How do I register a .bit domain name with Namecoin?

Question

I have several namecoins and would like to register a name. That name could either be for TOR, DNS, or any other purpose.

What are the steps needed to spend these coins?

Answer 1

The algorithm of registering .bit domain is described, for example, on dot-bit wiki.

In short:

1. Create new domain name with name_new command: ./namecoind name_new d/<name>

2. Wait 12 or more blocks

3. Actually register the domain with name_firstupdate, where <rand> is the second (shorter) hexadecimal string returned by name_new, and <json-value> is the domain configuration (similar to DNS record):

./namecoind name_firstupdate d/<name> <rand> '<json-value>'

The basic json-string, mapping the domain to the some IP looks like that:

'{"ip":"1.2.3.4", "tor":"123456.onion"}'

More on domain configuration