Monetarium Windows Build Guide

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for building Monetarium binaries from source on Windows.

Table of Contents

  1. Prerequisites
  2. Clone Repository
  3. Building the Node
  4. Building the Wallet
  5. Building ctl
  6. Build All at Once
  7. Running Tests
  8. Cross-Compilation
  9. Troubleshooting

Prerequisites

1. Install Go

Monetarium requires Go 1.23 or later.

  1. Download Go from https://go.dev/dl/
  2. Run the installer (e.g., go1.23.4.windows-amd64.msi)
  3. Verify installation:
go version

Expected output: go version go1.23.x windows/amd64

2. Install Git

  1. Download Git from https://git-scm.com/download/win
  2. Run the installer with default settings
  3. Verify installation:
git --version

3. Install GCC (Optional, for CGO)

Some dependencies may require CGO. Install TDM-GCC or MinGW-w64:

Option A: TDM-GCC (Recommended)

  1. Download from https://jmeubank.github.io/tdm-gcc/
  2. Run installer, select “MinGW-w64 based” edition
  3. Add to PATH during installation

Option B: MinGW-w64 via MSYS2

  1. Download MSYS2 from https://www.msys2.org/
  2. Run: pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc
  3. Add C:\msys64\mingw64\bin to PATH

Verify GCC installation:

gcc --version

Note: If you encounter CGO-related errors during build and don’t need CGO, you can disable it with $env:CGO_ENABLED="0" before building.

Clone Repository

Step 1: Clone Monetarium

cd C:\
git clone https://github.com/monetarium/monetarium.git
cd monetarium

Step 2: Verify Directory Structure

The repository should contain the following directories:

monetarium/
├── monetarium-node/    # Node source code (github.com/monetarium/monetarium-node)
├── monetarium-wallet/  # Wallet source code (github.com/monetarium/monetarium-wallet)
├── monetarium-ctl/     # CLI tool source code (github.com/monetarium/monetarium-ctl)
└── docs/               # Documentation

Verify with:

Get-ChildItem -Directory

Building the Node

The node (monetarium-node.exe) must be built first, as other components depend on its modules.

Step 1: Navigate to Node Directory

cd C:\monetarium\monetarium-node

Step 2: Download Dependencies

go mod download

Step 3: Build

go build -o ..\monetarium-node.exe .

Step 4: Verify Build

..\monetarium-node.exe --version

Build with Optimizations (Release Build)

For production builds with smaller binary size:

go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o ..\monetarium-node.exe .

Flags explained:

  • -s: Omit symbol table
  • -w: Omit DWARF debugging information

Building the Wallet

The wallet (monetarium-wallet.exe) depends on node modules via local replace directives.

Step 1: Navigate to Wallet Directory

cd C:\monetarium\monetarium-wallet

Step 2: Download Dependencies

go mod download

Step 3: Build

go build -o ..\monetarium-wallet.exe .

Step 4: Verify Build

..\monetarium-wallet.exe --version

Build with Optimizations

go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o ..\monetarium-wallet.exe .

Building monetarium-ctl

The CLI tool (monetarium-ctl.exe) depends on both node and wallet modules.

Step 1: Navigate to CTL Directory

cd C:\monetarium\monetarium-ctl

Step 2: Download Dependencies

go mod download

Step 3: Build

go build -o ..\monetarium-ctl.exe .

Step 4: Verify Build

..\monetarium-ctl.exe --version

Build with Optimizations

go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o ..\monetarium-ctl.exe .

Build All at Once

Use this PowerShell script to build all binaries in the correct order:

# Navigate to monetarium root
cd C:\monetarium

# Build monetarium-node
Write-Host "Building monetarium-node..." -ForegroundColor Cyan
Set-Location monetarium-node
go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o ..\monetarium-node.exe .
if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { Write-Host "monetarium-node build failed!" -ForegroundColor Red; exit 1 }

# Build monetarium-wallet
Write-Host "Building monetarium-wallet..." -ForegroundColor Cyan
Set-Location ..\monetarium-wallet
go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o ..\monetarium-wallet.exe .
if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { Write-Host "monetarium-wallet build failed!" -ForegroundColor Red; exit 1 }

# Build monetarium-ctl
Write-Host "Building monetarium-ctl..." -ForegroundColor Cyan
Set-Location ..\monetarium-ctl
go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o ..\monetarium-ctl.exe .
if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { Write-Host "monetarium-ctl build failed!" -ForegroundColor Red; exit 1 }

# Return to root and verify
Set-Location ..
Write-Host "`nBuild complete! Binaries:" -ForegroundColor Green
Get-ChildItem *.exe | Format-Table Name, Length, LastWriteTime

Save as build.ps1 and run with:

.\build.ps1

Running Tests

Test Node

cd C:\monetarium\monetarium-node
go test ./...

