Monero GUI

Copyright (c) 2014-2024, The Monero Project

Table of Contents

• Development resources
• Vulnerability response
• Introduction
• About this project
• Supporting the project
• License
• Translations
• Installing the Monero GUI from a package
• Compiling the Monero GUI from source
  • Building Reproducible Windows static binaries with Docker (any OS)
  • Building Reproducible Linux static binaries with Docker (any OS)
  • Building Android APK with Docker (any OS) Experimental
  • Building on Linux
  • Building on OS X
  • Building on Windows

Development resources

• Web: getmonero.org
• Mail: dev@getmonero.org
• Github: https://github.com/monero-project/monero-gui
• IRC: #monero-gui on Libera
• Translation platform (Weblate): translate.getmonero.org
• UI Design: Monero-GUI on Figma

Vulnerability response

• Our Vulnerability Response Process encourages responsible disclosure
• We are also available via HackerOne

Introduction

Monero is a private, secure, untraceable, decentralised digital currency. You are your bank, you control your funds, and nobody can trace your transfers unless you allow them to do so.

Privacy: Monero uses a cryptographically sound system to allow you to send and receive funds without your transactions being easily revealed on the blockchain (the ledger of transactions that everyone has). This ensures that your purchases, receipts, and all transfers remain absolutely private by default.

Security: Using the power of a distributed peer-to-peer consensus network, every transaction on the network is cryptographically secured. Individual wallets have a 25 word mnemonic seed that is only displayed once, and can be written down to backup the wallet. Wallet files are encrypted with a passphrase to ensure they are useless if stolen.

Untraceability: By taking advantage of ring signatures, a special property of a certain type of cryptography, Monero is able to ensure that transactions are not only untraceable, but have an optional measure of ambiguity that ensures that transactions cannot easily be tied back to an individual user or computer.

About this project

This is the GUI for the core Monero implementation. It is open source and completely free to use without restrictions, except for those specified in the license agreement below. There are no restrictions on anyone creating an alternative implementation of Monero that uses the protocol and network in a compatible manner.

As with many development projects, the repository on Github is considered to be the "staging" area for the latest changes. Before changes are merged into that branch on the main repository, they are tested by individual developers in their own branches, submitted as a pull request, and then subsequently tested by contributors who focus on testing and code reviews. That having been said, the repository should be carefully considered before using it in a production environment, unless there is a patch in the repository for a particular show-stopping issue you are experiencing. It is generally a better idea to use a tagged release for stability.

Supporting the project

Monero is a 100% community-sponsored endeavor. If you want to join our efforts, the easiest thing you can do is support the project financially. Both Monero and Bitcoin donations can be made to donate.getmonero.org if using a client that supports the OpenAlias standard.

The Monero donation address is: 888tNkZrPN6JsEgekjMnABU4TBzc2Dt29EPAvkRxbANsAnjyPbb3iQ1YBRk1UXcdRsiKc9dhwMVgN5S9cQUiyoogDavup3H (viewkey: f359631075708155cc3d92a32b75a7d02a5dcf27756707b47a2b31b21c389501)

The Bitcoin donation address is: 1KTexdemPdxSBcG55heUuTjDRYqbC5ZL8H

GUI development funding and/or some supporting services are also graciously provided by sponsors:

There are also several mining pools that kindly donate a portion of their fees, a list of them can be found on our Bitcointalk post.

License

See LICENSE.

Translations

Do you speak a second language and would like to help translate the Monero GUI? Check out Weblate, our localization platform, at translate.getmonero.org. Choose the language and suggest a translation for a string or review an existing one. The Localization Workgroup made a guide with step-by-step instructions for Weblate.

If you need help/support or any info you can contact the localization workgroup on the IRC channel #monero-translations (relayed on Matrix) or by email at translate[at]getmonero[dot]org. For more info about the Localization workgroup: github.com/monero-ecosystem/monero-translations

Status of the translations:

Installing the Monero GUI from a package

Packages are available for

• Arch Linux: monero-gui
• NixOS: nix-shell -p monero-gui
• Flatpak: Monero GUI
• GuixSD: guix package -i monero-gui
• macOS (homebrew): brew install --cask monero-wallet

Packaging for your favorite distribution would be a welcome contribution!

