Building from Source

Build Viction blockchain node from source code

Prerequisites

Before building Viction from source, ensure you have the following installed:

• Go: Version 1.18 or later (Download Go)
• C Compiler: Required on all platforms (Linux, Windows, macOS)
• Git: For cloning the repository

Clone the Repository

First, clone the Viction blockchain repository:

git clone https://github.com/BuildOnViction/victionchain.git
cd victionchain

Build Methods

Standard Build

The standard build process uses the custom build script to compile the Viction node:

go run build/ci.go install

This command will:

• Build all packages and executables
• Place binaries in build/bin/ directory
• Build the main tomo executable along with utility tools

Building Specific Components

Build Main Node Only

make tomo

The binary will be available at build/bin/tomo.

Build Bootnode

make bootnode

Output: build/bin/bootnode

Build GC (Garbage Collection Tool)

make gc

Output: build/bin/gc

Build Puppeth (Network Wizard)

make puppeth

Output: build/bin/puppeth

Build All Tools

make all

Cross-Compilation

Viction supports cross-compilation for multiple platforms using xgo.

Cross-Compile for All Platforms

make tomo-cross

This builds for:

• Windows (amd64)
• macOS (darwin amd64)
• Linux (386, amd64, mips64, mips64le)

Platform-Specific Builds

Linux Builds

# All Linux architectures
make tomo-linux

# Specific architectures
make tomo-linux-amd64
make tomo-linux-386
make tomo-linux-mips64
make tomo-linux-mips64le

macOS Builds

# All macOS architectures
make tomo-darwin

# Specific architectures
make tomo-darwin-amd64
make tomo-darwin-386

Windows Build

make tomo-windows-amd64

Custom Go Version for Cross-Compilation

You can specify a custom Go version:

make tomo-linux-amd64 GO=1.19.0

Docker Build

Alternatively, build using Docker:

docker build --file Dockerfile.node -t "buildonviction/node:v2.5.1" .

Build Configuration

Build Flags

The build system automatically includes:

• Git commit hash in the binary
• Optimized flags for macOS (-s linker flag)
• Custom GOBIN path pointing to build/bin

Environment Variables

• GOBIN: Set to $(pwd)/build/bin
• GO: Go version for cross-compilation (default: 1.18.10)
• CC: C compiler for cross-compilation
• GOARCH: Target architecture
• CGO_ENABLED: Enabled for cross-compilation

Testing the Build

Run Tests

make test

Or using the build script:

go run build/ci.go test

Run Tests with Coverage

go run build/ci.go test -coverage

This generates a coverage.txt file with code coverage information.

Code Quality

Run Linters

go run build/ci.go lint

This runs multiple linters including:

• vet: Go vet for potential issues
• gofmt: Code formatting check
• misspell: Spelling errors
• goconst: Repeated constants
• unconvert: Unnecessary conversions
• gosimple: Simplification suggestions

Format Code

make gofmt

Cleaning Build Artifacts

Remove all built binaries and build artifacts:

make clean

This removes:

• build/_workspace/pkg/
• All binaries in build/bin/

Troubleshooting

Go Version Issues

Viction requires Go 1.9 or later. If you encounter build errors, check your Go version:

go version

Missing Dependencies

If you encounter missing dependencies, ensure you’re running from the repository root:

go mod download

Cross-Compilation Errors

For cross-compilation issues, ensure xgo is installed:

go get github.com/karalabe/xgo

Next Steps

After building, you can:

• Configure and run a full node
• Run a masternode
• Explore the RPC API