Bitcoin Core configured for testnet, syncs mainnet

Question

I'm trying to get Bitcoin Core to sync the testnet, but it keeps syncing the mainnet instead.

Here is my bitcoin.conf file:

[test]
addnode=104.237.131.138
addnode=151.80.205.132
addnode=192.155.82.123
addnode=74.220.255.190
addnode=80.100.203.151
rpcbind=127.0.0.1
rpcport=18332
chain=test
testnet=1

debug=net

txindex=1
listen=1
listenonion=1
daemon=1

proxy=127.0.0.1:9050

server=1
rpcallowip=127.0.0.1
rpcuser=user
rpcpassword=pw

zmqpubrawblock=tcp://127.0.0.1:28332
zmqpubrawtx=tcp://127.0.0.1:28333

I'm calling it like this:

$ bitcoind -conf=./bitcoin.conf -datadir=./bitcoin-testnet/

But the command line tool tells me it is connected to the mainnet:

$ bitcoin-cli -conf=./bitcoin.conf -datadir=./bitcoin-testnet/ -getinfo
Chain: main
Blocks: 0
Headers: 0
Verification progress: ▒░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 0.0000%
Difficulty: 1

Network: in 0, out 3, total 3
Version: 250000
Time offset (s): 0
Proxies: n/a
Min tx relay fee rate (BTC/kvB): 0.00001000

Warnings: (none)

What do I need to do to sync the testnet?

Answer 1

You need to pass -testnet to both the bitcoind and bitcoin-cli calls, so they know to even look into the [testnet] section of the config file.

Answer 2

In my wallet that I use for testing, have testnet=1 before the [test] heading in the bitcoin.conf file.

This forces both bitcoind and bitcoin-cli to look into the [test] section.