Merge pull request #6639

58ef0ff doc: update docs for Tor listening (Wladimir J. van der Laan)
68ccdc4 doc: Mention Tor listening in release notes (Wladimir J. van der Laan)
09c1ae1 torcontrol improvements and fixes (Wladimir J. van der Laan)
2f796e5 Better error message if Tor version too old (Peter Todd)
8f4e67f net: Automatically create hidden service, listen on Tor (Wladimir J. van der Laan)

doc/files.md

@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 * fee_estimates.dat: stores statistics used to estimate minimum transaction fees and priorities required for confirmation; since 0.10.0
 * peers.dat: peer IP address database (custom format); since 0.7.0
 * wallet.dat: personal wallet (BDB) with keys and transactions
+* .cookie: session RPC authentication cookie (written at start when cookie authentication is used, deleted on shutdown): since 0.12.0
+* onion_private_key: cached Tor hidden service private key for `-listenonion`: since 0.12.0
 
 Only used in pre-0.8.0
 ---------------------

doc/release-notes.md

@@ -151,6 +151,23 @@ mining with the getblocktemplate protocol to a pool: this will affect you at
 the pool operator's discretion, which must be no later than BIP65 achieving its
 951/1001 status.
 
+Automatically listen on Tor
+----------------------------
+
+Starting with Tor version 0.2.7.1 it is possible, through Tor's control socket
+API, to create and destroy 'ephemeral' hidden services programmatically.
+Bitcoin Core has been updated to make use of this.
+
+This means that if Tor is running (and proper authorization is available),
+Bitcoin Core automatically creates a hidden service to listen on, without
+manual configuration. This will positively affect the number of available
+.onion nodes.
+
+This new feature is enabled by default if Bitcoin Core is listening, and
+a connection to Tor can be made. It can be configured with the `-listenonion`,
+`-torcontrol` and `-torpassword` settings. To show verbose debugging
+information, pass `-debug=tor`.
+
 0.12.0 Change log
 =================
 

doc/tor.md

@@ -87,3 +87,20 @@ If you only want to use Tor to reach onion addresses, but not use it as a proxy
 for normal IPv4/IPv6 communication, use:
 
 	./bitcoin -onion=127.0.0.1:9050 -externalip=57qr3yd1nyntf5k.onion -discover
+
+3. Automatically listen on Tor
+--------------------------------
+
+Starting with Tor version 0.2.7.1 it is possible, through Tor's control socket
+API, to create and destroy 'ephemeral' hidden services programmatically.
+Bitcoin Core has been updated to make use of this.
+
+This means that if Tor is running (and proper authorization is available),
+Bitcoin Core automatically creates a hidden service to listen on, without
+manual configuration. This will positively affect the number of available
+.onion nodes.
+
+This new feature is enabled by default if Bitcoin Core is listening, and
+a connection to Tor can be made. It can be configured with the `-listenonion`,
+`-torcontrol` and `-torpassword` settings. To show verbose debugging
+information, pass `-debug=tor`.