Compiling the Monero GUI from source

Note: Qt 6.8 is the minimum version required to build the GUI.

Note: Official GUI releases use monero-wallet-gui from this process alongside the supporting binaries (monerod, etc) from the CLI deterministic builds.

Note: The convenience targets in the project Makefile require the Ninja build system. Other CMake generators can still be used by invoking CMake directly. Ninja builds in parallel by default. To limit or set the number of parallel build jobs, set CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL, for example CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL=4 make release.

Building Reproducible Windows static binaries with Docker (any OS)

1. Install Docker https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/

2. Clone the repository

   git clone --branch master --recursive https://github.com/monero-project/monero-gui.git
   

   * master - replace with the desired version tag (e.g. v0.18.5.3) to build the release binaries.

3. Prepare build environment

   cd monero-gui
   docker build --tag monero:build-env-windows --build-arg THREADS=4 --file Dockerfile.windows .
   

   * 4 - number of CPU threads to use

4. Build

   docker run --rm -it -v <MONERO_GUI_DIR_FULL_PATH>:/monero-gui -w /monero-gui monero:build-env-windows sh -c 'make depends root=/depends target=x86_64-w64-mingw32 tag=win-x64'
   

   * <MONERO_GUI_DIR_FULL_PATH> - absolute path to monero-gui directory
   * Set CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL to control the number of parallel build jobs, e.g. add -e CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL=4 to the docker run command

5. Monero GUI Windows static binaries will be placed in monero-gui/build/x86_64-w64-mingw32/release/bin directory

Building Reproducible Linux static binaries with Docker (any OS)

1. Install Docker https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/

2. Clone the repository

   git clone --branch master --recursive https://github.com/monero-project/monero-gui.git
   

   * master - replace with the desired version tag (e.g. v0.18.5.3) to build the release binaries.

3. Prepare build environment

   cd monero-gui
   docker build --tag monero:build-env-linux --build-arg THREADS=4 --file Dockerfile.linux .
   

   * 4 - number of CPU threads to use

   The image builds the non-Qt dependencies with Monero's contrib/depends system and installs Qt into the resulting /depends/x86_64-linux-gnu prefix.

4. Build

   docker run --rm -it -v <MONERO_GUI_DIR_FULL_PATH>:/monero-gui -w /monero-gui monero:build-env-linux sh -c 'make depends root=/depends target=x86_64-linux-gnu tag=linux-x64'
   

   * <MONERO_GUI_DIR_FULL_PATH> - absolute path to monero-gui directory
   * Set CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL to control the number of parallel build jobs, e.g. add -e CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL=4 to the docker run command

5. Monero GUI Linux static binary will be placed in monero-gui/build/x86_64-linux-gnu/release/bin directory

6. (Note) This process is only for building monero-wallet-gui, monerod has to be built separately according to the instructions in the monero repository.

7. (Optional) Compare monero-wallet-gui SHA-256 hash to the one obtained from a trusted source

   docker run --rm -it -v <MONERO_GUI_DIR_FULL_PATH>:/monero-gui -w /monero-gui monero:build-env-linux sh -c 'shasum -a 256 /monero-gui/build/x86_64-linux-gnu/release/bin/monero-wallet-gui'
   

   * <MONERO_GUI_DIR_FULL_PATH> - absolute path to monero-gui directory

Building Android APK with Docker (any OS) Experimental

• Minimum Android 9 Pie (API 28)
• ARMv8-A 64-bit CPU

1. Install Docker https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/

2. Clone the repository

   git clone --recursive https://github.com/monero-project/monero-gui.git
   

3. Prepare build environment

   cd monero-gui
   docker build --tag monero:build-env-android --build-arg THREADS=4 --file Dockerfile.android .
   

