Building headless Bitcoin and Bitcoin-qt on Windows

[old c coder]

is it possible to expand your guide to include building the qt client?

Bitcoin-qt build instrunctions added

Hello nitrogenetics

Finally, after two months of studying and testing, on and off in spare moments, I have found what was keeping me from compiling bitcoin-qt on windows, for windows!

What I discovered was, was that in step 4.3 of your wonderful guide,
qmake "USE_UPNP=-" bitcoin-qt.pro
creates the Makefile.Release for the next step, and it makes an (at least one) error in doing it! What I found was that when the next step is run
mingw32-make -f Makefile.Release
the linker loader part (looking at Makefile.Release) at the end of the process, attempts to link
QtGui4  and QtCore4, which are .dll's in the bin directory, not the lib directory!

So I added a piece to the LIBS directive at line 18 of Makefile.Release:
it was
LIBS        =      -L"c:\Qt\4.8.4\lib" -lmingwthrd -lmingw32 -lqtmain build\bitcoin-qt_res.o D:/BTCversions/version_0_8_1/src/src/leveldb/libleveldb.a D:/BTCversions/version_0_8_1/src/src/leveldb/libmemenv.a -lshlwapi -LC:\boost_1_53_0\stage\lib -Lc:/db-4.8.30.NC/build_unix -Lc:/openssl-1.0.1e -lssl -lcrypto -ldb_cxx -lws2_32 -lshlwapi -lmswsock -lole32 -loleaut32 -luuid -lgdi32 -lboost_system-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lboost_filesystem-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lboost_program_options-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lboost_thread-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lboost_chrono-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lQtGui4 -lQtCore4

and it becomes
LIBS        =        -L"c:\Qt\4.8.4\bin" -L"c:\Qt\4.8.4\lib" -lmingwthrd -lmingw32 -lqtmain build\bitcoin-qt_res.o D:/BTCversions/version_0_8_1/src/src/leveldb/libleveldb.a D:/BTCversions/version_0_8_1/src/src/leveldb/libmemenv.a -lshlwapi -LC:\boost_1_53_0\stage\lib -Lc:/db-4.8.30.NC/build_unix -Lc:/openssl-1.0.1e -lssl -lcrypto -ldb_cxx -lws2_32 -lshlwapi -lmswsock -lole32 -loleaut32 -luuid -lgdi32 -lboost_system-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lboost_filesystem-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lboost_program_options-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lboost_thread-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lboost_chrono-mgw46-mt-sd-1_53 -lQtGui4 -lQtCore4

Then it links, and bitcoin-qt.exe works so far, in the various tests I have given it.

Interestingly, the messages referred to that are emitted when qmake creates Makefile.Release from bitcoin-qt.pro suggest that it is turning uPnP back on and off and on, even with the flag saying no, off.  I think the QtGui4 & QtCore dlls are that uPnp part which somehow crept into the link from bitcoin-qt.pro

Perhaps the .pro file can be "fixed" but I think the problem may be more in the "less than robust" parser in qmake?

I am now off to giving the wallet.dat its own path, like bitcoin.conf can have. The only tricky code is at startup in AppInit2(), step 5, where the "Verifying wallet integrity..." code is, covering -salvagewallet and bitdb.Verify(...)

But I don't think it is too difficult.

I think there is a boatload of good programmers out there that are on the windows platform, that can improve the UI of bitcoin-qt and the internals too, and make it so tempting that many more (non technical) people will jump on the Bitcoin bandwagon...

All windows VC6, VC++Express 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012 (all free IDE BTW) users, let's contribute.

Getting off soapbox now

Ron

If this is of any help, small fragments may be donated to my profile btc $, 1DPvP6WoZzaNQ9Nxzd64hjYad1kyQzTTbx, thereby rounding up your wallet 

[1715461264]

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[wumpus]

All windows VC6, VC++Express 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012 (all free IDE BTW) users, let's contribute.

FYI building with VC6 is not possible. It does not support modern versions of boost (compiler lacks some perfectly standard C++ syntax) and has buggy C++ standard library. What do you expect of a 15+ year old compiler...

Newer MSVC should work with the headless version, but getting Qt to work with Express versions is very tricky, as it doesn't support add-ins you need custom build defines and steps for moc/qrc/etc. With the retail version you can install https://qt-project.org/wiki/QtVSAddin and have those handled automatically.

[nitrogenetics]

I did everything exactly as the guide said, it did compile... however the qt client just run for a few seconds (without any interface shown) and disappear silently from the process list. Any idea what went wrong?

I confirm bitcoin-qt crashes when compiled with gcc 4.7.2 (bitcoind seems to be working). Which version did you compile with?

