Web3.js: The method personal_unlockAccount does not exist?

[minxinping0105]

how to unlock an account?
like this : web3.personal.unlock(accounts[0],'password').
When I use this way to unlock a account, the error occurs: the method personal_unlockAccount does not exist. How to solve this error?

[mjmau]

The problem is probably that you have not enabled the "personal" module on your RPC server (typically geth or parity).

If you use geth, start geth with an option like --rpcapi eth,net,web3,personal. See geth --help or https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Command-Line-Options.

If you use parity, start parity with an option like --jsonrpc-apis eth,net,web3,personal. See parity --help for details.

More at http://ethereum.stackexchange.com/questions/3996/error-personal-unlockaccount-method-not-implemented.

[kaviyarasu7]

I have used below code snippet to unlock account
web3.personal.unlockAccount('sendingAccountAddress', "accountPassword")

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

[srinivasvinnakota]

How to enable enable --rpcapi eth,net,web3,personal for ethereum block chain provisioned via Azure Portal

[ltfschoen]

I was trying to deploy a smart contract by connecting Truffle to Geth. Below are the steps I followed to encounter the error Error: The method personal_unlockAccount does not exist/is not available. I was using Geth/v1.8.2-stable/darwin-amd64/go1.10, Truffle v4.0.6 (core: 4.0.6), Solidity v0.4.19 (solc-js)

• Add to truffle.js file:

ropsten: {
  network_id: 3,
  host: "localhost",
  port: 8545,
  gas: 2900000
}

• Open Terminal Window 1

• reference: https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Managing-your-accounts

• reference: https://ether.direct/2017/08/15/how-to-deploy-a-truffle-contract-to-ropsten/
• reference: https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Command-Line-Options
• in metamask click "..." icon next to account that want to use with
  ropsten (i.e. 0xcdeA3bfc82CBe46B8a7A8A648eDA0969F145468b)
• choose "Export Private Key"
• choose "Save As File" (i.e. "MetaMask RopTest1 Private Key.csv")

touch "/Users/Ls/Downloads/MetaMask RopTest1 Password";
chmod 700 "/Users/Ls/Downloads/MetaMask RopTest1 Password";
cat > "/Users/Ls/Downloads/MetaMask RopTest1 Password";
> (((ENTER PASSWORD: testtest, then PRESS CTRL+D to exit)))

geth --testnet --networkid=3 account import \
  --password="/Users/Ls/Downloads/MetaMask RopTest1 Password" \
  "/Users/Ls/Downloads/MetaMask RopTest1 Private Key.csv"

• show Ropsten testnet account list

geth --testnet --networkid=3 account list

geth --testnet --networkid=3 \
  --rpc \ --rpcaddr="localhost" \ --rpcport=8545 \ --rpcapi="db,eth,net,web3,admin,personal"

• Open Terminal Window 2

geth attach http://127.0.0.1:8545

> personal.unlockAccount(eth.accounts[1])
Unlock account 0xcdea3bfc82cbe46b8a7a8a648eda0969f145468b
Passphrase: 
Error: The method personal_unlockAccount does not exist/is not available

• Open Terminal Window 3

$ truffle migrate  --network ropsten
Using network 'development'.

Running migration: 1_initial_migration.js
  Replacing Migrations...
  ... undefined
Error encountered, bailing. Network state unknown. Review successful transactions manually.
Error: authentication needed: password or unlock

[nivida]

I've closed this issue because it works if the personal api is activated in geth or parity.