macOS Installation Guide#
This guide describes how to download, install and encrypt the Dash Core wallet for macOS. The guide is written for macOS Sierra, but the steps should be similar for other versions.
Downloading the Dash Core wallet#
Visit https://www.dash.org/downloads/ to download the latest Dash Core wallet. In most cases, the website will properly detect which version you need. Click Download Installer to download the installer directly.
The website properly detects the wallet appropriate for your system#
If detection does not work, you will need to manually choose your operating system. Go to https://www.dash.org/downloads/ and select the macOS tab, then click Download Installer. Save the file you downloaded to your Downloads folder.
Verifying Dash Core#
This step is optional, but recommended to verify the authenticity of the file you downloaded. This is done by checking its detached signature against the public key published by the Dash Core development team. To download the detached signature, click the Installer Signature button on the wallet download page and save it to the same folder as the downloaded binary (which should be by default). You may also need to download GPG, which you can do via https://gpgtools.org/.
All releases of Dash since 0.16.0 are signed using GPG with the following key:
Pasta (pasta) with the key
5252 7BED ABE8 7984, verifiable on Keybase (download)
Open a terminal, import the keys and verify the authenticity of your download as follows:
curl https://keybase.io/pasta/pgp_keys.asc | gpg --import
gpg --verify dashcore-21.1.1-osx.dmg.asc
Downloading the PGP key and verifying the signed binary#
If you see the message Good signature from ... then you have an
authentic copy of Dash Core for macOS.
Note
If you have your own key configured, you can eliminate warnings from the verification output by signing the imported key before verifying:
gpg --quick-lsign-key "29590362EC878A81FD3C202B52527BEDABE87984"
gpg --verify dashcore-21.1.1-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz.asc
Installing Dash Core#
Open Finder and browse to your Downloads folder. Then double-click on the .dmg file you downloaded to decompress it. A window appears showing the contents of the file.
Opening the Dash Core .dmg file#
Drag the Dash Core application file into your Applications folder to install Dash Core.
Installing Dash Core#
Running Dash Core for the first time#
To run Dash Core for the first time, either open Launchpad or browse to your Applications folder in Finder. Double-click Dash Core or Dash-Qt to start the application. You may see a warning about opening an app downloaded from the internet. Simply click Open to continue launching the application.
Unblocking macOS from running Dash Core#
The first time the program is launched, you will be offered a choice of where you want to store your blockchain and wallet data. Choose a location with enough free space, as the blockchain can reach 45GB+ in size. It is recommended to use the default data folder if possible.
Choosing the Dash Core data folder#
Dash Core will then start up. This will take a little longer than usual the first time you run it, since Dash Core needs to generate cryptographic data to secure your wallet.
Starting Dash Core#
Synchronizing Dash Core to the Dash network#
Once Dash Core is successfully installed and started, you will see the wallet overview screen. The status bar at the bottom of the window will show the synchronization progress.
Dash Core begins synchronizing with the Dash network#
During this process, Dash Core will download a full copy of the Dash blockchain from other nodes to your device. Depending on your internet connection, this may take a long time. If you see the message “No block source available”, check your internet connection. When synchronization is complete, you will see a small blue tick in the lower right corner.
Dash Core synchronization is complete#
You can now create a wallet to send and receive funds.
Creating your Dash Wallet#
New in version v20.1.0: HD wallets are now created by default.
If no wallet files are loaded, you will get this prompt in the Overview tab. To create a wallet, click the Create a new wallet button or click File -> Create Wallet. HD wallets are created by default. See the advanced topics section for information about HD wallets.
You will be prompted to create a new wallet with a custom wallet name. By default, your wallet will be encrypted. You may choose to uncheck the box and encrypt the wallet later. We have included instructions on how to encrypt your wallet in the following section.
If you do choose to encrypt now, you will be asked to enter and verify a password.
Enter a password#
Following that, you will get a standard warning.
Confirm you want to encrypt your wallet#
The following section will detail the steps you need to follow if you choose to encrypt your Dash wallet later.
Encrypting your Dash wallet#
To encrypt your wallet, click Settings > Encrypt Wallet.
Encrypting the Dash wallet with a password#
You will be asked to enter and verify a password.
Enter a password#
Confirm you want to encrypt your wallet#
When the encryption process is complete, you will see a warning that past backups of your wallet will no longer be usable, and be asked to shut down Dash Core. When you restart Dash Core, you will see a small blue lock in the lower right corner.
Fully encrypted and synchronized Dash Core wallet#
You can now begin to use your wallet to safely send and receive funds.