Updating old BitCoin-QT Core client V0.7 - 2017 Approach?

Question

I have an old "BitCoin-QT" Core client at version 'V0.7 2-beta' - that is far out of date re Synching. (That client says the program uses Qt version 4.8.4, incase that is useful too). It was a ‘Full Node’ setup back then, cos that was the only option technology wise.

Am keen to get the client / block updated, so I can go shopping ;-).

Been reading the latest Coinbase “Bitcoin Core 0.15.0.1” release info (Oct 2017) - extract below from the Release Notes : “Note that the block database format also changed in version 0.8.0 and there is no automatic upgrade code from before version 0.8 to version 0.15.0. Upgrading directly from 0.7.x and earlier without redownloading the blockchain is not supported. However, as usual, old wallet versions are still supported”.

Is that text meaning: (i) I have to separately go get the large blockchain file myself prior to the latest Core Client version install ? OR (ii) The latest client version will know to go get that latest blockchain / format and download for me natively itself ?

Assuming its the first point :

• Where can I get / torrent the latest compatible blockchain ? been looking and they are from years ago.

• Been reading conflicting information about my upgrade scenario (from V0.7 2-beta Core client to V0.15.0.1) with regard to the "bootstrap" ie hearing "this is not the way to go nowadays with the new technology". This was from a few years back. Been generally reading that this approach is not supported nor updated anymore, true?

• Are there more detailed '****Release Notes****' against the Coinbase “Bitcoin Core 0.15.0.1” ? I've been looking. This paragraph quoted above is all I got as instruction for my scenario.

Luckily I've lots of disk space / ram / data allowance etc to make the upgrade happen on Mac OS - so am just needing confirmation on the steps so I only have to run this process once.

I’ll only be using the wallet every few months, I just want it for the Wallet.

Any advice here would be very much appreciated.

Answer 1

edit: [removed a part about upgrading. Lower part still remains relevant I think, so I think I will keep it there.]

I don't know of any place where you can download the latest compatible blockchain, but more importantly you should never want to do so! If you download it from some shady site, what guarantees would you have that the chain has not been tampered with, or that it will contain trojans, keyloggers or the like, which could lead to loss of funds/time. Just install the bitcoin client of your choice and let it download the blockchain through its connected nodes. It can verify the contents and make sure you are on the right chain.

Answer 2

It was a ‘Full Node’ setup back then, cos that was the only option technology wise.

Bitcoin Core still only supports full node operation. If you want something else, you need other software. Importing your old wallet in other software may not be easy, however.

Upgrading directly from 0.7.x and earlier without redownloading the blockchain is not supported.

This just means 0.15 won't be able to reuse the blocks you already downloaded using 0.7. It will work fine however - it will just download those historical blocks again.

Been reading the latest Coinbase “Bitcoin Core 0.15.0.1” release info

Coinbase? Bitcoin Core is software created by the Bitcoin Core project, not Coinbase (which is a US-based exchange company).

Where can I get / torrent the latest compatible blockchain ? been looking and they are from years ago.

You don't need them, and they're no longer maintained.

The internal historical synchronization code in early Bitcoin Core versions was pretty bad, so some developers maintained an updated torrent to help download the chain. Since the new synchronization algorithm in Bitcoin Core 0.10, there is very little benefit to using an external program for doing so. In particular, it would mean you need to wait while BitTorrent finishes downloading the chain before you can start processing the blocks. When using the internal download logic, validation and downloading happen simultaneously.

In short, even if Bitcoin Core 0.15 can't convert the part of the chain you already had, it will happily synchronize from the network.

Are there more detailed '****Release Notes****' against the Coinbase “Bitcoin Core 0.15.0.1” ?

The release notes for 0.15.0 are here: https://bitcoincore.org/en/releases/0.15.0/ (and likewise for 0.15.0.1, though that was only a minor bugfix release).