[grue]

All windows VC6, VC++Express 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012 (all free IDE BTW) users, let's contribute.

FYI building with VC6 is not possible. It does not support modern versions of boost (compiler lacks some perfectly standard C++ syntax) and has buggy C++ standard library. What do you expect of a 15+ year old compiler...

Newer MSVC should work with the headless version, but getting Qt to work with Express versions is very tricky, as it doesn't support add-ins you need custom build defines and steps for moc/qrc/etc. With the retail version you can install https://qt-project.org/wiki/QtVSAddin and have those handled automatically.

how exactly do you get bitcoind working with visual studio 2012?

[old c coder]

is it possible to expand your guide to include building the qt client?

Bitcoin-qt build instrunctions added

Hello nitrogenetics

Finally, after two months of studying and testing, on and off in spare moments, I have found what was keeping me from compiling bitcoin-qt on windows, for windows!
...
So I added a piece to the LIBS directive at line 18 of Makefile.Release:
it was
LIBS        =      -L"c:\Qt\4.8.4\lib" -lmingwthrd -lmingw32 -lqtmain ...

and it becomes
LIBS        =        -L"c:\Qt\4.8.4\bin" -L"c:\Qt\4.8.4\lib" -lmingwthrd -lmingw32 -lqtmain ...

Then it links, and bitcoin-qt.exe works so far, in the various tests I have given it.
...
I think there is a boatload of good programmers out there that are on the windows platform, that can improve the UI of bitcoin-qt and the internals too, and make it so tempting that many more (non technical) people will jump on the Bitcoin bandwagon...

All windows VC6, VC++Express 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012 (all free IDE BTW) users, let's contribute.

Getting off soapbox now

Ron

If this is of any help, small fragments may be donated to my profile btc $, 1DPvP6WoZzaNQ9Nxzd64hjYad1kyQzTTbx, thereby rounding up your wallet 

I don't think people reading this understood me? When I said:
"All windows VC6, VC++Express 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012 (all free IDE BTW) users, let's contribute."

What I was implying is that there are IDE's in windows, that don't cost big bucks! I for one, having seen microsoft's business practices since their 8bit MSDOS days, am somewhat loathe to spend money on an IDE of theirs! I never said I compiled the bitcoind/qt 0.8.1 code with any version of MSC++. I only use it as a free tool.

And one can use VC6 to just gang edit, refactor, etc. the bitcoind & bitcoin-qt projects and compile them as above with command lines:
mingw32-make -f makefile.mingw
and
mingw32-make -f Makefile.Release

One could even create a VC or VS to do it for you. It may even be able to catch the warnings and errors and throw you to those lines in the editor. The only thing it couldn't do is gdb, and it may even be able to do that, I don't know? One can tailor the editor to one's pleasure, Brief in my case. One can use other products (in windows), I believe, like notepad++, etc.

I say this because I used to one keystroke compile (command line) from inside of Brief (when Underware owned it) back in the 1980s and it had no trouble with over 80 sources files, about 2 MB of source, etc. etc. In the 1990s I did the same thing targeting a Fujitsu handheld, wireless, keyboard-less (yes w/ handwriting recognition) application.

So what do all the Linux users develop bitcoind/qt with? Is it Eclipse, Qt Creator, KDevelop, MonoDevelop, CodeLite, ...?

BTW, I downloaded the only creator for windows that I saw, QT 5.0.2 Do people run that QT, compiling bitcoin-qt with the QT 4.8.4 libraries and using mingw32 4.6.2?

I just use VC6 and VC++Express2005, so far, to hold the project, edit, refactor, test, etc. But do the command line compile from another window very easily. I did do some command line gdb (with a gcc of -O0) on bitcoind and it was not bad at all!

It seems that QT Creator does "strain" my 2Ghz, 3GB AMD Athlon XP system a little, and VS is a much lighter load. But then I am wearing many hats at all times:)

I hope this makes things clearer.