   * 4 - number of CPU threads to use

4. Build

   docker run --rm -it -v <MONERO_GUI_DIR_FULL_PATH>:/monero-gui monero:build-env-android
   

   * <MONERO_GUI_DIR_FULL_PATH> - absolute path to monero-gui directory
   * Set CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL to control the number of parallel build jobs, e.g. add -e CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL=4 to the docker run command

5. Monero GUI APK will be placed in monero-gui/build/Android/release/android-build directory

6. Deploy

   • Using ADB (Android debugger bridge)
     • Enable adb debugging on your device
     • Connect your device with USB and install Monero GUI APK with adb:

     adb install build/Android/release/android-build/monero-gui.apk
     

     • Troubleshooting:

     adb devices -l
     adb logcat
     

     • If using adb inside docker, make sure you did

     docker run -v /dev/bus/usb:/dev/bus/usb --privileged
     

   • Using a web server

     mkdir /usr/tmp
     cp build/Android/release/android-build/monero-gui.apk /usr/tmp
     docker run -d -v /usr/tmp:/usr/share/nginx/html:ro -p 8080:80 nginx
     

     Now it should be accessible through a web browser at

     http://<your.local.ip>:8080/QtApp-debug.apk
     

Comparing Docker Qt build times

Dockerfile.linux, Dockerfile.windows, and Dockerfile.android enable Qt unity builds by default. Add --build-arg QT_UNITY_BUILD=OFF to disable them, or --build-arg QT_UNITY_BUILD=ON to enable them explicitly. Use the same setting when comparing reproducible binary hashes.

To compare fresh Qt builds, run both variants sequentially on the same builder with the same CPU and memory allocation, thread count, and platform. For example, from the repository root on an amd64 builder:

docker build --no-cache --progress=plain --platform linux/amd64 \
  --build-arg THREADS=4 --build-arg QT_UNITY_BUILD=OFF \
  --tag monero:build-env-linux-unity-off --file Dockerfile.linux . \
  > qt-unity-off.log 2>&1
docker build --no-cache --progress=plain --platform linux/amd64 \
  --build-arg THREADS=4 --build-arg QT_UNITY_BUILD=ON \
  --tag monero:build-env-linux-unity-on --file Dockerfile.linux . \
  > qt-unity-on.log 2>&1

Compare the Qt build step durations in the two logs as well as total image build time; downloads and other dependencies can affect the total. For Windows or Android, substitute the corresponding Dockerfile and image tags, and include both the host-tools and target Qt build steps in the comparison.

Building on Linux

1. Install Monero dependencies

• For Debian distributions (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Tails...)

  sudo apt install build-essential cmake ninja-build libunbound-dev graphviz doxygen pkg-config libssl-dev libzmq3-dev libsodium-dev libhidapi-dev libnorm-dev libusb-1.0-0-dev libpgm-dev libprotobuf-dev protobuf-compiler libgcrypt20-dev libboost-chrono-dev libboost-date-time-dev libboost-filesystem-dev libboost-locale-dev libboost-program-options-dev libboost-regex-dev libboost-serialization-dev libboost-system-dev libboost-thread-dev

• For Gentoo

  sudo emerge app-arch/xz-utils app-doc/doxygen dev-build/ninja dev-cpp/gtest dev-libs/boost dev-libs/expat dev-libs/openssl dev-util/cmake media-gfx/graphviz net-dns/unbound net-libs/zeromq dev-libs/libsodium dev-libs/hidapi dev-libs/libgcrypt

• For Fedora

  sudo dnf install make automake cmake ninja gcc-c++ boost-devel graphviz doxygen unbound-devel pkgconfig openssl-devel libcurl-devel hidapi-devel libusb-devel zeromq-devel libgcrypt-devel

2. Install Qt:

Note: The Qt 6.8 or newer requirement makes some distributions obsolete due to their repositories containing an older Qt version.

The recommended way is to install 6.8 or newer from the official Qt installer or compiling it yourself. This ensures you have the correct version. Higher versions can work but as it differs from our production build target, slight differences may occur.

The following instructions will fetch Qt from your distribution's repositories instead. Take note of what version it installs. Your mileage may vary.

