• Prerequisites
• Download Image
• Extract and Verify
• Create VM
  • Using virt-manager (QEMU/KVM)
• Initial Setup
  • Get VM IP Address
  • SSH into VM
  • Run Setup Wizard
• Configure Signet
  • 1. SSH back into VM
  • 2. Switch to Signet
  • 3. Edit Bitcoin Config
  • 4. Restart Bitcoin
  • 5. Monitor Sync
• Useful Commands
• References

Quick guide to set up a RaspiBlitz development environment on signet using QEMU/KVM.

§Prerequisites

• QEMU/KVM or VirtualBox installed
• ~100GB disk space available

§Download Image

Download the latest amd64-lean legacyboot image from GitHub Actions (e.g., raspiblitz-amd64-image-YYYY-MM-DD-*.zip): https://github.com/raspiblitz/raspiblitz/actions/workflows/amd64-lean-legacyboot-image.yml

§Extract and Verify

unzip raspiblitz-amd64-image-*.zip
sha256sum raspiblitz-amd64-debian-lean.qcow2.gz
cat raspiblitz-amd64-debian-lean.qcow2.gz.sha256  # Verify match

gunzip -d raspiblitz-amd64-debian-lean.qcow2.gz
sha256sum raspiblitz-amd64-debian-lean.qcow2
cat raspiblitz-amd64-debian-lean.qcow2.sha256  # Verify match

§Create VM

§Using virt-manager (QEMU/KVM)

1. Import Disk Image

• New VM → Import existing disk image
• Select raspiblitz-amd64-debian-lean.qcow2
• OS: Debian 13
• Architecture: x86_64

2. Create Data Volume

• Add storage volume: raspiblitz-data.qcow2
• Capacity: 2000 GiB (for blockchain data)
• Format: qcow2
• Bus type: SATA

3. VM Specs

• Memory: 4096 MiB
• CPUs: 4
• Network: NAT (default)

4. Start VM and take a snapshot for easy reset

§Initial Setup

§Get VM IP Address

Press Ctrl+C in the VM console, then:

ip a

§SSH into VM

ssh admin@<VM_IP>
# Password: raspiblitz

§Run Setup Wizard

1. Choose FRESHSETUP
2. Do NOT enable booting from SSD/NVMe
3. Set passwords (use raspiblitz for dev environments)
4. Wait for bootstrap to complete

§Configure Signet

After the setup wizard shows the blockchain sync menu:

§1. SSH back into VM

ssh admin@<VM_IP>

§2. Switch to Signet

# Disable other networks
systemctl disable bitcoind.service
config.scripts/bitcoin.install.sh off testnet
config.scripts/bitcoin.install.sh off mainnet

# Enable signet
config.scripts/bitcoin.install.sh on signet

§3. Edit Bitcoin Config

sudo vim /mnt/hdd/app-data/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf

Replace mainnet=1 with signet=1

§4. Restart Bitcoin

sudo systemctl restart sbitcoind

§5. Monitor Sync

tail -f /mnt/hdd/app-data/bitcoin/signet/debug.log

§Useful Commands

# Monitor RaspiBlitz logs
tail -F /mnt/hdd/raspiblitz.log

# Access RaspiBlitz menu
raspiblitz

§References

• RaspiBlitz VM Documentation
• AMD64 Build FAQ