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Build instructions — macOS (Intel & Apple Silicon)

This guide covers building c2pool from source on macOS.

Tested configuration

Component Version
macOS 26.3.1 (Tahoe)
Xcode / Apple Clang 21.0.0
CMake 4.3.1
Boost 1.90.0
LevelDB 1.23
libsecp256k1 0.7.1
Architecture x86_64 (Intel Mac Pro)

Other macOS versions may work but are untested. Boost API changes between major versions are the most common source of build failures on untested configurations.

Option 1: Pre-built DMG (recommended)

Download from the Releases page:

  • Intel Mac: c2pool-VERSION-macos-x86_64.dmg
  • Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4): c2pool-VERSION-macos-arm64.dmg
# Mount the DMG
hdiutil attach c2pool-*-macos-*.dmg

# Copy to your preferred location
cp -R /Volumes/c2pool-*/  ~/c2pool

# Unmount
hdiutil detach /Volumes/c2pool-*

# Run
cd ~/c2pool
./start.sh

Dashboard: http://localhost:8080 — Stratum: stratum+tcp://YOUR_IP:9327

The DMG contains everything needed: the binary, bundled libsecp256k1, web dashboard, config templates, block explorer, and a start script. No additional dependencies required.

macOS Gatekeeper: On first run, macOS may block the binary. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security and click "Allow Anyway", or run:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ~/c2pool

Verifying the download

Each release includes a SHA256SUMS file. Verify your download:

shasum -a 256 c2pool-*-macos-*.dmg
# Compare output with the published SHA256SUMS

Option 2: Build from source

Supported architectures

Mac Architecture Homebrew prefix Status
Intel (2012–2023) x86_64 /usr/local Tested, working
Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) arm64 /opt/homebrew Supported (same steps)

1. Install Xcode Command Line Tools

xcode-select --install

Accept the license if prompted. This provides the Apple Clang compiler and system headers.

2. Install Homebrew

Skip if already installed (brew --version to check).

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

After installation, add Homebrew to your PATH if prompted:

Apple Silicon (M1+):

echo 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.zprofile
eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

Intel Mac:

echo 'eval "$(/usr/local/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.zprofile
eval "$(/usr/local/bin/brew shellenv)"

3. Install dependencies

brew install cmake boost leveldb secp256k1 nlohmann-json yaml-cpp
Package Provides
cmake Build system (3.28+)
boost Networking, logging, threading, filesystem
leveldb Persistent sharechain storage
secp256k1 ECDSA crypto for btclibs
nlohmann-json JSON parsing
yaml-cpp YAML config parsing

No Conan needed on macOS — Homebrew provides all dependencies as system libraries.

4. Clone and build

git clone https://github.com/frstrtr/c2pool.git
cd c2pool
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build . --target c2pool -j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)

The compiled binary is at build/src/c2pool/c2pool.

First build: ~3–5 minutes on modern hardware.

5. Running

# From the repository root
./build/src/c2pool/c2pool --integrated --net litecoin --dashboard-dir web-static

The node starts in integrated P2P pool mode with embedded LTC and DOGE SPV nodes. No litecoind or dogecoind required.

  • Dashboard: http://localhost:8080
  • Stratum: stratum+tcp://YOUR_IP:9327 (miners set LTC address as username)

With block explorer

# Terminal 1: c2pool
./build/src/c2pool/c2pool --integrated --net litecoin --dashboard-dir web-static

# Terminal 2: explorer (after c2pool is ready)
python3 explorer/explorer.py \
    --ltc-host 127.0.0.1 --ltc-port 8080 \
    --ltc-user c2pool --ltc-pass c2pool \
    --web-port 9090 --no-doge

Explorer: http://localhost:9090

Full option reference

./build/src/c2pool/c2pool --help

6. Data directory

c2pool stores its data in ~/.c2pool/:

~/.c2pool/
  sharechain_leveldb/      # Persistent sharechain storage
  embedded_headers/        # LTC/DOGE SPV header cache
  crash.log                # Crash log (if any)

Cross-compiling for arm64 on an Intel Mac

If you have an Intel Mac and want to build an arm64 binary (e.g. for distribution):

1. Build secp256k1 for arm64

Homebrew's secp256k1 is native-only. Cross-compile from source:

git clone --depth 1 --branch v0.7.1 https://github.com/bitcoin-core/secp256k1.git
cd secp256k1
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=arm64 \
    -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$HOME/arm64-deps \
    -DSECP256K1_BUILD_TESTS=OFF \
    -DSECP256K1_BUILD_EXHAUSTIVE_TESTS=OFF \
    -DSECP256K1_BUILD_BENCHMARK=OFF \
    -DSECP256K1_BUILD_EXAMPLES=OFF
cmake --build . -j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)
cmake --install . --prefix $HOME/arm64-deps

2. Build c2pool for arm64

cd c2pool
mkdir build-arm64 && cd build-arm64
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
    -DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=arm64 \
    -DSECP256K1_INCLUDE_DIRS=$HOME/arm64-deps/include \
    -DSECP256K1_LIBRARIES=$HOME/arm64-deps/lib/libsecp256k1.dylib
cmake --build . --target c2pool -j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)

Binary: build-arm64/src/c2pool/c2pool (Mach-O arm64)

Important: Use a persistent location for arm64-deps (not /tmp/). The arm64 secp256k1 library is needed at build time and bundled into the DMG.

3. Build the DMG

bash installer/macos/create-dmg.sh build-arm64/src/c2pool/c2pool arm64

Building a DMG package

The installer/macos/create-dmg.sh script packages a binary with all required assets into a distributable .dmg file:

# Native architecture
bash installer/macos/create-dmg.sh build/src/c2pool/c2pool

# Specific architecture
bash installer/macos/create-dmg.sh build/src/c2pool/c2pool x86_64
bash installer/macos/create-dmg.sh build-arm64/src/c2pool/c2pool arm64

The DMG includes: binary, libsecp256k1.6.dylib (with install_name_tool fixup for @executable_path), web-static, explorer, config, start.sh, README.

Troubleshooting

cmake not found over SSH

Homebrew binaries are at /usr/local/bin (Intel) or /opt/homebrew/bin (Apple Silicon). Non-login SSH sessions may not load your shell profile. Prefix commands:

export PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH    # Intel
export PATH=/opt/homebrew/bin:$PATH  # Apple Silicon

Or add to ~/.zshenv (loaded by all zsh sessions, including non-login):

echo 'eval "$(/usr/local/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.zshenv

brew not found after installation

Add Homebrew to your PATH:

# Apple Silicon
eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

# Intel
eval "$(/usr/local/bin/brew shellenv)"

Boost component not found

Homebrew Boost 1.88+ has header-only system component. The c2pool CMake handles this automatically. If you see errors, try:

brew reinstall boost

std::atomic<shared_ptr> error

Apple's libc++ does not yet support std::atomic<std::shared_ptr> from C++20. The c2pool codebase uses a mutex-based fallback that works on all platforms. Ensure you are on the latest windows-build or master branch.

Low memory during compilation

cmake --build . --target c2pool -j1

Other platforms