Ron

[Storan]

thanks, I'll play with that, I want to get gitian builder setup in my VMbox but I'm not sure how to install it from the source (I assume you compile, but as you can see I'm learning about compiling at the moment making it hard for me to install gitian)

gitian is pretty easy. it sets up the vm, installs all the packages needed for compilation, and compiles it. It's all done inside a vm with scripts (included with bitcoin), so it's actually easier than compiling using your own tools.

agreed, my issue is more getting gitian setup, the link I find is source code from github but what to do with it after I download it I'm kind of at a loss

1. open up terminal in ubuntu
2. sudo apt-get install git apache2 apt-cacher-ng python-vm-builder ruby qemu-kvm
3. git clone https://github.com/devrandom/gitian-builder.git
4. cd gitian-builder
5. bin/make-base-vm
6. bin/make-base-vm --arch i386
7. follow the instructions in the script i linked earlier.

after step 5:

Code:

alexander@vurtual-ubuntu-x64:~/Downloads/gitian-builder$ bin/make-base-vm
2013-06-07 04:46:31,692 INFO    : Calling hook: preflight_check
2013-06-07 04:46:31,695 INFO    : Calling hook: set_defaults
2013-06-07 04:46:31,695 INFO    : Calling hook: bootstrap

infinite waiting.
press Ctrl+c, see next:

Code:

^CTraceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/vmbuilder", line 24, in <module>
    cli.main()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/VMBuilder/contrib/cli.py", line 218, in main
    distro.build_chroot()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/VMBuilder/distro.py", line 83, in build_chroot
    self.call_hooks('bootstrap')
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/VMBuilder/distro.py", line 67, in call_hooks
    call_hooks(self, *args, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/VMBuilder/util.py", line 165, in call_hooks
    getattr(context, func, log_no_such_method)(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/VMBuilder/plugins/ubuntu/distro.py", line 136, in bootstrap
    self.suite.debootstrap()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/VMBuilder/plugins/ubuntu/dapper.py", line 269, in debootstrap
    run_cmd(*cmd, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/VMBuilder/util.py", line 113, in run_cmd
    fds = select.select([x.file for x in [mystdout, mystderr] if not x.closed], [], [])[0]
KeyboardInterrupt

how to step 6,7?

[grue]

after step 5:

Code:

alexander@vurtual-ubuntu-x64:~/Downloads/gitian-builder$ bin/make-base-vm
2013-06-07 04:46:31,692 INFO    : Calling hook: preflight_check
2013-06-07 04:46:31,695 INFO    : Calling hook: set_defaults
2013-06-07 04:46:31,695 INFO    : Calling hook: bootstrap

infinite waiting.
press Ctrl+c, see next:

Code:

^CTraceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/vmbuilder", line 24, in <module>
    cli.main()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/VMBuilder/contrib/cli.py", line 218, in main
    distro.build_chroot()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/VMBuilder/distro.py", line 83, in build_chroot
    self.call_hooks('bootstrap')
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/VMBuilder/distro.py", line 67, in call_hooks
    call_hooks(self, *args, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/VMBuilder/util.py", line 165, in call_hooks
    getattr(context, func, log_no_such_method)(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/VMBuilder/plugins/ubuntu/distro.py", line 136, in bootstrap
    self.suite.debootstrap()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/VMBuilder/plugins/ubuntu/dapper.py", line 269, in debootstrap
    run_cmd(*cmd, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/VMBuilder/util.py", line 113, in run_cmd
    fds = select.select([x.file for x in [mystdout, mystderr] if not x.closed], [], [])[0]
KeyboardInterrupt

how to step 6,7?

wait longer. it takes more than 30 minutes to set up both VM.

[Storan]

wait longer. it takes more than 30 minutes to set up both VM.

tnx, they installed

but make -f makefile.unix whatever compile bitcoind for unix 

make -f makefile.mingw terminate witch

Code:

g++: oшибкa: unrecognized command line option «-mthreads»
make: *** [bitcoind.exe] Oшибкa 1

(Oшибкa == error)

May be before compile need remove folder bitcoin-master in specific subfolder gitian-builder?

[r3wt]

i made it all the way to installing boost. i get the error

Failed to build Boost.Build engine

Please consult bootstrap.log for more details

when i open the log files there is no mention of any errors it just says

###
### Using 'msvc' toolset.
###

C:\deps\boost_1_53_0\tools\build\v2\engine>if exist bootstrap rd /S /Q bootstrap

C:\deps\boost_1_53_0\tools\build\v2\engine>md bootstrap

C:\deps\boost_1_53_0\tools\build\v2\engine>cl /nologo /GZ /Zi /MLd /Fobootstrap/ /Fdbootstrap/ -DNT -DYYDEBUG kernel32.lib advapi32.lib user32.lib /Febootstrap\jam0  command.c compile.c constants.c debug.c execnt.c filent.c function.c glob.c hash.c hdrmacro.c headers.c jam.c jambase.c jamgram.c lists.c make.c make1.c object.c option.c output.c parse.c pathunix.c regexp.c rules.c scan.c search.c subst.c timestamp.c variable.c modules.c strings.c filesys.c builtins.c md5.c pwd.c class.c w32_getreg.c native.c modules/set.c modules/path.c modules/regex.c modules/property-set.c modules/sequence.c modules/order.c

Alternatively i tried building it in the minGW shell but that fails too with the folowing errors in the log file:

fatal error: sys/wait.h: No such file or directory
compilation terminated.
execunix.c:17:26: fatal error: sys/resource.h: No such file or directory
compilation terminated.
fileunix.c:98:17: fatal error: ar.h: No such file or directory
compilation terminated.

can anyone help me with this problem? i need to build boost to compile a project i've been working on

[r3wt]

Edit: I got the path problem fixed. now i still get this error when installing boost:

Building Boost.Engine

'cl' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batchfile.

