<!DOCtype HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html lang="en">
<head>
<style type="text/css">
p.p1 {font-size:85%;}
p.p1 {font-style:italic;}
</style>
<title>Getting Tahoe-LAFS</title>
<link rev="made" class="mailto" href="mailto:zooko[at]zooko[dot]com">
<meta name="description" content="how to get Tahoe-LAFS">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<meta name="keywords" content="tahoe-lafs secure decentralized filesystem installation">
</head>
<body>
<h1>About Tahoe-LAFS</h1>
<p> The homepage of Tahoe-LAFS is <a href="http://tahoe-lafs.org">
http://tahoe-lafs.org</a>. There is a one-page overview at <a href="about.html">
About Tahoe-LAFS</a>.
<h1>How To Get Tahoe-LAFS</h1>
<p class=p1>This has been verified to work on Windows, Mac, OpenSolaris,
and too many flavors of Linux and of *BSD to list. It's likely to work on
other platforms.</p>
<p class=p1><strong>WARNING!</strong> There are a few third-party
libraries that Tahoe-LAFS depends on that might not be easy to set up on
your platform. If the following instructions don't Just Work, please write
to <a href="http://tahoe-lafs.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tahoe-dev">the
tahoe-dev mailing list</a> where fun, friendly, hackers will help you out!
You might also find clues in the Advanced Installation section below.</p>
<h2>Install Python</h2>
<p>Check if you already have an adequate version of Python installed by
running <cite>python --version</cite>. Python v2.4 (v2.4.4 or
greater), Python v2.5, Python v2.6, or Python v2.7 will
work. Python v3 does not work. On Windows, we recommend the use of
Python v2.6 (native, not Cygwin).</p>
<p>If you don't have one of these versions of Python installed, then
follow the instructions on
<a href="http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.6.6/">the Python
download page</a> to download and install Python v2.6. Make sure
that the path to the installation directory has no spaces in it (e.g. on
Windows, do not install Python in the "<tt>Program Files</tt>" directory).
</p>
<h2>Get Tahoe-LAFS</h2>
<p>Download the latest stable release, v1.8.2:</p>
<pre><a
href="http://tahoe-lafs.org/source/tahoe-lafs/releases/allmydata-tahoe-1.8.2.zip">http://tahoe-lafs.org/source/tahoe-lafs/releases/allmydata-tahoe-1.8.2.zip</a></pre>
<h2>Set Up Tahoe-LAFS</h2>
<p>Unpack the zip file and cd into the top-level directory.</p>
<p>Run <cite>python setup.py build</cite> to generate the <cite>tahoe</cite>
executable in a subdirectory of the current directory named <cite>bin</cite>.
This will download and build anything you need from various websites.</p>
<p>On Windows, the <cite>build</cite> step might tell you to open a new
Command Prompt (or, on XP and earlier, to log out and back in again).
This is needed the first time you set up Tahoe-LAFS on a particular
installation of Windows.</p>
<p>Optionally run <cite>python setup.py test</cite> to verify that it
passes all of its self-tests.</p>
<p>Run <cite>bin/tahoe --version</cite> (on Windows,
<cite>bin\tahoe --version</cite>) to verify that the executable tool prints
out the right version number.</p>
<h2>Run Tahoe-LAFS</h2>
<p>Now you are ready to deploy a decentralized filesystem. The
<cite>tahoe</cite> executable in the <cite>bin</cite> directory can
configure and launch your Tahoe-LAFS nodes.
See <a href="running.html">running.html</a> for instructions on how to do
that.</p>
<h2>Advanced Installation</h2>
<p>For optional features such as tighter integration with your operating
system's package manager, you can see the
<a href="http://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe/wiki/AdvancedInstall">AdvancedInstall</a>
wiki page. The options on that page are not necessary to use Tahoe-LAFS
and can be complicated, so we do not recommend following that page unless
you have unusual requirements for advanced optional features. For most
people, you should first follow the instructions on this page, and if that
doesn't work then ask for help by writing to
<a href="http://tahoe-lafs.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tahoe-dev">the
tahoe-dev mailing list</a>.</p>
</body>
</html>