From e3c14c30802bc1665fcad573731e04193c4a0932 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Chris Ward <chriswhward@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2019 16:06:21 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Add draft dev mode and private network

---
 docs/_getting-started/ns.md             | 47 ++++++++++++++++
 docs/getting-started/dev-mode.md        | 74 +++++++++++++++++++++++++
 docs/getting-started/private-network.md |  5 ++
 3 files changed, 126 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 docs/_getting-started/ns.md
 create mode 100644 docs/getting-started/dev-mode.md
 create mode 100644 docs/getting-started/private-network.md

diff --git a/docs/_getting-started/ns.md b/docs/_getting-started/ns.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..86b9f386e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/_getting-started/ns.md
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+<!-- TODO: Read more -->
+
+## Next steps
+
+<!-- I like the idea of having a Getting started section. You may want to describe a few ways to get your feet wet with Geth (fast sync with a test net, dev mode, start a private network). -->
+
+### Fast sync a test network
+
+<!-- TODO: What happens if you don't specify? -->
+
+You learned about the `--syncmode` argument above, but you can also specify the network to sync with, by adding it as an argument. For example to fast sync with the Rinkeby test network:
+
+```shell
+geth --syncmode "fast" --rinkeby
+```
+
+To check the status of the sync, open another terminal, attach to the geth process, and open a console with the command below:
+
+<!-- TODO: Figuring out what to attach to seems difficult -->
+
+```shell
+geth attach ipc:{FILL_THIS}
+```
+
+Then at the `>` prompt, run the command below to the current state of the sync operation:
+
+```shell
+eth.syncing
+```
+
+## Dev mode
+
+Geth has a development mode which sets up a single node Ethereum test network along with a number of options optimized for local development. Enable it with the `--dev` argument.
+
+```shell
+geth --dev
+```
+
+<!-- TODO: Figuring out what to attach to seems difficult -->
+
+```shell
+geth attach ipc:{FILL_THIS}
+```
+
+<!-- TODO: Then? -->
+
+## Start a private network
diff --git a/docs/getting-started/dev-mode.md b/docs/getting-started/dev-mode.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9b23af8e5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/getting-started/dev-mode.md
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+---
+title: Dev mode
+---
+
+Geth has a development mode which sets up a single node Ethereum test network with a number of options optimized for developing on local machines. You enable it with the `--dev` argument.
+
+Dev mode does the following:
+
+-   Initializes the data directory with a testing genesis block
+-   Sets max peers to 0
+-   Turns off discovery by other nodes
+-   Sets the gas price to 0
+-   Uses a testing consensus algorithm (proof of work) which generates blocks quickly
+-   Prevents the consensus (proof of work) difficulty from ever increasing
+
+We recommend you create and specify a data directory when using dev mode.
+
+```shell
+$ mkdir test-chain-dir
+$ geth --dev --datadir test-chain-dir console
+```
+
+<!-- TODO: The command above is a lot simpler, introduce elsewhere? -->
+
+Once geth is running, create a test account.
+
+<!-- TODO: What is the difference in these methods? -->
+
+<!-- TODO: Fix next steps as per https://github.com/curvegrid/go-ethereum-wiki/pull/1 -->
+
+```shell
+> personal.newAccount()
+Passphrase:
+Repeat passphrase:
+INFO [06-25|00:51:55] New wallet appeared                      url=keystore:///tmp… status=Locked
+"0x42a3f741fa25e52c618854e7a002ff7c7985b044"
+>
+```
+
+Then start the miner to mine some blocks. The coinbase will have automatically been set to the test account so the mined Ether will be deposited there. You can verify this by running `eth.coinbase`.
+
+```sh
+> miner.start()
+INFO [06-25|00:52:45] Updated mining threads                   threads=0
+INFO [06-25|00:52:45] Transaction pool price threshold updated price=0
+INFO [06-25|00:52:45] Starting mining operation
+null
+> INFO [06-25|00:52:45] Commit new mining work                   number=1 txs=0 uncles=0 elapsed=103.893µs
+INFO [06-25|00:52:45] Generating DAG in progress               epoch=0 percentage=0 elapsed=68.374µs
+INFO [06-25|00:52:45] Generating DAG in progress               epoch=0 percentage=3 elapsed=137.968µs
+...
+INFO [06-25|00:52:51] 🔗 block reached canonical chain          number=3 hash=7049f9…22f775
+INFO [06-25|00:52:51] 🔨 mined potential block                  number=8 hash=c84185…4b5994
+INFO [06-25|00:52:51] Mining too far in the future             wait=2s
+```
+
+And after a few seconds, stop the miner.
+
+```sh
+> miner.stop()
+INFO [06-25|00:52:53] Commit new mining work                   number=9 txs=0 uncles=0 elapsed=2.002s
+true
+>
+```
+
+Now check the balance in your test account.
+
+```sh
+> web3.fromWei(eth.getBalance(personal.listAccounts[0]), "ether")
+40
+>
+```
+
+Our test account has 40 Ether in it, which at 5 Ether per block means it mined 8 blocks in 8 seconds on a contemporary iMac, including generating the [DAG](https://ethereum.stackexchange.com/questions/1993/what-actually-is-a-dag).
diff --git a/docs/getting-started/private-network.md b/docs/getting-started/private-network.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8e742f1d35
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/getting-started/private-network.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+title: Start a private network
+---
+
+<!-- TODO: Already a couple of overlapping posts -->