For an up-to-date version of these instructions, please visit the Bitmessage Wiki.
PyBitmessage can be run in either one of two ways:
- straight from source
or
- from an installed package.
Before running PyBitmessage, make sure you have all the necessary dependencies installed on your system.
Here's a list of dependencies needed for PyBitmessage
- python2.7
- python2-qt4 (python-qt4 on Debian/Ubuntu)
- openssl
- (Fedora & Redhat only) openssl-compat-bitcoin-libs
PyBitmessage can be run in two ways:
- straight from source
or
- via a package which is installed on your system. Since PyBitmessage is Beta, it is best to run PyBitmessage from source, so that you may update as needed.
To update PyBitmessage from source (Linux/OS X), you can do these easy steps:
cd PyBitmessage/src/
git fetch --all
git reset --hard origin/master
python bitmessagemain.py
Voilà! Bitmessage is updated!
Some recent Linux distributions don't support QT4 anymore, hence PyBitmessage won't run with a GUI. However, if you build PyBitmessage as a flatpak, it will run in a sandbox which provides QT4. See the Linux flatpak instructions in the Creating a package for installation section of this document.
To run PyBitmessage from the command-line, you must download the source, then
run src/bitmessagemain.py.
git clone git://github.com/Bitmessage/PyBitmessage.git
cd PyBitmessage/ && python src/bitmessagemain.py
That's it! Honestly!
On Windows you can download an executable for Bitmessage here.
However, if you would like to run PyBitmessage via Python in Windows, you can go here for information on how to do so.
First off, install Homebrew.
ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"
Now, install the required dependencies
brew install git python openssl cartr/qt4/pyqt@4
Download and run PyBitmessage:
git clone git://github.com/Bitmessage/PyBitmessage.git
cd PyBitmessage && python src/bitmessagemain.py
If you really want, you can make a package for PyBitmessage, which you may install yourself or distribute to friends. This isn't recommended, since PyBitmessage is in Beta, and subject to frequent change.
First off, since PyBitmessage uses something nifty called packagemonkey, go ahead and get that installed. You may have to build it from source.
Next, edit the generate.sh script to your liking.
Now, run the appropriate script for the type of package you'd like to make
arch.sh - create a package for Arch Linux
debian.sh - create a package for Debian/Ubuntu
ebuild.sh - create a package for Gentoo
osx.sh - create a package for OS X
puppy.sh - create a package for Puppy Linux
rpm.sh - create a RPM package
slack.sh - create a package for Slackware
See packages/flatpak/README.md
Please refer to this page on the forums for instructions on how to create a package on OS X.
Please note that some versions of OS X don't work.