• For Debian distributions (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Tails...)

  sudo apt install qt6-base-dev qt6-declarative-dev qt6-svg-dev qt6-tools-dev qt6-tools-dev-tools qml6-module-qtcore qml6-module-qtqml qml6-module-qtqml-models qml6-module-qtquick qml6-module-qtquick-controls qml6-module-qtquick-dialogs qml6-module-qtquick-effects qml6-module-qtquick-layouts qml6-module-qtquick-shapes qml6-module-qtquick-window qml6-module-qt-labs-folderlistmodel qml6-module-qt-labs-platform

• For Gentoo

  The qml USE flag must be enabled.

  sudo emerge dev-qt/qtbase:6 dev-qt/qtdeclarative:6 dev-qt/qtsvg:6 dev-qt/qttools:6

• Optional : To build the flag WITH_SCANNER

  • For Debian distributions (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Tails...)

    sudo apt install qt6-multimedia-dev qml6-module-qtmultimedia

  • For Gentoo

    emerge dev-qt/qtmultimedia:6

3. Clone repository

   git clone --recursive https://github.com/monero-project/monero-gui.git
   cd monero-gui
   

4. Build

   make release
   

   * Add CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH environment variable to set a custom Qt install directory, e.g. CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=$HOME/Qt/6.8.3/gcc_64 make release * Set CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL to control the number of parallel build jobs, e.g. CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL=4 make release

The executable can be found in the build/release/bin folder.

Building on OS X

1. Install Xcode from AppStore

2. Install homebrew

3. Install monero dependencies:

brew install cmake ninja pkg-config openssl boost unbound hidapi zmq libpgm libsodium expat protobuf libgcrypt

4. Install Qt:

brew install qt (or download Qt 6.8+ from qt.io)

5. Grab an up-to-date copy of the monero-gui repository

   git clone --recursive https://github.com/monero-project/monero-gui.git
   cd monero-gui
   

6. Start the build

   make release
   

   * Add CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH environment variable to set a custom Qt install directory, e.g. CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=$HOME/Qt/6.8.3/macos make release * Set CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL to control the number of parallel build jobs, e.g. CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL=4 make release

The executable can be found in the build/release/bin folder.

For building an application bundle see DEPLOY.md.

Building on Windows

The Monero GUI on Windows is 64 bits only; 32-bit Windows GUI builds are not officially supported anymore.

1. Install MSYS2, follow the instructions on that page on how to update system and packages to the latest versions

2. Open an 64-bit MSYS2 shell: Use the MSYS2 MinGW 64-bit shortcut, or use the msys2_shell.cmd batch file with a -mingw64 parameter

3. Install MSYS2 packages for Monero dependencies; the needed 64-bit packages have x86_64 in their names

   pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-toolchain make mingw-w64-x86_64-cmake mingw-w64-x86_64-ninja mingw-w64-x86_64-boost mingw-w64-x86_64-openssl mingw-w64-x86_64-zeromq mingw-w64-x86_64-libsodium mingw-w64-x86_64-hidapi mingw-w64-x86_64-protobuf-c mingw-w64-x86_64-libusb mingw-w64-x86_64-libgcrypt mingw-w64-x86_64-unbound mingw-w64-x86_64-pcre mingw-w64-x86_64-angleproject
   

   You find more details about those dependencies in the Monero documentation. Note that that there is no more need to compile Boost from source; like everything else, you can install it now with a MSYS2 package.

4. Install Qt6

   pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-qt6-base mingw-w64-x86_64-qt6-declarative mingw-w64-x86_64-qt6-svg mingw-w64-x86_64-qt6-tools
   

   There is no more need to download some special installer from the Qt website, the standard MSYS2 package for Qt will do in almost all circumstances.

5. Install git

   pacman -S git
   

6. Clone repository

   git clone --recursive https://github.com/monero-project/monero-gui.git
   cd monero-gui
   

7. Build

   make release-win64
   cd build/release
   cmake --build . --target deploy
   

   * Set CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL to control the number of parallel build jobs, e.g. CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL=4 make release-win64

The executable can be found in the .\bin directory.