Yes, print-to-PDF works to save the paper backup digitally. It's built-in to most Linux distros (no need for a specific app, just install "cups-pdf" package). Just keep in mind that you need to make a couple backups if you save it digitally like this. One of the most useful benefits of a paper backup is that it will last decades. The same cannot be said for USB keys, CDs, DVDs, etc, which only have a "shelf-life" of a few years (they can last longer, but not guaranteed by any means). And just about anything that would destroy paper, would destroy the digital media, too. Also, you cannot verify visually whether the digital backup is still working. i.e. If you keep it in a safe-deposit box, how do you know that your USB key still works? Take it home and check it once a year? Sounds inconvenient. On the other hand, you can simply look at your paper backup and know that it's good. Even if it was severely faded after 50 years, it would still work.
This is why I highly recommend a paper backup. The 144 characters is inconvenient to type in, but it's only a couple minute's work and should only be needed ... once or twice in your life. Obviously, you are more comfortable with digital backups. Just make sure you protect yourself by making a couple copies.
Topic: Online-/Offline Wallets (Read 1226 times)
Armorys backup+restore functions are perfectly OK with Bullzip PDF printer!!
Please, don't waste your time to change your functions saving just a few bytes!!
Might result into compatibility problems and other trouble.
As you said it: ....not worth any risk to breaking something that works already.
Bullzip is excellent freeware. Im am using it since several years for almost all printings.
Very easy to install and to use. Never had any problems.
Downloadable here: http://www.bullzip.com/
Please, etotheipi, try Bullzip yourself and recommend it your users.
The "Perfect offline printer" for Armory
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/the-perfect-offline-printer-151175
is the Bullzip PDF Printer.
A disadvantage might be: Bullzip seems to work with Windows only.
Don't know wether there are similar tools for Linux, Mac etc.
Please, don't waste your time to change your functions saving just a few bytes!!
Might result into compatibility problems and other trouble.
As you said it: ....not worth any risk to breaking something that works already.
Bullzip is excellent freeware. Im am using it since several years for almost all printings.
Very easy to install and to use. Never had any problems.
Downloadable here: http://www.bullzip.com/
Please, etotheipi, try Bullzip yourself and recommend it your users.
The "Perfect offline printer" for Armory
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/the-perfect-offline-printer-151175
is the Bullzip PDF Printer.
A disadvantage might be: Bullzip seems to work with Windows only.
Don't know wether there are similar tools for Linux, Mac etc.
I have considered an upgrade that will reduce it to half the amount of data. It's extremely simple in concept, and still secure. But I really don't want to mess with it if it isn't broken.
However, when I'm done with the persistent blockchain stuff, and I get back to the new wallets, those wallets will have about 1/3 the amount of data (160-bit seeds instead of 2x256-bit key&chaincode).
The fragmented backups, will also be the same size as the single-sig backups, with only about 5 extra bytes. The first version of the script I made doubled the amount of data, but I later realized I missed an important optimization that has no effect on security. So that means that future fragmented backups of current wallets will only be 4 lines plus a couple bytes, and future wallets that use only 160 bits will be only two, shorter lines.
I agree that the current backups are not "pleasant" to type in, but they aren't terrible either. And you typically won't be using the backup... ever... or maybe twice a year for various reasons. So convenience is not worth any risk to brekaing something that works already.
However, when I'm done with the persistent blockchain stuff, and I get back to the new wallets, those wallets will have about 1/3 the amount of data (160-bit seeds instead of 2x256-bit key&chaincode).
The fragmented backups, will also be the same size as the single-sig backups, with only about 5 extra bytes. The first version of the script I made doubled the amount of data, but I later realized I missed an important optimization that has no effect on security. So that means that future fragmented backups of current wallets will only be 4 lines plus a couple bytes, and future wallets that use only 160 bits will be only two, shorter lines.
I agree that the current backups are not "pleasant" to type in, but they aren't terrible either. And you typically won't be using the backup... ever... or maybe twice a year for various reasons. So convenience is not worth any risk to brekaing something that works already.
Typing it is not as bad as it seems, I have tried it! And actually, there is some redundancy in the paper backup, so you can get one letter wrong on each line, and Armory can still read it.
Regarding "paper backups"
This was not the first time, Armory (not me!!) "forgot" my passphrase.
Luckily no passphrase is needed to recover wallets from Armory "paper backups"
The so called "Paper Backup" is an extremely good feature!
But important to know, that the old wallet file/s must be REMOVED from the Armory data directory.
Just renaming them (for security purposes) is not enough.
Whatever is used as different name. We get the error: Wallet exists.
Seems Armory looks into the files, disregarding the file names.
But I never will use paper for the so called "paper backups".
If needed its almost impossible, to enter 144(!) "senseless" letters manually.
