Building on BSD Systems

Instructions for building Bitcoin Core on FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD

This guide describes how to build bitcoind, command-line utilities, and GUI on BSD systems.

FreeBSD

Updated for FreeBSD 14.3

Preparation

1. Install Required Dependencies

1. Install base dependencies

   Run the following as root to install the base dependencies:

   pkg install boost-libs cmake git libevent pkgconf
   
2. Install SQLite for wallet support

   SQLite is required for wallet functionality:

   pkg install sqlite3
   

   To build without wallet support, use -DENABLE_WALLET=OFF.

3. Install Cap'n Proto for IPC

   Cap’n Proto is needed for IPC functionality:

   pkg install capnproto
   

   Compile with -DENABLE_IPC=OFF if you do not need IPC functionality.

2. Clone Bitcoin Repository

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

3. Install Optional Dependencies

GUI Dependencies

1. Install Qt6

   Bitcoin Core includes a GUI built with Qt. To compile the GUI, install Qt and pass -DBUILD_GUI=ON:

   pkg install qt6-base qt6-tools
   
2. Install libqrencode (optional)

   The GUI can encode addresses in QR codes:

   pkg install libqrencode
   

   Otherwise, use -DWITH_QRENCODE=OFF to disable this feature.

ZeroMQ Notifications

Bitcoin Core can provide notifications via ZeroMQ:

pkg install libzmq4

Test Suite Dependencies

To run the test suite (recommended), install Python 3:

pkg install python3 databases/py-sqlite3 net/py-pyzmq

Building Bitcoin Core

1. Configuration

Wallet and GUI

cmake -B build -DBUILD_GUI=ON

2. Compile

cmake --build build     # Append "-j N" for N parallel jobs
ctest --test-dir build  # Append "-j N" for N parallel tests

OpenBSD

Updated for OpenBSD 7.8

Preparation

1. Install Required Dependencies

1. Install base dependencies

   Run the following as root:

   pkg_add git cmake boost libevent
   
2. Install SQLite for wallet support

   pkg_add sqlite3
   

   To build without wallet support, use -DENABLE_WALLET=OFF.

3. Install Cap'n Proto for IPC

   pkg_add capnproto
   

   Compile with -DENABLE_IPC=OFF if you do not need IPC functionality.

2. Clone Bitcoin Repository

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

3. Install Optional Dependencies

GUI Dependencies

1. Install Qt6

   pkg_add qt6-qtbase qt6-qttools
   
2. Install libqrencode (optional)

   pkg_add libqrencode
   

   Otherwise, use -DWITH_QRENCODE=OFF to disable QR code support.

ZeroMQ Notifications

pkg_add zeromq

Test Suite Dependencies

pkg_add python py3-zmq  # Select the newest version if necessary

Building Bitcoin Core

1. Configuration

Wallet and GUI

cmake -B build -DBUILD_GUI=ON

2. Compile

cmake --build build     # Append "-j N" for N parallel jobs
ctest --test-dir build  # Append "-j N" for N parallel tests

Resource Limits

The standard ulimit restrictions in OpenBSD are very strict and may not be enough to compile some .cpp files in the project.

If the build runs into out-of-memory errors:

Temporary Fix (Current Shell)

If your user is in the staff group, you can raise the limit:

ulimit -d 3000000

This change will only affect the current shell and processes spawned by it.

Permanent Fix (System-Wide)

To make the change system-wide:

1. Edit /etc/login.conf
2. Change datasize-cur and datasize-max
3. Reboot the system

NetBSD

Updated for NetBSD 10.1

Preparation

1. Install Required Dependencies

1. Install base dependencies

   Install dependencies using pkgin (or your preferred package manager):

   pkgin install git cmake pkg-config boost libevent
   
2. Upgrade GCC

   NetBSD currently ships with an older version of gcc than is needed to build. You should upgrade your gcc:

   pkgin install gcc12
   

   You’ll need to pass the new compiler to CMake during configuration (see Step 5 below).

3. Install SQLite for wallet support

   pkgin install sqlite3
   

   To build without wallet support, use -DENABLE_WALLET=OFF.

4. Install Cap'n Proto for IPC

   pkgin install capnproto
   

   Compile with -DENABLE_IPC=OFF if you do not need IPC functionality.

2. Clone Bitcoin Repository

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

3. Install Optional Dependencies

GUI Dependencies

1. Install Qt6

   pkgin install qt6-qtbase qt6-qttools
   
2. Install libqrencode (optional)

   pkgin install qrencode
   

   Otherwise, use -DWITH_QRENCODE=OFF to disable QR code support.

ZeroMQ Notifications

pkgin install zeromq

Test Suite Dependencies

pkgin install python313 py313-zmq

Building Bitcoin Core

1. Configuration

You must specify the GCC 12 compiler when configuring:

Disable wallet and GUI

cmake -B build \
  -DENABLE_WALLET=OFF \
  -DBUILD_GUI=OFF \
  -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER="/usr/pkg/gcc12/bin/gcc" \
  -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER="/usr/pkg/gcc12/bin/g++"

2. Compile

cmake --build build     # Append "-j N" for N parallel jobs
ctest --test-dir build  # Append "-j N" for N parallel tests

See Also

Dependencies

Complete overview of all build dependencies

Linux/Unix Build

Building on Linux and Unix systems