<p>This was resolved by installing Bitcoin Core without the <code>--without-bdb</code> flag. The Bitcoin Core wallet used BerkeleyDB in the past (if you set up a wallet today it will use SQLite by default) so if you set up a Bitcoin Core wallet in the past then Bitcoin Core will try to access that wallet but it can't if BerkeleyDB wasn't configured.</p>
<p>To avoid this problem in future you can migrate BerkeleyDB, non-descriptor Bitcoin Core wallets to SQLite, descriptor Bitcoin Core wallets using the <code>migratewallet</code> <a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/19602" rel="nofollow noreferrer">RPC</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-28T10:06:54.700Z
2022-11-28T10:06:54.700Z
Michael Folkson
<p>Im following the guide here (<a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/build-osx.md" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/build-osx.md</a>) to install Bitcoin on my Mac. I want to be able to run bitcoind with and without the GUI.</p>
<p>The first time I went though this guide, I DIDNT install berkeley-db@4, and used the configuration:</p>
<pre><code>./autogen.sh
./configure --without-bdb --with-gui=yes
</code></pre>
<p>However, when i run <code>make</code> and then <code>./src/bitcoind</code> it fails and I get the message:</p>
<pre><code>2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Bitcoin Core version v24.99.0-9c47eb450346 (release build)
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using the 'sse4(1way),sse41(4way),avx2(8way)' SHA256 implementation
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using RdSeed as an additional entropy source
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using RdRand as an additional entropy source
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Default data directory /Users/me/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using data directory /Users/me/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Config file: /Users/me/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/bitcoin.conf (not found, skipping)
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Setting file arg: prune = &quot;1907&quot;
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Setting file arg: wallet = [&quot;My Bitcoin Core Wallet&quot;]
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using at most 125 automatic connections (285 file descriptors available)
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using 16 MiB out of 16 MiB requested for signature cache, able to store 524288 elements
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using 16 MiB out of 16 MiB requested for script execution cache, able to store 524288 elements
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Script verification uses 11 additional threads
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z scheduler thread start
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Binding RPC on address ::1 port 8332
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Binding RPC on address 127.0.0.1 port 8332
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z [http] creating work queue of depth 16
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using random cookie authentication.
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Generated RPC authentication cookie /Users/me/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/.cookie
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z [http] starting 4 worker threads
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using wallet directory /Users/me/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/wallets
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z init message: Verifying wallet(s)…
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Error: Failed to open database path '/Users/me/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/wallets/My Bitcoin Core Wallet'. Build does not support Berkeley DB database format.
Error: Failed to open database path '/Users/me/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/wallets/My Bitcoin Core Wallet'. Build does not support Berkeley DB database format.
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Shutdown: In progress...
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z scheduler thread exit
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Shutdown: done
</code></pre>
<p>The error being <code>Error: Failed to open database path '/Users/me/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/wallets/My Bitcoin Core Wallet'. Build does not support Berkeley DB database format</code></p>
<p>So I went back and installed berkley with <code>brew install berkeley-db@4</code>. Then I again ran:</p>
<pre><code>./autogen.sh
./configure --without-bdb --with-gui=yes
</code></pre>
<p>and then:</p>
<pre><code>make
</code></pre>
<p>But when I run <code>./src/bitcoind</code> I STILL get the same error above. What am I doing wrong?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-27T16:36:41.753Z
Did you set up "My Bitcoin Core Wallet" as a BerkeleyDB wallet a while ago and now your Bitcoin Core is trying to access that BerkeleyDB wallet but BerkeleyDB isn't configured? Try installing without the --without-bdb flag?
Michael Folkson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-28T09:56:20.427Z
Turns out thats exactly what happened, leaving out  --without-bdb fixed it. Thanks!
Mark
<bitcoin-core><wallet><bitcoind><database>
Error installing on Mac - Build does not support Berkeley DB database format
Mark
# Error installing on Mac - Build does not support Berkeley DB database format

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-11-27)

Im following the guide here (<https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/build-osx.md>) to install Bitcoin on my Mac. I want to be able to run bitcoind with and without the GUI.

The first time I went though this guide, I DIDNT install berkeley-db@4, and used the configuration:

```
./autogen.sh
./configure --without-bdb --with-gui=yes

```

However, when i run `make` and then `./src/bitcoind` it fails and I get the message:

```
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Bitcoin Core version v24.99.0-9c47eb450346 (release build)
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using the 'sse4(1way),sse41(4way),avx2(8way)' SHA256 implementation
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using RdSeed as an additional entropy source
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using RdRand as an additional entropy source
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Default data directory /Users/me/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using data directory /Users/me/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Config file: /Users/me/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/bitcoin.conf (not found, skipping)
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Setting file arg: prune = "1907"
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Setting file arg: wallet = ["My Bitcoin Core Wallet"]
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using at most 125 automatic connections (285 file descriptors available)
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using 16 MiB out of 16 MiB requested for signature cache, able to store 524288 elements
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using 16 MiB out of 16 MiB requested for script execution cache, able to store 524288 elements
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Script verification uses 11 additional threads
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z scheduler thread start
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Binding RPC on address ::1 port 8332
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Binding RPC on address 127.0.0.1 port 8332
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z [http] creating work queue of depth 16
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using random cookie authentication.
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Generated RPC authentication cookie /Users/me/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/.cookie
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z [http] starting 4 worker threads
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Using wallet directory /Users/me/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/wallets
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z init message: Verifying wallet(s)…
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Error: Failed to open database path '/Users/me/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/wallets/My Bitcoin Core Wallet'. Build does not support Berkeley DB database format.
Error: Failed to open database path '/Users/me/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/wallets/My Bitcoin Core Wallet'. Build does not support Berkeley DB database format.
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Shutdown: In progress...
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z scheduler thread exit
2022-11-27T16:20:32Z Shutdown: done

```

The error being `Error: Failed to open database path '/Users/me/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/wallets/My Bitcoin Core Wallet'. Build does not support Berkeley DB database format`

So I went back and installed berkley with `brew install berkeley-db@4`. Then I again ran:

```
./autogen.sh
./configure --without-bdb --with-gui=yes

```

and then:

```
make

```

But when I run `./src/bitcoind` I STILL get the same error above. What am I doing wrong?

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, wallet, bitcoind, database

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Did you set up "My Bitcoin Core Wallet" as a BerkeleyDB wallet a while ago and now your Bitcoin Core is trying to access that BerkeleyDB wallet but BerkeleyDB isn't configured? Try installing without the --without-bdb flag?  
> **username_0**: Turns out thats exactly what happened, leaving out  --without-bdb fixed it. Thanks!  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-11-28. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

This was resolved by installing Bitcoin Core without the `--without-bdb` flag. The Bitcoin Core wallet used BerkeleyDB in the past (if you set up a wallet today it will use SQLite by default) so if you set up a Bitcoin Core wallet in the past then Bitcoin Core will try to access that wallet but it can't if BerkeleyDB wasn't configured.

To avoid this problem in future you can migrate BerkeleyDB, non-descriptor Bitcoin Core wallets to SQLite, descriptor Bitcoin Core wallets using the `migratewallet` [RPC](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/19602).


---