So I "print" all the stuff via Bullzip into a PDF and save it on a separate USB/HD.
If needed all can then be copied and pasted from that pdf into Armory.
Even better we could copy all that stuff (Root key+Chain Code) as ONE string instead of four.
This was not the first time, Armory (not me!!) "forgot" my passphrase.
Luckily no passphrase is needed to recover wallets from Armory "paper backups"
The so called "Paper Backup" is an extremely good feature!
But important to know, that the old wallet file/s must be REMOVED from the Armory data directory.
Just renaming them (for security purposes) is not enough.
Whatever is used as different name. We get the error: Wallet exists.
Seems Armory looks into the files, disregarding the file names.
But I never will use paper for the so called "paper backups".
If needed its almost impossible, to enter 144(!) "senseless" letters manually.
So I "print" all the stuff via Bullzip into a PDF and save it on a separate USB/HD.
If needed all can then be copied and pasted from that pdf into Armory.
Even better we could copy all that stuff (Root key+Chain Code) as ONE string instead of four.
This is a good question. I know what you're trying to do. The question is how "realistic" do you want this test to be? If you want to do it on the exact same machine with the same instance of Armory, you can do the exact same process, but it will feel like you're cheating. But if you repeat the process with a real online-offline pair, you'll already understand it. You kind of have to do this, because Armory won't let you have two copies of the same wallet at the same time. You're going to have to simulate it.
The way it works is because the watching-only wallet behaves exactly like a regular wallet, except for one critical distinction: it can't sign transactions. You go through the exact same process of entering recipients, and confirming, but only the "Create Unsigned Transaction" button is there, not a "Send" button. So up until the moment you would've hit send, it's identical. For the watching-only wallet, you will create the unsigned transaction to be signed by the full wallet.
However, there is the "Create Unsigned Transaction" button even when you are using a full wallet. So when you create the transaction, you can pretend it's a watching-only wallet and simply click the "Create Unsigned Tx" button instead of the "Send" button. Then you can follow the procedure for completing the transaction. Save the unsigned tx to disk. Then go back to the main menu and pretend that the file you saved was just brought to your offline computer from a USB key. Click "offline transactions", and click "Sign and/or Broadcast Transaction". Load the *.unsigned.tx file, and it will allow you to review the transaction and verify it is what you expected. Click "Sign", and it will not only sign it, it will overwrite the original one with the signed transaction back to disk.
So you can close that window and pretend that you just brought the signed transaction back to the online computer. Click "offline transactions" again, sign and/or broadcast, Load the *.signed.tx file (review it again, if you like), and click broadcast. Now you're done. In a real online-offline split, each file save and load would be via USB key, and you'd move it between the systems as necessary.
The way it works is because the watching-only wallet behaves exactly like a regular wallet, except for one critical distinction: it can't sign transactions. You go through the exact same process of entering recipients, and confirming, but only the "Create Unsigned Transaction" button is there, not a "Send" button. So up until the moment you would've hit send, it's identical. For the watching-only wallet, you will create the unsigned transaction to be signed by the full wallet.
However, there is the "Create Unsigned Transaction" button even when you are using a full wallet. So when you create the transaction, you can pretend it's a watching-only wallet and simply click the "Create Unsigned Tx" button instead of the "Send" button. Then you can follow the procedure for completing the transaction. Save the unsigned tx to disk. Then go back to the main menu and pretend that the file you saved was just brought to your offline computer from a USB key. Click "offline transactions", and click "Sign and/or Broadcast Transaction". Load the *.unsigned.tx file, and it will allow you to review the transaction and verify it is what you expected. Click "Sign", and it will not only sign it, it will overwrite the original one with the signed transaction back to disk.
So you can close that window and pretend that you just brought the signed transaction back to the online computer. Click "offline transactions" again, sign and/or broadcast, Load the *.signed.tx file (review it again, if you like), and click broadcast. Now you're done. In a real online-offline split, each file save and load would be via USB key, and you'd move it between the systems as necessary.
Thanks for your answer!
What I am doing in the moment is testing with small BTC-amounts to better understand BTC and applications like Armory before really working with them, endangered to loose by my own silliness greater amounts or -in this case- using a really different PC for watch-only wallets.
So I startet my trials exactly as kindly described, than tried somehow different methods.
I always could proceed more or less, but in the end I was never successful.
Long story, always any errors (unspecified Win7 Runtime errors, not saving file without any explanation,
Armory (not me!) suddenly forgets my passphrase...(had to restore), Error like: "SelectCoins returned a list of size zero. This is problematic and probably not your fault."... and so on.
Have no idea. Cannot understand that. Should not matter where a file was created.
Perhaps the problem might be, that Armory does not tolerate special writings in its data directories.
