How do I install a specific version of bitcoin-core

Question

I need to run bitcoind version 0.17, however the latest available version is 0.18, if I follow the instructions from this link it installs the latest version.

The below links lists the packages for the version I need however I am not sure how to use it, I mean how to install it on my local machine as apt-get install command does automatically.

https://bitcoincore.org/bin/bitcoin-core-0.17.1/

Can someone help me with this please?

Answer 1

You can just unzip the file and run the binary. Typically the binaries bitcoind and bitcoin-cli, etc. are stored in the /usr/local/bin, man folder in the /usr/local/man, etc. so that it is in your machine's PATH environment variable and can be run from anywhere.

If you choose to download the source code, you can install by following instructions here (for Unix): Build Unix

./autogen.sh
./configure
make
make install

But you may need to install dependencies. See Linux Distribution Specific Instructions

Answer 2

If you're building from source, you can select a specific version as follows:

First, review the build requirements, dependencies, and instructions for your OS:

https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/tree/master/doc

Once that is done, use git to pull the source code and select a branch:

## clone the bitcoin repository
$ git clone https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin.git

## change folders
$ cd bitcoin

## check which versions are available
$ git tag

## find your desired version in the list, and then 'checkout'
$ git checkout v0.x.x

## now you can build:
$ ./autogen.sh
$ ./configure
$ ./make
$ sudo make install

Once you have finished the install and booted up bitcoind, you can confirm the correct version of the client and daemon are running:

bitcoin-cli getnetworkinfo

bitcoind --version