Failed to build Boost.Build engine.

EDIT: I figured it out. i missed the mingw command >< Doh! keep it simple stupid!

[Amitabh S]

This is still too complicated for noobs like me. I'd really like to have an option where I download one file.

[bandjhughes]

 

I can't even get past step 2.1.   When entering the ./config command I get this error in MinGW32

$ ./config
Operating system: i686-whatever-mingw
Can't locate strict.pm in @INC (@INC contains: /usr/lib/per15/5.8/msys /usr/lib/per15/5.8
/usr/lib/pper15/site_perl/5.8/msy /usr/lib/per15/vender_perl/5.8 ... at ./Configure line 9.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at ./Configure line 9.

... (basically the error message above repeats a second time) ...

This system (mingw) is not supported.  See file INSTALL for details.

I'm a total noob with this code (although I do code).  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I did look at the INSTALL file as suggested in the error message, but I still couldn't figure out what is wrong.  I loaded mingw, pearl, set the path, opened minGW and unpacked the files exactly as prescribed, but it bombs at the configure step.

Thanks

[wiggi]

I'm a total noob with this code (although I do code).  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I did look at the INSTALL file as suggested in the error message, but I still couldn't figure out what is wrong.  I loaded mingw, pearl, set the path, opened minGW and unpacked the files exactly as prescribed, but it bombs at the configure step.

Try reinstalling Mingw/Msys. (Online installer can randomly skip a component or two. The only way to notice is to inspect its log file.)

[wsmith366]

So, I'm almost there, but not quite.

I got the bitcoin-qt.exe file in the release folder, like I'm supposed to.  However, when I attempted to run it, I got a "qtcore4.dll" is missing error message.  Easy enough...I downloaded qtcore4.dll, put it in the system 32 folder, and ran a command line with " regsvr32 qtcore4.dll ".  I then got an error message that the .dll might not be compatible with my version of windows.  I tried the bitcoin .exe again anyway, and I got a different error message.  This time I got "The procedure entry point _Z17qt_message_output9QtMsgTypePKc could not be located in the dynamic link library QtCore4.dll".

Can anyone help me out here? I'm using 64-bit windows 7, by the way.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.  Honestly I'm amazed I got this far on my own.

[old c coder]

So, I'm almost there, but not quite.

I got the bitcoin-qt.exe file in the release folder, like I'm supposed to.  However, when I attempted to run it, I got a "qtcore4.dll" is missing error message.  Easy enough...I downloaded qtcore4.dll, put it in the system 32 folder, and ran a command line with " regsvr32 qtcore4.dll ".  I then got an error message that the .dll might not be compatible with my version of windows.  I tried the bitcoin .exe again anyway, and I got a different error message.  This time I got "The procedure entry point _Z17qt_message_output9QtMsgTypePKc could not be located in the dynamic link library QtCore4.dll".

Can anyone help me out here? I'm using 64-bit windows 7, by the way.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.  Honestly I'm amazed I got this far on my own.

Hello ?

See message #41 (above) in this thread. Been there done that, fixed. Basically one corrects the Makefile.Release and Makefile.Debug that bitcoin-qt.pro produce so that those files are visible at link time.

Ron

[bandjhughes]

I'm a total noob with this code (although I do code).  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I did look at the INSTALL file as suggested in the error message, but I still couldn't figure out what is wrong.  I loaded mingw, pearl, set the path, opened minGW and unpacked the files exactly as prescribed, but it bombs at the configure step.

Try reinstalling Mingw/Msys. (Online installer can randomly skip a component or two. The only way to notice is to inspect its log file.)

Thanks, that must have been it.  I uninstalled everything and started over.  However now on step 2.2 where the instructions say "after configuring make sure to edit your build_unix/db.h by replacing line 113:" I have another problem.  I don't have a db.h file in the build_unix folder.  I have several db.h files, but they're all in other folders:  \build_vxwork, \build_wince, \build_windows, \build_brew, and \build_s60.  Is there supposed to be a db.h in the build_unix folder?  I notice the only db.h file with an apparently matching line 113 is the one in the \build_brew folder, but it already has the suggested change implemented.  Do I need to copy and paste the db files from \build_brew to \build_unix?