So I tried it with subdirs. At first this seemed to work, but then... as before.
This is a good question. I know what you're trying to do. The question is how "realistic" do you want this test to be? If you want to do it on the exact same machine with the same instance of Armory, you can do the exact same process, but it will feel like you're cheating. But if you repeat the process with a real online-offline pair, you'll already understand it. You kind of have to do this, because Armory won't let you have two copies of the same wallet at the same time. You're going to have to simulate it.
The way it works is because the watching-only wallet behaves exactly like a regular wallet, except for one critical distinction: it can't sign transactions. You go through the exact same process of entering recipients, and confirming, but only the "Create Unsigned Transaction" button is there, not a "Send" button. So up until the moment you would've hit send, it's identical. For the watching-only wallet, you will create the unsigned transaction to be signed by the full wallet.
However, there is the "Create Unsigned Transaction" button even when you are using a full wallet. So when you create the transaction, you can pretend it's a watching-only wallet and simply click the "Create Unsigned Tx" button instead of the "Send" button. Then you can follow the procedure for completing the transaction. Save the unsigned tx to disk. Then go back to the main menu and pretend that the file you saved was just brought to your offline computer from a USB key. Click "offline transactions", and click "Sign and/or Broadcast Transaction". Load the *.unsigned.tx file, and it will allow you to review the transaction and verify it is what you expected. Click "Sign", and it will not only sign it, it will overwrite the original one with the signed transaction back to disk.
So you can close that window and pretend that you just brought the signed transaction back to the online computer. Click "offline transactions" again, sign and/or broadcast, Load the *.signed.tx file (review it again, if you like), and click broadcast. Now you're done. In a real online-offline split, each file save and load would be via USB key, and you'd move it between the systems as necessary.
The way it works is because the watching-only wallet behaves exactly like a regular wallet, except for one critical distinction: it can't sign transactions. You go through the exact same process of entering recipients, and confirming, but only the "Create Unsigned Transaction" button is there, not a "Send" button. So up until the moment you would've hit send, it's identical. For the watching-only wallet, you will create the unsigned transaction to be signed by the full wallet.
However, there is the "Create Unsigned Transaction" button even when you are using a full wallet. So when you create the transaction, you can pretend it's a watching-only wallet and simply click the "Create Unsigned Tx" button instead of the "Send" button. Then you can follow the procedure for completing the transaction. Save the unsigned tx to disk. Then go back to the main menu and pretend that the file you saved was just brought to your offline computer from a USB key. Click "offline transactions", and click "Sign and/or Broadcast Transaction". Load the *.unsigned.tx file, and it will allow you to review the transaction and verify it is what you expected. Click "Sign", and it will not only sign it, it will overwrite the original one with the signed transaction back to disk.
So you can close that window and pretend that you just brought the signed transaction back to the online computer. Click "offline transactions" again, sign and/or broadcast, Load the *.signed.tx file (review it again, if you like), and click broadcast. Now you're done. In a real online-offline split, each file save and load would be via USB key, and you'd move it between the systems as necessary.
Online-/Offline Wallets
Can we use both wallets (at least for testings) on the same PC/HD switching online/offline?
Armory creates watchonly wallets in its AppData dir.
But does -even if offline- not display them if I try "offline transactions".
I read https://bitcoinarmory.com/using-offline-wallets-in-armory/
but found no answer for this "special question" using no separate machine+USB-Stick.
Can we use both wallets (at least for testings) on the same PC/HD switching online/offline?
Armory creates watchonly wallets in its AppData dir.
But does -even if offline- not display them if I try "offline transactions".
I read https://bitcoinarmory.com/using-offline-wallets-in-armory/
but found no answer for this "special question" using no separate machine+USB-Stick.
Like, one wallet in its offline and online version in the same Armory installation?
Not sure what you try to test with this setup, this feels strange in many ways ;-)
You can, of course, have several different wallets in Armory, being online, offline, encrypted, unencrypted at the same time. Like, different distinct wallets.
Maybe try to get a second computer for testing. Or, the annoying way, test with booting into a live-cd.
Ente
Online-/Offline Wallets
Can we use both wallets (at least for testings) on the same PC/HD switching online/offline?
Armory creates watchonly wallets in its AppData dir.
But does -even if offline- not display them if I try "offline transactions".
I read https://bitcoinarmory.com/using-offline-wallets-in-armory/
but found no answer for this "special question" using no separate machine+USB-Stick.
Can we use both wallets (at least for testings) on the same PC/HD switching online/offline?
Armory creates watchonly wallets in its AppData dir.
But does -even if offline- not display them if I try "offline transactions".
I read https://bitcoinarmory.com/using-offline-wallets-in-armory/
but found no answer for this "special question" using no separate machine+USB-Stick.
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