How to compile Solidity contracts with Geth v1.6?

Question

I tried to compile the following contract within geth:

pragma solidity ^0.4.8;

contract Test {
    uint256 public value;

    function Test() {
        value = 123;    
    }
}

using the following commands on the flattened source:

> var testSource = "pragma solidity ^0.4.8; contract Test { uint256 public value; function Test() { value = 123; } }";
undefined
> var testCompiled = web3.eth.compile.solidity(testSource);
Error: The method eth_compileSolidity does not exist/is not available
    at web3.js:3104:20
    at web3.js:6191:15
    at web3.js:5004:36
    at <anonymous>:1:20

As described in eth_compilers, eth_compileSolidity are gone in go-ethereum 1.6.0 #3793, the ability to compile Solidity source has been removed from within geth.

How can I compile my Solidity source code?

Answer 1

Alternative 1 - Use Remix To Compile, Then Copy-Paste To Deploy

Use Remix from https://ethereum.github.io/browser-solidity:

Copy the Web3 deployment instructions from the Remix page:

var untitled_testContract = web3.eth.contract([{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"value","outputs":[{"name":"","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"type":"function"},{"inputs":[],"payable":false,"type":"constructor"}]);
var untitled_test = untitled_testContract.new(
   {
     from: web3.eth.accounts[0], 
     data: '0x60606040523415600b57fe5b5b607b6000819055505b5b608f806100246000396000f30060606040526000357c0100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000900463ffffffff1680633fa4f24514603a575bfe5b3415604157fe5b6047605d565b6040518082815260200191505060405180910390f35b600054815600a165627a7a72305820a4fac284b98d43538f802082b0db8c67ddd6d72df4e8d9fbccb4cec0e52ea0df0029', 
     gas: '4700000'
   }, function (e, contract){
    console.log(e, contract);
    if (typeof contract.address !== 'undefined') {
         console.log('Contract mined! address: ' + contract.address + ' transactionHash: ' + contract.transactionHash);
    }
 })

And paste it into the geth console with an unlocked account:

> personal.unlockAccount(eth.accounts[0], "{top secret password}");
true
> var untitled_testContract = web3.eth.contract([{"constant":true,"inputs":[],"name":"value","outputs":[{"name":"","type":"uint256"}],"payable":false,"type":"function"},{"inputs":[],"payable":false,"type":"constructor"}]);
"0xe22dc29e3e05d3206d9636ae7cba87a2827e7b3ef28c6e8e6d2ad49a14ba3ce9"
var untitled_test = untitled_testContract.new(
   {
     from: web3.eth.accounts[0],
     data: '0x60606040523415600b57fe5b5b607b6000819055505b5b608f806100246000396000f30060606040526000357c0100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000900463ffffffff1680633fa4f24514603a575bfe5b3415604157fe5b6047605d565b6040518082815260200191505060405180910390f35b600054815600a165627a7a72305820a4fac284b98d43538f802082b0db8c67ddd6d72df4e8d9fbccb4cec0e52ea0df0029',
     gas: '4700000'
   }, function (e, contract){
    console.log(e, contract);
    if (typeof contract.address !== 'undefined') {
         console.log('Contract mined! address: ' + contract.address + ' transactionHash: ' + contract.transactionHash);
    }
 })

---

Alternative 2 - Use Solidity Compiler (Linux and OS/X, maybe Windows With Cygwin)

$ more Test.sol 
pragma solidity ^0.4.8;

contract Test {
    uint256 public value;

    function Test() {
        value = 123;    
    }
}

Compile Test.sol in the .json format, assign the data to a JavaScript variable and send the output into a file:

