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I am following the installation steps to setup a bitcoin node, at the steps "Download the blockchain" that required Bitcoin Core GUI which is not able to run on the testing Ubuntu Server without GUI.

The guideline I am following is https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node#ubuntu-1610. At the Ubuntu Installation, under Bitcoin Core GUI. enter image description here

Is there any command to trigger the download without GUI? Thank you very much.

Kevin Chu
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  • Welcome to Bitcoin.SE! It would be useful to potential answerers if you could link to the setup guide that you are using in your question. Ordinarily, the blockchain download is automatic, unless something in your setup has changed that. – Willtech Mar 17 '18 at 02:28
  • Thank you so much Willtech, question edited with the guideline I am following. I tried to start the daemon and hope it will download the data but it seems nothing change on H.D. usage so I am guessing it is not downloading. Am I correct? – Kevin Chu Mar 17 '18 at 03:18

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In the very same guide you linked, follow the instructions for the Bitcoin daemon.

I tried to start the daemon and hope it will download the data but it seems nothing change on H.D. usage so I am guessing it is not downloading. Am I correct?

No, you are not correct. You should check the status of bitcoind itself by using bitcoin-cli to send commands to it. You can use getblockchaininfo to know whether it is actually syncing by calling it twice. If it is syncing, then it will report a different block height and best block hash on the second call.

Ava Chow
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  • it works! It is showing blockchain info. However, how can I know it is completed download the full set of data? – Kevin Chu Mar 17 '18 at 14:55
  • RTFM :-) "bitcoin-cli getblockcount" is your first candidate. See possible commands and explanation here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Original_Bitcoin_client/API_calls_list and here is the same question on bitcoin.SE: https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/37815/how-to-know-if-bitcoind-synced?noredirect=1&lq=1 – pebwindkraft Mar 17 '18 at 15:49