Transferring Private Keys to A New Wallet on a Different OS Type
In certain circumstances it is not possible to simply move a wallet.dat file from one computer to a new one with a different architecture or OS type. This is due to the wallet.dat being a binary file and, to keep things simple, different architectures and OS's sometimes read and write binary files in different formats.
Due to this, if you simply try to copy your wallet.dat file from Windows to Raspberry Pi, for example, you'll likely run into errors. To solve this error, there are 2 options:
- Move your NEBL to the new wallet in a transaction. This is the quickest method, but also destroys any stake weight and coin age you may have built up staking.
- Export the private keys that hold NEBL on the old computer, and import them on the new one. This method will be the focus of this article.
First we need to open the debug console via the wallet menu on the old computer and gather a list of addresses that contain NEBL or NTP1 Tokens. In the debug console, issue the following command:
listaddressgroupings
This will output a list of Neblio addresses with their NEBL & NTP1 Token balance. We'll need to export the private key for each address. To do this, first we must unlock the wallet (NOT only unlocked for staking) and for each address from the prior command, run (replacing the below address with an address from the above command):
dumpprivkey NLj4bjtLdE3ghRL5TrZoMxgZdtf31uoptYd
Once we have the private key for each address in the wallet on the old computer, we need to import them on the new computer. To do so, for each private key you exported from the old wallet issue the following command in the debug console on the new computer (replacing the below key with your key):
importprivkey TKb8kLf9zgWQnogidDA76MzPL6TsZZY36hWXMssSzNydYXYB9KF
That's it! After importing each private key now we just run a rescan on the new computer to make sure all of the blockchain has been searched for any NEBL or NTP1 tokens at these addresses.
To start a wallet rescan, open the wallet options/preferences and on the "Main" tab click the "Schedule wallet rescan" button. Click "Yes" to close the wallet. Start the wallet again and the rescan will happen while the wallet is starting up.
Remember, it is NEVER recommended to stake wallets containing any of the same keys at the same time. Keep your old wallet.dat backup from the old computer safe in case of an emergency, but never stake on the old computer again while the new computer is staking. As this can cause all sorts of headaches for users if the exact and expert precautions are not taken.