bitcoin/doc/build-osx.md

Mac OS X Build Instructions and Notes

This guide will show you how to build bitcoind(headless client) for OSX.

Notes

• Tested on OS X 10.6 through 10.9 on 64-bit Intel processors only. Older OSX releases or 32-bit processors are no longer supported.

• All of the commands should be executed in a Terminal application. The built-in one is located in /Applications/Utilities.

Preparation

You need to install XCode with all the options checked so that the compiler and everything is available in /usr not just /Developer. XCode should be available on your OS X installation media, but if not, you can get the current version from https://developer.apple.com/xcode/. If you install Xcode 4.3 or later, you'll need to install its command line tools. This can be done in Xcode > Preferences > Downloads > Components and generally must be re-done or updated every time Xcode is updated.

There's an assumption that you already have git installed, as well. If not, it's the path of least resistance to install Github for Mac (OS X 10.7+) or Git for OS X. It is also available via Homebrew or MacPorts.

You will also need to install Homebrew or MacPorts in order to install library dependencies. It's largely a religious decision which to choose, but, as of December 2012, MacPorts is a little easier because you can just install the dependencies immediately - no other work required. If you're unsure, read the instructions through first in order to assess what you want to do. Homebrew is a little more popular among those newer to OS X.

The installation of the actual dependencies is covered in the Instructions sections below.

Instructions: MacPorts

Install dependencies

Installing the dependencies using MacPorts is very straightforward.

sudo port install boost db48@+no_java openssl miniupnpc autoconf pkgconfig automake

Optional: install Qt4

sudo port install qt4-mac qrencode protobuf-cpp

Building bitcoind

1. Clone the github tree to get the source code and go into the directory.

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

2. Build bitcoind (and Bitcoin-Qt, if configured):

   ./autogen.sh
   ./configure
   make
   

3. It is a good idea to build and run the unit tests, too:

   make check
   

Instructions: Homebrew

Install dependencies using Homebrew

    brew install autoconf automake berkeley-db4 boost miniupnpc openssl pkg-config protobuf qt

Note: After you have installed the dependencies, you should check that the Homebrew installed version of OpenSSL is the one available for compilation. You can check this by typing

    openssl version

into Terminal. You should see OpenSSL 1.0.1f 6 Jan 2014.

If not, you can ensure that the Homebrew OpenSSL is correctly linked by running

    brew link openssl --force

Rerunning "openssl version" should now return the correct version.

Building bitcoind

1. Clone the github tree to get the source code and go into the directory.

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

2. Build bitcoind:

   ./autogen.sh
   ./configure
   make
   

3. It is a good idea to build and run the unit tests, too:

   make check
   

Creating a release build

You can ignore this section if you are building bitcoind for your own use.

bitcoind/bitcoin-cli binaries are not included in the Bitcoin-Qt.app bundle.

If you are building bitcoind or Bitcoin-Qt for others, your build machine should be set up as follows for maximum compatibility:

All dependencies should be compiled with these flags:

-mmacosx-version-min=10.6 -arch x86_64 -isysroot $(xcode-select --print-path)/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.6.sdk

For MacPorts, that means editing your macports.conf and setting macosx_deployment_target and build_arch:

macosx_deployment_target=10.6
build_arch=x86_64

... and then uninstalling and re-installing, or simply rebuilding, all ports.

As of December 2012, the boost port does not obey macosx_deployment_target. Download http://gavinandresen-bitcoin.s3.amazonaws.com/boost_macports_fix.zip for a fix.

Once dependencies are compiled, see release-process.md for how the Bitcoin-Qt.app bundle is packaged and signed to create the .dmg disk image that is distributed.

Running

It's now available at ./bitcoind, provided that you are still in the src directory. We have to first create the RPC configuration file, though.

Run ./bitcoind to get the filename where it should be put, or just try these commands:

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"

When next you run it, it will start downloading the blockchain, but it won't output anything while it's doing this. This process may take several hours; you can monitor its process by looking at the debug.log file, like this:

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

Other commands:

./bitcoind -daemon # to start the bitcoin daemon.
./bitcoin-cli --help  # for a list of command-line options.
./bitcoin-cli help    # When the daemon is running, to get a list of RPC commands