Help with running Bitcoin Node on Ubuntu

[KaiTheRedFox]

Hello

Fairly new to Bitcoin but I am a semi advanced computer user.

I wanted to support the network by running a node on my Ubuntu Machine. The machines hardware is a bit older so I am running Ubuntu V. 12.04 LTS. I am new to Linux but catching on to it. The problem I'm running into is, launching Bitcoin. I followed the instruction the official bitcoin site, everything in the terminal went ok until i tried to run the application from the Dash. I never was able to get the application to run. Clicking on it does nothing. Since I'm new to Ubuntu I know I'm probably missing something or have overlooked something but I have no idea how to fix it.  Is my Ubuntu version to old?

Any pointers?

Thanks

[Welsh]

List the commands that you put into the terminal. I know we could just look at Bitcoin.org to see the instructions you followed, but I think it's better if we get you to list it as you might realize your mistake. (may of missed something)

Also, you specifically say you can't launch from Dash, but have you tried launching it via the terminal? Also, are there any errors or does it simply not launch?

[KaiTheRedFox]

List the commands that you put into the terminal. I know we could just look at Bitcoin.org to see the instructions you followed, but I think it's better if we get you to list it as you might realize your mistake. (may of missed something)

Also, you specifically say you can't launch from Dash, but have you tried launching it via the terminal? Also, are there any errors or does it simply not launch?

I have restarted my machine to see if that would solve anything. So I dont have the cli text. I know I double checked my input but I did exactly this:



~$ sudo apt-add-repository ppa:bitcoin/bitcoin
~$ sudo apt-get update
~$ sudo apt-get install bitcoin-qt

after that was done I followed the GUI instructions and when it said to use the Dash menu to run it, nothing ever happened or happens thereafter. No error, no program window...nothing.

i then tried to run it in terminal and CORRECT me if im wrong i try to


~$ sudo apt-get install bitcoind
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
bitcoind is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 2 not upgraded.

~$ bitcoind
The program 'bitcoind' is currently not installed.  You can install it by typing:
sudo apt-get install bitcoind

Im not to sure how to properly run programs from terminal, I researched some articles and it seems pretty straight forward.

typing in the program name in terminal should launch it, right?

I know im doing something wrong. It doenst help that I dont know how to start over from the beginning either.

[Welsh]

I'm going to ignore running it from the Dash for the time being as I'm much more familiar with the terminal. Your commands seem fine, and in theory it should run through the Dash. However, it seems you are looking to install the GUI rather than the daemon. So in the terminal to launch the GUI you would need to:

~$ bitcoin-qt

Let us know what it returns if it doesn't launch it right away. If it comes back as it hasn't been installed then we'll take a closer look at the installation.

[KaiTheRedFox]

I'm going to ignore running it from the Dash for the time being as I'm much more familiar with the terminal. Your commands seem fine, and in theory it should run through the Dash. However, it seems you are looking to install the GUI rather than the daemon. So in the terminal to launch the GUI you would need to:

~$ bitcoin-qt

Let us know what it returns if it doesn't launch it right away. If it comes back as it hasn't been installed then we'll take a closer look at the installation.

I have tried this just now and this happened

~$ bitcoin-qt
bitcoin-qt: command not found

[Welsh]

Okay, so when you are going into the Dash I'm assuming it's showing the logo of Bitcoin as you've already tried launching it. This tells me it's installed. This might be a simple fix, but I've not got a client running on this computer to test as I go and trying to do it from memory plus my version is running on a Linux machine but, not Ubuntu. Although the process should be somewhat similar. I guess you could try locating the directory via: /home/<username>/.bitcoin/

if that exists take a look at what's inside.

[KaiTheRedFox]

Okay, so when you are going into the Dash I'm assuming it's showing the logo of Bitcoin as you've already tried launching it. This tells me it's installed. This might be a simple fix, but I've not got a client running on this computer to test as I go and trying to do it from memory plus my version is running on a Linux machine but, not Ubuntu. Although the process should be somewhat similar. I guess you could try locating the directory via: /home/<username>/.bitcoin/

if that exists take a look at what's inside.

Nothing is there. if the path is correct i went to Home>Username>and gives me the basic folders for the user. no bitcoin. I did a search to see if there is anything and in a file system search there are some bitcoin things located at usr>share>doc>bitcoind and bitcoin-qt.

[Welsh]

It may be hidden. If you press CTRL + H to show hidden folders where the .bitcoin should be then that will give you a definite answer if it's there or not. If it's definitely not there then it hasn't been installed correctly or at all for what ever reason. It would be better to remove everything via the terminal that's related to the commands you put in to install it and then reinstall. What user group are you trying to install it on?

[aleksej996]

You could just try downloading a binary from https://bitcoin.org/bin/bitcoin-core-0.16.0/ or https://bitcoincore.org/bin/bitcoin-core-0.16.0/
The one named bitcoin-0.16.0-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz should do it.

Then in the terminal run "tar zxvf ~/Downloads/bitcoin-0.16.0-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz" if you downloaded it to your Download folder.
You should be able to run it with "./bitcoin-0.16.0/bin/bitcoin-qt" after that.

PS: You could also compile it from source. It really isn't hard.

[KaiTheRedFox]

It may be hidden. If you press CTRL + H to show hidden folders where the .bitcoin should be then that will give you a definite answer if it's there or not. If it's definitely not there then it hasn't been installed correctly or at all for what ever reason. It would be better to remove everything via the terminal that's related to the commands you put in to install it and then reinstall. What user group are you trying to install it on?

Thanks for your help! I wasn't able to get it to run correct at all on my current installation of Ubuntu, again im still new to Linux/Ubuntu and I was having problems with the OS so I installed Ubuntu 17 and it seems to be working fine now!

I may have had a not installed it correctly from the start, because it wasnt the only program not able to run.

[Welsh]

Right I see. I had a feeling that it might of been incompatibilities with the latest version of Bitcoin-qt and the version of Ubuntu you were running, but wasn't sure. If it wasn't the only program running though it was likely an installation issue rather than compatibility issues.

Glad you got it sorted.