Or run the test script if available:

.\run_tests.sh  # Requires Git Bash or WSL

Test Wallet

cd C:\monetarium\monetarium-wallet
go test ./...

Test monetarium-ctl

cd C:\monetarium\monetarium-ctl
go test ./...

Run Tests with Verbose Output

go test -v ./...

Run Tests with Race Detection

go test -race ./...

Cross-Compilation

Build Windows binaries from Linux or macOS.

From Linux/macOS to Windows

# Build monetarium-node for Windows
cd monetarium-node
GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build -o ../monetarium-node.exe .

# Build monetarium-wallet for Windows
cd ../monetarium-wallet
GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build -o ../monetarium-wallet.exe .

# Build monetarium-ctl for Windows
cd ../monetarium-ctl
GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build -o ../monetarium-ctl.exe .

Build for Multiple Platforms

# Build for Windows AMD64
GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build -o monetarium-node-windows-amd64.exe .

# Build for Linux AMD64
GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build -o monetarium-node-linux-amd64 .

# Build for macOS AMD64 (Intel)
GOOS=darwin GOARCH=amd64 go build -o monetarium-node-darwin-amd64 .

# Build for macOS ARM64 (Apple Silicon)
GOOS=darwin GOARCH=arm64 go build -o monetarium-node-darwin-arm64 .

Troubleshooting

“go: command not found”

Cause: Go is not in PATH.

Solution:

  1. Verify Go installation: where go
  2. Add Go to PATH: 
    $env:PATH += ";C:\Program Files\Go\bin"
  3. Or reinstall Go and ensure “Add to PATH” is selected

“gcc: command not found” or CGO errors

Cause: CGO is enabled but GCC is not installed.

Solution A: Install GCC (see Prerequisites)

Solution B: Disable CGO if not needed:

$env:CGO_ENABLED = "0"
go build -o ..\monetarium-node.exe .

Module dependency errors

Cause: Local module replacements not found.

Solution: Ensure you’re building from the correct directory structure:

monetarium/
├── monetarium-node/
├── monetarium-wallet/
└── monetarium-ctl/

The go.mod files use relative paths like replace => ../monetarium-node/...

“Access denied” or permission errors

Cause: Antivirus or Windows Defender blocking builds.

Solution:

  1. Add C:\monetarium to antivirus exclusions
  2. Run PowerShell as Administrator if needed
  3. Temporarily disable real-time protection during build

Build is very slow

Cause: First build downloads all dependencies.

Solution:

  • Subsequent builds will be faster due to caching
  • Use go mod download first to pre-fetch dependencies
  • Enable module caching: 
    $env:GOPROXY = "https://proxy.golang.org,direct"

“package … is not in GOROOT”

Cause: Module mode not enabled or wrong directory.

Solution:

  1. Ensure you’re in the correct directory (e.g., monetarium-node/)
  2. Verify go.mod exists in the directory
  3. Enable module mode: 
    $env:GO111MODULE = "on"

Quick Reference

Build Commands

Component Directory Build Command
Node monetarium-node/ go build -o ..\monetarium-node.exe .
Wallet monetarium-wallet/ go build -o ..\monetarium-wallet.exe .
ctl monetarium-ctl/ go build -o ..\monetarium-ctl.exe .

Environment Variables

Variable Description Example
CGO_ENABLED Enable/disable CGO 0 or 1
GOOS Target operating system windows, linux, darwin
GOARCH Target architecture amd64, arm64
GOPROXY Module proxy https://proxy.golang.org,direct

Useful Commands

# Check Go environment
go env

# Clean build cache
go clean -cache

# Update dependencies
go mod tidy

# Verify dependencies
go mod verify

# List all dependencies
go list -m all

Support

For build issues:

  • GitHub Issues: https://github.com/monetarium/issues
  • Community Discord: [Link TBD]