Orion/How Tos/Install Orion on Localhost

This page explains how to download, install, and run Orion on your local machine.

Downloading Orion

1. Download Orion for your platform from the download page. Choose the most recent Stable Build.
2. Unzip the zip file to a folder on your computer.
   Note: Be sure to choose a folder that you have write access to.
   Mac OS X: use the command line unzip. If you use the "Archive Utility", make sure that you "Allow Applications Downloaded form: Anywhere" in (System Preferences->Security & Privacy->General)

Starting the server

1. Make sure you have Java installed - the server is implemented in Java and requires Java SE 6. (Does 'java -version' print something like: java version "1.6.0_22"?). You also need a modern HTML5-capable browser. We recommend Firefox 15 or greater, Chrome 21 or greater, or Internet Explorer 10 or greater.
2. Launch the Orion server:
   • Linux: Run eclipse/orion.
   • Mac OS X: Double-click eclipse/orion.
   • Windows: Double-click eclipse\orion.exe.

     Once you launch the Orion server, the server console should start.

     
3. Now the server is running on port 8080. (If you want it to use a different port, change the setting in the orion.ini file. On Mac OS X, you will have to right-click on eclipse/eclipse and select "Show Package Contents", then navigate into Contents/MacOS.)
4. Point your web browser to http://localhost:8080/.
5. You'll be directed to the Orion login screen:
   
   From here you can create a new account for yourself on your local Orion server, or connect Orion to an existing Google or Mozilla Persona account instead (both these two options require an initial Orion account).

Stopping the server

1. Go to the server console window that opened when you launched the server.
2. Type close and press Enter.

Using Orion

Getting started

After you've got Orion installed and running, read Getting started with Orion for a brief tour of the user interface and basic features.

Linking to existing content

You can try out Orion's text editing features by editing existing files on your computer.

1. Configure the allowed local paths the Orion server can access. See the Server administration guide for details on how to configure what directories are available to the Orion server.
2. Log in and click the "Link Folder" button on the toolbar.
3. Type in a name for the link, and in the Server path: field, enter the path to the folder you want to link to (it must be a subdirectory of one of the paths you supplied in Step 2).
4. Click OK.
5. You should now be able to browse and edit the contents of the folder from the Orion UI.