Updated for FreeBSD 12.2
This guide describes how to build bitcoind, command-line utilities, and GUI on FreeBSD.
The following dependencies are required:
| Library | Purpose | Description |
|---|---|---|
| autoconf | Build | Automatically configure software source code |
| automake | Build | Generate makefile (requires autoconf) |
| libtool | Build | Shared library support |
| pkgconf | Build | Configure compiler and linker flags |
| git | Clone | Version control system |
| gmake | Compile | Generate executables |
| boost-libs | Utility | Library for threading, data structures, etc |
| libevent | Networking | OS independent asynchronous networking |
The following dependencies are optional:
| Library | Purpose | Description |
|---|---|---|
| db5 | Berkeley DB | Wallet storage (only needed when wallet enabled) |
| qt5 | GUI | GUI toolkit (only needed when GUI enabled) |
| libqrencode | QR codes in GUI | Generating QR codes (only needed when GUI enabled) |
| libzmq4 | ZMQ notification | Allows generating ZMQ notifications (requires ZMQ version >= 4.0.0) |
| sqlite3 | SQLite DB | Wallet storage (only needed when wallet enabled) |
| python3 | Testing | Python Interpreter (only needed when running the test suite) |
See dependencies.html for a complete overview.
Install the required dependencies the usual way you install software on FreeBSD - either with pkg or via the Ports collection. The example commands below use pkg which is usually run as root or via sudo. If you want to use sudo, and you haven't set it up: use this guide to setup sudo access on FreeBSD.
Now that git and all the required dependencies are installed, let's clone the Bitcoin Core repository to a directory. All build scripts and commands will run from this directory.
It is not necessary to build wallet functionality to run bitcoind or the GUI. To enable legacy wallets, you must install db5. To enable descriptor wallets, sqlite3 is required. Skip db5 if you intend to exclusively use descriptor wallets
db5 is required to enable support for legacy wallets. Skip if you don't intend to use legacy wallets
sqlite3 is required to enable support for descriptor wallets. Skip if you don't intend to use descriptor wallets.
Bitcoin Core includes a GUI built with the cross-platform Qt Framework. To compile the GUI, we need to install qt5. Skip if you don't intend to use the GUI.
The GUI can encode addresses in a QR Code. To build in QR support for the GUI, install libqrencode. Skip if not using the GUI or don't want QR code functionality.
There is an included test suite that is useful for testing code changes when developing. To run the test suite (recommended), you will need to have Python 3 installed:
There are many ways to configure Bitcoin Core, here are a few common examples:
This explicitly enables legacy wallet support and disables the GUI. If sqlite3 is installed, then descriptor wallet support will be built.
./autogen.sh
./configure --with-gui=no --with-incompatible-bdb \
BDB_LIBS="-ldb_cxx-5" \
BDB_CFLAGS="-I/usr/local/include/db5" \
MAKE=gmakeThis explicitly enables the GUI and disables legacy wallet support. If qt5 is not installed, this will throw an error. If sqlite3 is installed then descriptor wallet functionality will be built. If sqlite3 is not installed, then wallet functionality will be disabled.
Important: Use gmake (the non-GNU make will exit with an error).