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If I have the plaintext private key, -how- can I generate a geth-compatible keystore file using Node.js?

I think I need to encrypt it using the scrypt algorithm by supplying a password, but I don't know how to do this. Any -preferrably browserifiable- examples would be highly appreciated.

Thanks,

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  • 3
    Simplest is to import the key to Geth otherwise see ethereum.stackexchange.com/questions/1825/…
    – eth ♦
    Commented Jan 6, 2017 at 2:12
  • @eth Thanks! But I forgot to mention I want to do this in Node.js, without Geth. Updated the question accordingly.
    – jeff
    Commented Jan 6, 2017 at 2:47
  • I thought that was the case that's why I commented instead of answering :) Yes, it's a good idea to make questions more specific. From the anatomy link you have the Web3 Secret Storage Definition and that might be enough to keep you going for a bit. (I'd answer if I knew more.)
    – eth ♦
    Commented Jan 6, 2017 at 2:57
  • 2
    There's a Python library for what you want to do, if it helps.
    – Tjaden Hess
    Commented Jan 6, 2017 at 6:31
  • You could also do in the desktop version of MyCrypto.com
    – Paul Razvan Berg
    Commented Sep 30, 2018 at 16:42

1 Answer 1

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geth-compatible keystore file can be created in Node using ethereumjs-wallet library:

> var Wallet = require('ethereumjs-wallet');
> var key = Buffer.from('efca4cdd31923b50f4214af5d2ae10e7ac45a5019e9431cc195482d707485378', 'hex');
> var wallet = Wallet.fromPrivateKey(key);
> wallet.toV3String('password');
'{"version":3,"id":"467233bf-45ec-423b-9548-bdc4a42aa099","address":"b14ab53e38da1c172f877dbc6d65e4a1b0474c3c","crypto":{"ciphertext":"17886b7ff355219dd20900543b9592fcd4dc6fe7d8f776f1a4d1c63993112181","cipherparams":{"iv":"434e4e71d2013a2d84e86a6e89efbb0b"},"cipher":"aes-128-ctr","kdf":"scrypt","kdfparams":{"dklen":32,"salt":"7a785ab75fa906734788d85ff43a2c8e704af41881dd50a2d52abe08092f07ec","n":262144,"r":8,"p":1},"mac":"98d9a76960dcef22a5fd28a6bf47e5c68a71b30bcf353eccbf5a6555abec78a1"}}'

You can also specify additional options to control kdf, cipher and other wallet params. See here.

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    Nice. I've used geth account import privatekeyfile to produce the following JSON {"address":"b14ab53e38da1c172f877dbc6d65e4a1b0474c3c","crypto":{"cipher":"aes-128-ctr","ciphertext":"ff22d876d416cb97876dabfee6b6d00645de2d8dd5fca3b46f82112b1a3cffcd","cipherparams":{"iv":"798fcf346ea18c4c3c9e848118c94527"},"kdf":"scrypt","kdfparams":{"dklen":32,"n":262144,"p":1,"r":8,"salt":"bcc9bdc5a24f37ea56269017325b7bda67813199e017d566d7c274722a29d2b6"},"mac":"57efcea80420e75ed4087f20ac0e37481959a3a8a884e4c4a42bcb4331962dfc"},"id":"f162e70f-4b7c-425b-ba84-3041edfc292a","version":3}
    – BokkyPooBah
    Commented Jan 9, 2017 at 1:51

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