BTCTools Snapcraft Project Files

Operating System

Please build in a Linux distribution that is compatible with snap.

Known compatible distributions:

• Ubuntu 18.04
• Ubuntu 20.04
• Debian 10
• UOS 20
• Deepin v20

Install snapd

sudo apt install snapd
sudo systemctl start snapd

Starting snapd in WSL2 or other systems not using systemd

snapd depends on systemd. If your system doesn't start with systemd, you need to install systemd container: https://github.com/arkane-systems/genie

After installation, enter the systemd container with:

sudo genie -i
genie -c /bin/bash -l
sudo systemctl start snap
# Run subsequent commands

If genie -i fails, rename /etc/hosts and create a new empty file:

sudo mv /etc/hosts /etc/hosts.old
sudo touch /etc/hosts

Install snapcraft

sudo snap install core
sudo snap install core18
sudo snap install snapcraft --classic

Troubleshooting

If snapd is broken, fix it with:

sudo apt purge snapd gnome-software-plugin-snap
sudo apt install snapd gnome-software-plugin-snap
sudo systemctl restart snapd

If you see this error (note: the error message can be misleading):

- Mount snap "snapcraft" (4282) (snap "snapcraft" assumes unsupported features: snapd2.39 (try to update snapd and refresh the core snap))

Installing or updating core can fix it:

sudo snap install core
sudo snap refresh core

That's why installing core is already included in the installation steps above.

If it still doesn't work, you'll need to find a way to upgrade the snapd package yourself.

Using Proxy

If snap is slow, you can set up a proxy:

sudo snap set system proxy.http=socks5://127.0.0.1:17070
sudo snap set system proxy.https=socks5://127.0.0.1:17070

sudo systemctl restart snapd

Add /snap/bin to PATH

To ensure subsequent commands work properly, add /snap/bin to PATH environment variable for both current user and root user.

vim ~/.profile

export PATH=$PATH:/snap/bin

Log out and log back in after adding.

Install LXD

Building requires LXD to run Ubuntu 18.04 container. Install LXD as follows:

sudo snap install lxd
sudo /snap/bin/lxd init
sudo usermod -aG lxd $USER

Note: If your network doesn't support IPv6, make sure to set IPv6 address to none, otherwise the container may not be able to connect to network properly.

You need to log out and log back in for the usermod command to take effect. Otherwise you'll encounter this error during build:

An error occurred when trying to communicate with the 'LXD' provider: cannot connect to the LXD socket ('/var/snap/lxd/common/lxd/unix.socket')..

Building BTCTools

git clone https://github.com/btccom/btctools-snap.git
cd btctools-snap
git submodule update --init --recursive

# Set mirror
export SNAPCRAFT_BUILD_ENVIRONMENT_PRIMARY_MIRROR=http://mirrors.aliyun.com/ubuntu

# Build
snapcraft --use-lxd

Using Proxy

# LXC core proxy settings (optional, effect unclear, SOCKS proxy support unknown)

lxc config set core.proxy_http=http://192.168.43.224:18080 
lxc config set core.proxy_https=https://192.168.43.224:18080

# Proxy for snapcraft API and package sources
# Seems required, otherwise snapcraft API will error with "There seems to be a network error"
# Only HTTP proxy supported, SOCKS proxy needs conversion via tools like privoxy
# Note: Use local LAN IP (192.168.43.224) as LXD containers have separate virtual NICs, 127.0.0.1 won't work
# Proxy program needs to listen on 0.0.0.0

snapcraft --use-lxd --http-proxy=http://192.168.43.224:18080 --https-proxy=https://192.168.43.224:18080


# Set proxy for snapd in container
# Run after snapcraft --use-lxd --http-proxy=... --https-proxy=...
# Execute in another terminal when "Waiting for network to be ready..." appears

lxc exec snapcraft-btctools sudo snap set system proxy.http=socks5://192.168.43.224:17070
lxc exec snapcraft-btctools sudo snap set system proxy.https=socks5://192.168.43.224:17070


# Set git proxy
# For github cloning process if too slow
# Run before "Cloning into '/root/parts/desktop-qt5/src'..." appears

lxc exec snapcraft-btctools -- git config --global http.proxy 'socks5://192.168.43.224:17070'
lxc exec snapcraft-btctools -- git config --global https.proxy 'socks5://192.168.43.224:17070'

If errors persist without clear cause, check https://status.snapcraft.io/ as snapcraft services may be down.

