Building

bs is built from libbitcoin-server and the four libraries it depends on: libbitcoin-system, libbitcoin-database, libbitcoin-network and libbitcoin-node. An install script builds and installs all five in order, along with Boost where needed.

1. Choosing a build#

The three build systems produce the same bs. CMake and autotools are equivalent on Linux and macOS. CMake presets select a configuration by name.

2. What every build needs#

• A C++20 compiler. The versions tested in CI are listed in Build systems and toolchains.
• Boost 1.86.0 or later. The Linux and macOS scripts download and build it with --build-boost. Visual Studio restores it as a NuGet package.
• Git, to fetch the libbitcoin sources.

Nothing else is required (see Build options).

3. Quick start#

On Linux or macOS, a static release build installed under ~/libbitcoin:

$ git clone https://github.com/libbitcoin/libbitcoin-server
$ cd libbitcoin-server
$ ./builds/gnu/install-gnu.sh --prefix=$HOME/libbitcoin --build-boost --build-config=release --build-link=static

The result is ~/libbitcoin/bin/bs. On Windows, see Windows.

4. Hardware options#

By default bs is built for the baseline instruction set of its architecture (AVX2 for Windows x64). Options such as --enable-avx2 or --enable-shani make it faster on CPUs that have those instructions, and unable to run on CPUs that do not. Run bs --hardware on the target machine to see what it supports, and see Build options.

5. Pages#

• Linux, macOS and Windows: prerequisites and steps for each platform.
• Build options: the install script options and the build options shared by all three build systems.
• Build systems and toolchains: autotools, CMake and Visual Studio, and the compilers and Boost versions tested in CI.
• libbitcoin-build: the generator behind the build files, for maintainers.