Add code for large amount of users creation and few recommendations

README.md

@@ -5,8 +5,9 @@ and bitcoin-cli RPC usage, without requiring students to sync the node themselve
 
 ## Install
 
-1. clone repo
-2. `pip install -r requirements.txt`
+1. Clone repo
+2. Create and activate a Python Virtual Environment
+3. `pip install -r requirements.txt`
 
 ## Run
 
@@ -17,10 +18,11 @@ with bitcoin-cli.
 
 Networks supported: `main`, `testnet`, `signet`, `regtest`
 
-- Start Bitcoin Core: `bitcoind -conf=/path/to/repo/rpc-auth-proxy/etc/bitcoin.conf`
+- Start Bitcoin Core: `bitcoind -daemon -conf=/path/to/repo/rpc-auth-proxy/etc/bitcoin.conf`
   - Optionally add `-signet`, etc for different network
 - Start proxy server: `python src/server.py main`
   - Optionally replace `main` with `signet`, etc.
+  - Use `nohup` or `tmux` to ensure that the server process is not killed when exiting the terminal or session.
 
 ## Adding Users
 
@@ -34,6 +36,15 @@ Password for newuser1: lYDk7mbTiN60
 ~/rpc-auth-proxy$ python src/users.py newuser2 -p hunter2
 Password for newuser2: hunter2
 ```
+### Large amount of Users ###
+To add large amount of users a utility is provided in `src/bulk_users.py`. Hashed passwords are saved by
+default in a JSON file at `~/.rpc-auth-proxy-passwords.json`, but another file is saved too with the pair of username and clear password.
+
+```sh
+~/rpc-auth-proxy$ python src/bulk_users.py 100
+100 users and passwords have been generated and saved to users_pass.csv.
+100 users and passwords have been added to ~/.rpc-auth-proxy-passwords.json.
+```
 
 ## Remote Access
 

src/bulk_users.py

@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+import argparse
+import csv
+import json
+import os
+import random
+import string
+
+from werkzeug.security import generate_password_hash
+
+from config import password_file_path
+
+# Parse command line arguments for username and optional password
+parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Add user and hashed password to JSON file.")
+parser.add_argument("user_count", type=int, help="Number of users to generate")
+parser.add_argument("-l", "--password_length", type=int, default=12, help="Length of the generated password")
+args = parser.parse_args()
+
+# Generate and save user credentials to a CSV file
+with open("users_pass.csv", "w", newline='') as user_pass_file:
+    csv_writer = csv.writer(user_pass_file)
+    csv_writer.writerow(['Username', 'Password'])
+
+    users = {}
+    for i in range(args.user_count):
+        # Generate username
+        username = f"user_{i+1:03d}"
+
+        # Generate password
+        characters = string.ascii_letters + string.digits
+        password = ''.join(random.choice(characters) for _ in range(args.password_length))
+
+        # Write user and password to the CSV file
+        csv_writer.writerow([username, password])
+
+        # Add user and hashed password to dictionary
+        hashed_password = generate_password_hash(password)
+        users[username] = hashed_password
+
+# Output message
+print(f"{args.user_count} users and passwords have been generated and saved to users_pass.csv.")
+
+# File to store hashed passwords
+PASSWORD_FILE_PATH = password_file_path()
+
+# Load existing data from file
+if os.path.exists(PASSWORD_FILE_PATH):
+    with open(PASSWORD_FILE_PATH, 'r') as file:
+        try:
+            existing_users = json.load(file)
+        except json.JSONDecodeError:
+            existing_users = {}
+else:
+    existing_users = {}
+
+# Add or update user passwords
+existing_users.update(users)
+
+# Write back to the file
+with open(PASSWORD_FILE_PATH, 'w') as file:
+    json.dump(existing_users, file, indent=4)
+
+# Output message
+print(f"{args.user_count} users and passwords have been added to {PASSWORD_FILE_PATH}.")
+