UPDATE: Since writing this, in just a few hours, an even newer patch has been released for the 3.0 wallet which updates it to 3.0.2.1. The entire guide is still 100% Accurate but you download the new windows wallet file “ shield-windows-x64.zip”. The links should give you the new resources as they have not changed but it now appears you can unzip the files without 7-zip. They are just plain old .zip files.

Disclaimer: I own and sometimes mine XSH. My “Stake” is unfortunately small but it is there. I will always try to be as unbiased as possible however.

Official Guide From Developers: https://github.com/ShieldCoin/SHIELD/wiki/SHIELD-v3-Upgrade-Instructions

Recently, SHIELD Currency (Hereby referred to as Shield or XSH) has forked from it’s previous Verge Codebase over to Bitcoin Core 0.16 which means lots of updating for individuals and exchanges. I will be solely focusing on how individual people get themselves up to date with the new 3.0 wallet.

Where to start?

To begin this process you must back up your XSH 2.3 “Wallet.dat” file. This contains all the information needed to backup the wallet in case something goes awry during the update process. DO NOT open the QT 2.3 wallet anymore to back it up. Instead we will back it up from the file explorer. This is to avoid opening the wallet.

This is the path to get to “wallet.dat” as well as the file you’re actually looking for

Once you follow that path and get to the file as shown on the bottom simply copy/paste it over to external media. An SD Card, a Flash Drive or whatever you choose keep your back ups offline as much as possible. When you have “wallet.dat” on your external media you have successfully backed up the wallet in case something goes wrong.

Even if you have prior backups it is recommended to back it up before the update for safety and precaution.

I also backed up my 10 private keys. This is unnecessary for the update but it is something you should already have backed up regardless. I can do a guide for that if needed.

Downloading the Update

Before you download the update make sure you have the program “7zip” as it is necessary for extraction. If you do not already have 7zip you can download it for free here: https://www.7-zip.org/download.html

The download for the 3.0 Wallet update is available on the Shield GitHub and has been posted by the official account. That can be found here: https://github.com/ShieldCoin/SHIELD/releases/tag/stable

This is the file we want to download and extract.

Save the “shield-win.7z” to wherever you want. For simplicity I put mine in a folder within my XSH wallet folder. Putting it where it will be extracted is just easy. However, unlike the Bootstrap and wallet.dat, which needs to be somewhere specific, you can save the wallet and update to wherever you want it.

This is where I locate my Wallets for crypto although anywhere will work.

Extraction, Wallet Preparation and Blockchain Bootstrap

Right click then follow this path for extraction

So you right click, and extract it with 7 zip as shown above. Boom. It’s really that simple. Once that’s done that is when you get this folder. This is where you will find the actual wallet finally.

File you get after extracting 7z file

Click into the “shield-win” folder and our wallet will be held within. Here’s a screenshot of the actual wallet file we will open when ready.

The file which contains the actual wallet

The end?

Well, not quite. Technically, yes. This is the bare minimum however. So first, let me explain the wallet file we backed up earlier.

This new SHIELD 3.0 wallet will still use the same folder in AppData. This means it will pick up all the old wallet’s information. This includes the “wallet.dat” file itself. After I downloaded the update and opened the app it immediately recognized my XSH wallet file and I did not have to import anything.

Does this mean you do not have to back up your wallet file? No, of course not. Always back up your wallet file before the update just in case you are not so lucky and something goes awry. However, for most of us, it will not actually come into play as it will be read just fine.

If this is not the case then the first thing I would do is go to AppData (See Screenshot 1) and check if the file is there. If there’s no “wallet.dat” then paste in your back up. This should take care of it. If not it can be imported from the wallet very likely however I am not sure of how since mine simply worked.

TLDR: Your wallet should be picked up automatically. If not try to paste in your back up to the AppData folder.

Bootstrap

If you open the wallet and let it straight up sync itself, as with any other wallet, it will take quite a while. Downloading the whole blockchain and syncing while also connecting to headers… It takes a while. Sometimes days.

Thankfully the Developer (NullFunction) has given us a bootstrap. A bootstrap is essentially a file that allows you to easily download all the blockchain data and saves a lot of time.

The bootstrap for 3.0 wallet is available here: https://github.com/ShieldCoin/SHIELD/releases/tag/bootstrap

This is the file you download to get t the bootstrap

After you download the above file we will have to extract it. It does not matter where you initially save the file but only where you extract it. On the GitHub they have the file path you take to get to the AppData. It is the same path shown in screenshot 1.

I will present a series of screenshots to walk you through the extraction and placement.

This will let us extract the folder to where we truly need it

This is the path you want to set for extraction

This new folder will be added to your AppData folder

Moved these files out to the base SHIELD folder — Not sure if it is necessary

So the blockchain should now be in your C drive and in the SHIELD AppData folder. This is the goal.

I am not sure if the last step is necessary but I know it works as it got my wallet up and running within a couple hours. I moved all the files from “blocks” and copied them out to the base SHIELD AppData folder since that is where the blockchain is always stored. I am not sure if you need to do that but I know it works. So try without first if you wish and just keeping them in their inner folders.

Finally…

Open up that QT file and…. Welcome to SHIELD 3.0

That cutie is Shieru the XSH mascot

This mish mash of advice and screenshots should hopefully give you enough resources to get through this update. More resources are available from the developer.

For a helpful community, to speak to the dev or for more guides on updating check out the SHIELD Discord: https://discord.gg/ztvDkD

I hope the guide was helpful! Let me know in the comments if there are any further questions. I will do my best.