction using web3 in a node.js script like so:

var Web3 = require('web3');
var web3 = new Web3(new Web3.providers.HttpProvider("http://localhost:8545"));

web3.personal.unlockAccount('sendingAccountAddress', "accountPassword")

web3.eth.sendTransaction({
   from: 'sendingAccountAddress',
   to: 'receivingAccountAddress',
   value:  web3.toWei(0.1, "ether")
});

DISCLAIMER: there is a reason this isn't the default operating mode, default mode prevents someone from being able to transfer ETH out more easily