Glacier is a protocol for secure cold storage of bitcoins. https://glacierprotocol.org
But a system like this really needs a public face, with a reputation to uphold, as maintainer. That's been hard to find.
I hit another snag when attempting to create Q1 APP USB... I got to the part on page 38 of version 0.94 (pg 45 on v0.91) where I need to "Download and perform integrity verification59 of software available from Ubuntu's package repository:
- bitcoind
- qrencode
- zbar-tools
Per the instructions I entered the following command:
$ sudo apt-get install qrencode=3.4.4-1 zbar-tools=0.10+doc-10ubuntu1 bitcoind
After that, I see this output:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package bitcoind
The last line of that output concerns me. I double checked to make sure I typed everything correctly and I think I did.
Any idea what went wrong here or why it says "E: Unable to locate package bitcoind" ??
then
sudo apt-get update
Did those complete successfully?
I just took a look at the Ubuntu bitcoin package repo: https://launchpad.net/~bitcoin/+archive/ubuntu/bitcoin
It is no longer maintained (and I knew that) but all bitcoin releases have been deleted.
I didn't know that.
So Glacier is broken. Can't create APP USBs using the published process.
Thanks for reporting this. There's already an open issue on this; see GlacierProtocol/GlacierProtocol#38
My solution was to download the official release binaries from bitcoincore.org, download the corresponding SHA256SUMS, and download Wladimir's GPG key that's used for signing the releases. Copy those three files to the APP USB.
When setting up the quarantined workspaces, you have to import that signing key into GPG, check the signature, check the SHA256SUM, unpack the bitcoin tarfile, then set $PATH so GlacierScript can find bitcoind and bitcoin-cli.
Ok. Thanks. That's a bit over my head. I can probably work through it to figure it out with some time, but how many more stumbling blocks like this should I expect on the way. I've already made the investment in all of the hardware, and I don't really know of a better storage solution, so wondering if I should continue to work through Glacier, despite the issues, or look for some other long term hodling solution.
Will you share your written notes on this?
All known issues are already filed as bugs, either on https://github.com/GlacierProtocol/GlacierProtocol/issues or https://github.com/GlacierProtocol/glacierprotocol.github.io/issues
Take a look through all those and make sure you can live with those issues. If so then Glacier is still a decent solution.
(Many of the open issues already have fixes developed on my fork, but that code has not been reviewed by anybody but me, so you shouldn't trust it.)
And yes I will share my notes later today
Here's my instructions for the 0.9 version of the pdf: https://gist.github.com/bitcoinhodler/8be823fae7b46e924caa594abdde3bd0
*which includes multisig
Casa seems interesting, but possibly too much reliance on a trusted third party
I'm not aware of anything nearly as thorough or hard-core as Glacier. The nice thing about Glacier, though, is that it uses a pretty straightforward wallet system. There are many ways to withdraw funds even if Glacier itself is no longer supported or working. (It will take some technical expertise, though.)
Casa provides instructions for withdrawal even without Casa's help. But Casa still knows all your pubkeys and your UTXOs, and you rely on Casa for consensus.
Other up-and-coming promising alternatives: Specter Desktop (https://github.com/cryptoadvance/specter-desktop)
Yeti Cold Storage (https://github.com/JWWeatherman/yeticold)
How can I feel confident that the steps you advised in your notes, which are outside of the verified protocol, is not a security breach which could compromise my funds? (no offense, but I'm sure you understand why I would ask that)
and if the answer is that I can't, I understand that may be the truth
Because if I gave you a URL to some malware then yes, I could compromise your funds.
I hit another frustrating snag today while doing my first test withdrawal. I was able to make a successful test deposit yesterday. My touchpad froze up in the middle of the withdrawal process while I was scanning in the QR codes, but after I had taken the time to type in all of the private keys on both computers. I haven't been able to figure out how to restart the touchpad without rebooting. Is it secure enough to plug in a quarantined wired usb mouse?
You are right. Thanks. I just successfully completed a test deposit and withdrawal on Q1. (Yes, I processed the transaction without confirming on Q2, but it was a small test amount, and I know not to do this with larger sums). Now I just need to make sure the raw signed transaction matches for Q2 after I finish the process on that computer. I doubt I would have gotten this far without your help. Thanks for helping me out.
the first six characters were the same for both script. The last four characters were the same for both script.
You can run
bitcoin-cli decodescript (or something like that?) to convert the hex redeem script back to opcodes
The four pubkeys in the script will be different between your two wallets. The rest will be the same.
It's not really addressed in the protocol, but after a successful test deposit and withdrawal have been made, and as long as the rest of the protocol has been executed properly, is it safe to assume that the wallet is ready for use? Or are there any other variations of deposit and withdrawal testing that should be (or could be) done?