View LXD Logs

If LXD container startup hangs, check logs:

sudo journalctl -u snap.lxd.activate.service -f
sudo journalctl -u snap.lxd.daemon.service -f

Reinstall LXD Manager

If issues occur, try removing and reinstalling lxd:

lxc stop snapcraft-btctools
lxc delete snapcraft-btctools  
sudo snap remove --purge lxd
sudo snap install lxd
sudo /snap/bin/lxd init
sudo usermod -aG lxd $USER

For btrfs users encountering this error:

error: cannot perform the following tasks:
- Remove data for snap "lxd" (15457) (remove /var/snap/lxd/common/lxd/storage-pools/default/images/e3ee3fe3007ea911adea6fcd47dba824459c921b5d1041ac1f1ce88858e7b579/metadata.yaml: read-only file system)

Use these commands:

sudo btrfs sub del /var/snap/lxd/common/lxd/storage-pools/default/images/e3ee3fe3007ea911adea6fcd47dba824459c921b5d1041ac1f1ce88858e7b579
sudo snap remove --purge lxd

Execute Custom Commands in Container

Open interactive session with:

lxc exec snapcraft-btctools bash

Note: Container may be auto-deleted by snapcraft, all changes could be lost.

Cleanup

If strange build errors occur, like missing files, try cleaning:

# Delete entire container to start fresh
snapcraft clean --use-lxd

# Clean specific build stages
snapcraft clean --use-lxd libbtctools
snapcraft clean --use-lxd btctools-gui

Build Locally Without LXD Container

If you have unresolvable LXD issues, consider installing Ubuntu 18.04 locally and build with:

sudo /snap/bin/snapcraft --destructive-mode

Note: snap/snapcraft.yaml specifies base: core18, meaning Ubuntu 18.04 build environment. Building on other OS versions locally may produce unusable packages!

Local Build Cleanup

Delete directories specified in .gitignore:

sudo rm -rf parts/ prime/ stage/ *.snap *.snap-build.* *.xdelta*

Building armhf packages on arm64

# Start container and enter container shell 
lxc launch ubuntu:18.04/armhf core18-armhf
lxc exec core18-armhf bash

Execute in container shell:

# Update packages to latest version
sed -i 's/[a-z0-9.-]*\.[cno][oer][mtg]/mirrors.aliyun.com/g' /etc/apt/sources.list
apt update && apt upgrade -y

# Set proxy (optional)
snap set system proxy.http=socks5://192.168.43.224:17070
snap set system proxy.https=socks5://192.168.43.224:17070
git config --global http.proxy socks5://192.168.43.224:17070
git config --global https.proxy socks5://192.168.43.224:17070

# Install snapcraft
snap install snapcraft --classic

# Build project
git clone --recursive https://github.com/btccom/btctools-snap.git
cd btctools-snap
snapcraft --destructive-mode

Testing armhf packages on arm64

# Enter container shell
# This container needs to have BTCTools compiled, otherwise dependencies may be missing
lxc exec core18-armhf bash

Execute in container shell:

# Install built package
snap install --dangerous ~/btctools-snap/*.snap

# Install Chinese fonts
apt install fonts-noto-cjk

# Start SSH service
systemctl start ssh
touch ~/.Xauthority

# Check container IP
ifconfig

Execute on host machine:

xhost +
ssh-keygen
lxc file push ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub core18-armhf/root/.ssh/authorized_keys
lxc exec core18-armhf chown root:root /root/.ssh/authorized_keys

# Assuming container IP is 10.125.163.245
ssh -X root@10.125.163.245

Execute in SSH session:

btctools

You will get this error:

qt.qpa.screen: QXcbConnection: Could not connect to display localhost:10.0 Could not connect to any X display.

So we can only try launching BTCTools binary directly:

/snap/btctools/current/usr/bin/btctools-gui
/snap/btctools/current/usr/bin/btctools-gui --lang=en
/snap/btctools/current/usr/bin/btctools-gui --lang=zh_CN

Since dependencies were installed when compiling BTCTools, it should be able to launch.

Not recommended to use multipass

If running snapcraft command without --use-lxd and --destructive-mode, it will use the default multipass VM for building.

multipass uses qemu-kvm for full virtualization, which is slightly slower than LXD, and takes longer to start and stop.

Additionally, there are major compatibility issues between multipass 1.3.0 and snapcraft 4.0.4, making normal builds impossible.

It is strongly discouraged to use snapcraft's multipass integration. If you really want to use multipass, it's recommended to directly launch Ubuntu 18.04 in a VM, then build using sudo /snap/bin/snapcraft --destructive-mode, rather than using the local snapcraft command.

Installing built snap package

sudo snap install --dangerous ./*.snap

# Run
btctools

# If command not found
/snap/bin/btctools

Publishing

If login fails, delete the ~/.config/snapcraft folder.

snapcraft login

# Choose one of the channels
snapcraft upload --release edge *.snap
snapcraft upload --release beta *.snap
snapcraft upload --release candidate *.snap
snapcraft upload --release stable *.snap

If you encounter errors, make sure only one file is selected in *.snap, or provide the full filename, like snapcraft push --release stable btctools_1.2.7_amd64.snap.

Note: It's known that gnome-software-plugin-snap (Ubuntu's built-in app store) cannot properly install software published only in the edge channel. It's recommended to submit to the stable channel when delivering to users.