How To Install Bitcoin Knots On Linux

The Bitcoin Core Wallet is pretty great, though it has a few shortcomings. It is because of these shortcomings that Bitcoin Knots was created. It’s a derivative of Core with several improvements (program fixes, and new features like displaying BTC addresses in the GUI, etc.). To install Bitcoin Knots, you need to be running Ubuntu. Alternatively, you’ll need to be able to extract Tar archives and run binary packages.

Ubuntu

Bitcoin Knots can easily be installed on Ubuntu Linux and other operating systems that use it as a base. To get it, you’ll need to open up a terminal window and add the official Bitcoin Knots PPA. When installing this PPA, there’s something you should know: the PPA doesn’t support every version of Ubuntu at this time. Instead, it has support for most modern versions (16.04-17.10). Those looking to add this PPA to Ubuntu 18.04 will need to wait for official PPA support.

Note: if you’re an Ubuntu 18.04 user looking to install Bitcoin Knots, consider skipping the PPA instructions and following the generic ones instead. To add the PPA, open up a terminal window and enter the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:luke-jr/bitcoinknots

After using the add-apt-repository command, the official stable Bitcoin Knots software source will be on your Linux PC. However, it’s not usable, and Ubuntu won’t be able to install anything from it just yet. To fix this, you’ll need to use the update command. The update tool will allow Ubuntu to go out and refresh all software sources available, including the new one we just added. Update by running the command below:

sudo apt update

Running update is good, as it allows Ubuntu to refresh software sources. Running this command will also inevitably show software updates that may be available. If your Ubuntu PC (after running the update command) says there are updates to install, you should do so immediately. If you skip this step, Bitcoin Knots may not run correctly.

sudo apt upgrade -y

After installing the latest software upgrades and refreshing Ubuntu’s software sources, install the Bitcoin Knox wallet on your Linux PC.

sudo apt install bitcoin

Generic Linux Instructions

Using the Bitcoin Knots wallet outside of Ubuntu is pretty straightforward, and it starts by grabbing the latest downloadable binary package. The good thing about going this route is that all of the code is ready to go, and it’ll be effortless to run on just about any Linux distribution. Best of all, there’s no need to install dependencies, and everything should work. The only real downside to the generic instructions for Bitcoin Knots is the fact that updates can’t take place automatically.

Note: if you don’t want to use a pre-compiled binary, the developer has made the Bitcoin Knots source code available on Linux. Grab it here and start building!

To start using the program, (https://bitcoinknots.org/files/0.15.x/0.15.1.knots20171111/bitcoin-0.15.1.knots20171111-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz) you’ll first need to download the latest archive.

After downloading the latest version of Bitcoin Knots, open up a terminal and use the CD command to move from the home folder to the ~/Downloads directory.

When you’ve moved the terminal into the Downloads folder, don’t extract it just yet. Extracting a program (especially a cryptocurrency wallet) into this folder is a good way for it to accidentally get deleted. Instead, use the mv tool to move the archive directly to your home folder.

mv bitcoin-0.15.1.knots20171111-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz ~/

Now that the file is in the correct location, it’s safe to extract it. Using the tar command, deflate the archive.

tar -xvzf  bitcoin-0.15.1.knots20171111-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz

Everything is extracted and ready to use. However, before you do that, consider using the mv tool to rename the folder. Renaming the extracted folder isn’t required, but changing it to “Bitcoin Knots” may be helpful.

mv bitcoin-0.15.1 Bitcoin\ \Knots

Using Bitcoin Knots

To use Bitcoin Knots, you’ll first need to mark the binary file as executable. Open up a terminal and use the cd command to enter the “Bitcoin Knots” folder.

cd Bitcoin\ \Knots

Inside the Bitcoin Knots folder, use the cd command again. This time, you’ll need to move into the bin sub-folder, as the executable programs are located here.

cd bin

Inside bin, use the ls command to view all of the individual executable files.

After you’ve seen all the files, copy the file names and update the permissions for each.

sudo chmod +x filename

Bitcoin Knots has a GUI app, and it’s what most people want to use when they download this software. Update the permissions like so:

sudo chmod +x bitcoin-qt

Then, launch the program with

./bitcoin-qt

As the Bitcoin Knots app launches, you’ll see a prompt. This prompt will warn that you must download the entire Bitcoin blockchain. Allow the app to do so. When it’s finished, it’ll be ready to use for sending and receiving Bitcoin.

To send a transaction, click the “send” button menu button at the top. After that, enter an address, the amount you want to send, and then click the “send” button at the bottom.