Mac OS X Build Instructions and Notes

The commands in this guide should be executed in a Terminal application. The built-in one is located in /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app.

Preparation

Install the OS X command line tools:

xcode-select --install

When the popup appears, click Install.

Then install Homebrew.

Dependencies

brew install automake berkeley-db4 libtool boost miniupnpc openssl pkg-config protobuf python3 qt libevent

See dependencies.md for a complete overview.

If you want to build the disk image with make deploy (.dmg / optional), you need RSVG

brew install librsvg

NOTE: Building with Qt4 is still supported, however, could result in a broken UI. Building with Qt5 is recommended.

Berkeley DB

It is recommended to use Berkeley DB 4.8. If you have to build it yourself, you can use the installation script included in contrib/ like so

./contrib/install_db4.sh .

from the root of the repository.

Note: You only need Berkeley DB if the wallet is enabled (see the section Disable-Wallet mode below).

Build Bitcoin Core

Clone the bitcoin source code and cd into bitcoin

 git clone https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin
 cd bitcoin

Build bitcoin-core:

Configure and build the headless bitcoin binaries as well as the GUI (if Qt is found).

You can disable the GUI build by passing --without-gui to configure.
```
./autogen.sh
./configure
make
```
It is recommended to build and run the unit tests:
```
make check
```
You can also create a .dmg that contains the .app bundle (optional):
```
make deploy
```

Running

Bitcoin Core is now available at ./src/bitcoind

Before running, it's recommended you create an RPC configuration file.

echo -e "rpcuser=bitcoinrpc\nrpcpassword=$(xxd -l 16 -p /dev/urandom)" > "/Users/${USER}/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/bitcoin.conf"

chmod 600 "/Users/${USER}/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/bitcoin.conf"

The first time you run bitcoind, it will start downloading the blockchain. This process could take several hours.

You can monitor the download process by looking at the debug.log file:

tail -f $HOME/Library/Application\ Support/Bitcoin/debug.log

Other commands:

./src/bitcoind -daemon # Starts the bitcoin daemon.
./src/bitcoin-cli --help # Outputs a list of command-line options.
./src/bitcoin-cli help # Outputs a list of RPC commands when the daemon is running.

Using Qt Creator as IDE

You can use Qt Creator as an IDE, for bitcoin development. Download and install the community edition of Qt Creator. Uncheck everything except Qt Creator during the installation process.

Make sure you installed everything through Homebrew mentioned above
Do a proper ./configure --enable-debug
In Qt Creator do "New Project" -> Import Project -> Import Existing Project
Enter "bitcoin-qt" as project name, enter src/qt as location
Leave the file selection as it is
Confirm the "summary page"
In the "Projects" tab select "Manage Kits..."
Select the default "Desktop" kit and select "Clang (x86 64bit in /usr/bin)" as compiler
Select LLDB as debugger (you might need to set the path to your installation)
Start debugging with Qt Creator

Notes

Tested on OS X 10.8 through 10.13 on 64-bit Intel processors only.
Building with downloaded Qt binaries is not officially supported. See the notes in #7714

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