Thanks again,

[grue]

This is still too complicated for noobs like me. I'd really like to have an option where I download one file.

lol not possible.

[wsmith366]

So, I'm almost there, but not quite.

I got the bitcoin-qt.exe file in the release folder, like I'm supposed to.  However, when I attempted to run it, I got a "qtcore4.dll" is missing error message.  Easy enough...I downloaded qtcore4.dll, put it in the system 32 folder, and ran a command line with " regsvr32 qtcore4.dll ".  I then got an error message that the .dll might not be compatible with my version of windows.  I tried the bitcoin .exe again anyway, and I got a different error message.  This time I got "The procedure entry point _Z17qt_message_output9QtMsgTypePKc could not be located in the dynamic link library QtCore4.dll".

Can anyone help me out here? I'm using 64-bit windows 7, by the way.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.  Honestly I'm amazed I got this far on my own.

Hello ?

See message #41 (above) in this thread. Been there done that, fixed. Basically one corrects the Makefile.Release and Makefile.Debug that bitcoin-qt.pro produce so that those files are visible at link time.

Ron

Hello Ron.  Thanks for the reply.

Sorry for the trouble.  I skimmed your post the other day while looking over this thread, I guess I missed the line about qtcore4, so I thought it didn't relate to my problem.

I edited the makefile.debug and .release files like your post instructed, and rebuilt the .exe, unfortunately it doesn't seem to have solved my problem.  I'm pretty stumped since everything about this error has said the same thing you have, that it's a simple directory error.  My qt/4.8.4/bin directory has qtcore4 sitting right there, and my makefile points to it now, so I don't understand why it's still giving me the entry point error.  I even temporarily removed qtcore4 from the bin directory just to see if it would have any effect, and it didn't.  Could the bitcoin program still be looking for qtcore4 in the wrong place, somehow?

[old c coder]

So, I'm almost there, but not quite.

I got the bitcoin-qt.exe file in the release folder, like I'm supposed to.  However, when I attempted to run it, I got a "qtcore4.dll" is missing error message.  Easy enough...I downloaded qtcore4.dll, put it in the system 32 folder, and ran a command line with " regsvr32 qtcore4.dll ".  I then got an error message that the .dll might not be compatible with my version of windows.  I tried the bitcoin .exe again anyway, and I got a different error message.  This time I got "The procedure entry point _Z17qt_message_output9QtMsgTypePKc could not be located in the dynamic link library QtCore4.dll".

Can anyone help me out here? I'm using 64-bit windows 7, by the way.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.  Honestly I'm amazed I got this far on my own.

Hello ?

See message #41 (above) in this thread. Been there done that, fixed. Basically one corrects the Makefile.Release and Makefile.Debug that bitcoin-qt.pro produce so that those files are visible at link time.

Ron

Hello Ron.  Thanks for the reply.

Sorry for the trouble.  I skimmed your post the other day while looking over this thread, I guess I missed the line about qtcore4, so I thought it didn't relate to my problem.

I edited the makefile.debug and .release files like your post instructed, and rebuilt the .exe, unfortunately it doesn't seem to have solved my problem.  I'm pretty stumped since everything about this error has said the same thing you have, that it's a simple directory error.  My qt/4.8.4/bin directory has qtcore4 sitting right there, and my makefile points to it now, so I don't understand why it's still giving me the entry point error.  I even temporarily removed qtcore4 from the bin directory just to see if it would have any effect, and it didn't.  Could the bitcoin program still be looking for qtcore4 in the wrong place, somehow?

Hello ?

Since you are redoing the linking process, with more libraries (dlls\'s, etc.) available, you should delete the bitcoin-qt.exe at least, to force it to recreate it. And not knowing how makefile.release nor makefile.debug really work, I would delete all the build/*.o object files to really make it do it from the top, as it were.

Did you notice that the makefile.release & .debug that bitcoin-qt.pro produces creates lines that are longer than 2K (2048) characters! Can you editor handle that! If not you need to break up those lines with the usual \
type stuff.

Have you successfully created a bitcoind.exe release and debug using nitrogenetics info, first? If not, you need to do that in order to have all the libraries and have them in view for makefile.release or .debug

Step 3.1 for the levelDB code is important, and step 4.2, creating all the boost, bdb & openssl include and library paths for the bitcoin-qt creation process.

Hope this helps...

Ron

[nitrogenetics]

Instructions updated:
-Make sure to use prepackaged repository catalogues during mingw installation
-Boost 1.54.0
-Qt 4.8.5