$ echo "var testOutput=`solc --optimize --combined-json abi,bin,interface Test.sol`" > test.js
$ cat test.js
var testOutput={"contracts":{"Test.sol:Test":{"abi":"[{\"constant\":true,\"inputs\":[],\"name\":\"value\",\"outputs\":[{\"name\":\"\",\"type\":\"uint256\"}],\"payable\":false,\"type\":\"function\"},{\"inputs\":[],\"payable\":false,\"type\":\"constructor\"}]","bin":"60606040523415600b57fe5b5b607b6000819055505b5b608f806100246000396000f30060606040526000357c0100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000900463ffffffff1680633fa4f24514603a575bfe5b3415604157fe5b6047605d565b6040518082815260200191505060405180910390f35b600054815600a165627a7a72305820d0e71d151634ac6ae7626860a17881104022e5cd6d3a088eb8f941d9aa8e3bd20029"}},"version":"0.4.9+commit.364da425.Darwin.appleclang"}

In geth, load the contents of test.js:

$ geth console
...
> loadScript("test.js")
true
> testOutput
{
  contracts: {
    Test.sol:Test: {
      abi: "[{\"constant\":true,\"inputs\":[],\"name\":\"value\",\"outputs\":[{\"name\":\"\",\"type\":\"uint256\"}],\"payable\":false,\"type\":\"function\"},{\"inputs\":[],\"payable\":false,\"type\":\"constructor\"}]",
      bin: "60606040523415600b57fe5b5b607b6000819055505b5b608f806100246000396000f30060606040526000357c0100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000900463ffffffff1680633fa4f24514603a575bfe5b3415604157fe5b6047605d565b6040518082815260200191505060405180910390f35b600054815600a165627a7a72305820d0e71d151634ac6ae7626860a17881104022e5cd6d3a088eb8f941d9aa8e3bd20029"
    }
  },
  version: "0.4.9+commit.364da425.Darwin.appleclang"
}

> testOutput.contracts
{
  abi: "[{\"constant\":true,\"inputs\":[],\"name\":\"value\",\"outputs\":[{\"name\":\"\",\"type\":\"uint256\"}],\"payable\":false,\"type\":\"function\"},{\"inputs\":[],\"payable\":false,\"type\":\"constructor\"}]",
...
> var testContract = web3.eth.contract(JSON.parse(testOutput.contracts["Test.sol:Test"].abi));
undefined
> personal.unlockAccount(eth.accounts[0], "{top secret password}");
true
> var test = testContract.new({ from: eth.accounts[0], data: "0x" + testOutput.contracts["Test.sol:Test"].bin, gas: 4700000},
  function (e, contract) {
    console.log(e, contract);
    if (typeof contract.address !== 'undefined') {
         console.log('Contract mined! address: ' + contract.address + ' transactionHash: ' + contract.transactionHash);
    }
  }
);
...

Answer 2

I've encountered the same issue recently. There are a variety of workarounds, but here is the method I've employed. This isn't necessarily the best approach.

To generate bytecode:

> solc --bin soliditySource.sol

To generate ABI:

> solc --abi soliditySource.sol

Then, with your newly generated bytecode and abi, in geth 1.6:

 var abi = <abi from solc>;
 var myContract = eth.contract(abi); 
 var bytecode = '0x' + <bytecode from solc>;
 var txDeploy = {from:eth.coinbase, data: bytecode, gas: 1000000}; 
 var myContractPartialInstance = myContract.new(txDeploy); 

 // Mine block containing transaction...

 var myContractInstance = myContract.at(myContractPartialInstance.address);

Answer 3

Maybe you'll consider downloading the truffle framework instead. With the truffle framework, I'm able to compile but also store my files easily (it does it for me).

Once you have downloaded truffle with the command

npm i -g truffle

you can easily compile using the command truffle compile.

Answer 4

After bashing my head against out of date docs for a few days, I've made a super simple version here that might help: https://alanbuxton.wordpress.com/2017/07/19/first-steps-with-ethereum-private-networks-and-smart-contracts-on-ubuntu-16-04/

Answer 5

Because geth deprecated the command-line compiler interface after version 1.6, I was puzzled for a long time.I wrote a simple tutorial to describe how to compile and deploy a contract after geth1.6. Hope this tutorial will help you. Depoly contract on the private chain

Answer 6

Building a smart contract using the command line https://www.ethereum.org/greeter