FAQ - Bitmessage Wiki

Installation and configuration

How do I install Bitmessage

A great write up for setting up and using Bitmessage on Windows can be found Here.

Bitmessage should run on any OS though it is only lightly tested on OSX. The start-on-boot and minimize-to-tray features are only implemented for Windows thus far. Several examples of how to install Bitmessage on *nix and OSX platforms can be found in the forums.

How do I become a node to help the network

If your connection indicator is green then you are already accepting incoming connections and helping the Bitmessage network.

If your connection indicator is yellow, check your firewall settings and port forwarding to make sure incoming connections are allowed to your machine on the correct port (Default TCP 8444).

You can click on the indicator for more information about each color.

Why is my Connection Indicator Yellow

Bitmessage will work normally with a yellow indicator. If your indicator is yellow, you can have up to 8 connections and you are not acting as a relay node for the network. To make your indicator green and act as a relaying node for the Bitmessage network, please forward TCP port 8444 (default).

How do I setup Bitmessage to work with Tor

Tor

If you are using the Tor Browser Bundle skip to the next section. In order for Bitmessage to use Tor as a proxy follow these steps.

• Navigate to Settings > Network Settings and select SOCKS5 from the Type: drop down under the Proxy server / Tor section.
• Next to 'Server hostname:' enter 'localhost' and next to 'Port:' enter '9050'.
• Select ok.
• Restart Bitmessage.

Tor Browser Bundle

• Navigate to Settings > Network Settings and select SOCKS5 from the Type: drop down under the Proxy server / Tor section.
• Next to 'Server hostname:' enter 'localhost' and next to 'Port:' enter '9150'.
• Select ok.
• Restart Bitmessage.

Usage

How can I run Bitmessage in daemon mode

Refer to the Daemon Mode Page Here.

How many connections should I have

As long as you have at least one connection, you can communicate with the network. If your connection indicator is yellow, you can have a maximum of 8 connections.

Can I send a message to someone that is offline

Yes. However, if you go offline then they must come back online within 2 days of the message being sent. Nodes delete data, and do not accept data, older than 2 days.

How do I format my messages

Here is the list of supported HTML tags. [hhttps://qt-project.org/doc/qt-4.8/richtext-html-subset.html https://qt-project.org/doc/qt-4.8/richtext-html-subset.html]

How does Bitmessage work

Startup

When you first start Bitmessage, your client connects itself to the network and starts downloading a list of known nodes. Each new node that you connect to shares its list of known nodes. In addition to the known nodes, you will also start receiving person-to-person messages, broadcasts, and public keys. If any of these messages are bound for you, they will be shown in your inbox. All of this data is exchanged between all of your connections to make sure that everyone has a copy.

Sending a Message

When you send a message, your client must first compute a Proof of Work (POW). This POW helps mitigate spam on the network. Nodes and other clients will not process your message if it does not show sufficient POW. After the POW is complete, your message is shared to all of your connections which in turn share it with all of their connections.

Where can I find more documentation about Bitmessage

How does Bitmessage compare to other messaging methods

Here is a table comparing Bitmessage to other common messaging services.

Comparison of Messaging Services  Trustless P2P Open Source Requires Proof of Work Hide Sender? Hide Receiver? Mobile Version Application or Web Based Text Only Messages Attachments Acknowledge delivery Bitmessage Standard Email Email + GPG OTR TorChat Skype Scayl I2P Bote CryptoCat IRC SMS RetroShare Freenet + Frost Freenet + FMS Freenet + Freemail 0.2 Freenet + FLIP

Yes	Yes	MIT	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Application	No	Small only	Yes
	No	Depends	No	No	No	Yes	Both	No	Yes	No
Yes	No	Depends	No	No	No	Yes	Application	Yes	No	No
Yes	No	GPL V2.1	No	No	No	Yes	Application	Yes	No
Yes	Yes	GPL	No	Yes	Yes	No	Application	Yes	Yes
No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Application	No	Yes
No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Alpha	Application	No	Very Large
Yes	Yes	GPL V3	No	Yes	No	No	Application	Yes	Yes	Yes
No	No	GPL	No	No	No	Yes	Both	Yes	No
	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Both	Yes	No
	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Application	No	Yes	No
No	Yes		No	No	No				Yes
Yes	Yes	GPL	No	Yes	Yes	No	Application	Yes	Yes
No	Yes		No	No	Yes	No	Application	Yes	No
No	Yes	GPL	No	No	No	No	Application	No	Yes	No
Yes	Yes		No	No	No	No	Application	Yes	No

Troubleshooting

My Connection Indicator is Red

Check your connection settings. Can you access the internet? Have you allowed Bitmessage through your firewall? Have you tried a different port number under Settings > Network Settings? Sometimes Bitmessage takes time to connect to the network. Please allow at least 30 minutes for it to connect before posting to the forum.

If none of that works, please visit the forum here.

I have not received a reply from the Echo Server

• Your connection indicator should be yellow or green.
• Make sure that your POW is complete and the message has been sent. You should see an acknowledgement under "Status" on the "Sent" tab.
• On average it should take 8 minutes from the time you click the send button to the time you receive a response.
• Be sure to allow extra time in the event that the server is under heavy traffic (Example: An article about Bitmessage was posted on a popular website).
• You can always send a message to another echo server. Here are two echo addresses:
  • BM-orkCbppXWSqPpAxnz6jnfTZ2djb5pJKDb
  • BM-omXeTjutKWmYgQJjmoZjAG3u3NmaLEdZK

If you still do not receive a response, visit the forum to see if there is a current technical issue or to submit a new request for assistance.

Other

Here is a list of average times for different parts of Bitmessage. https://bitmessage.org/wiki/PyBitmessage_Help

Please visit the forum for all other issues.