FlowFuse Installer

This repository provides the installer for local installations of the FlowFuse platform.

Please refer to the main documentation for a complete guide to installing and setting up the platform: https://github.com/flowfuse/flowforge/tree/main/docs

Prerequisites

Operating System

The install script has been tested against the following operating systems:

• Raspbian/Raspberry Pi OS versions Buster/Bullseye ¹
• Debian Buster/Bullseye
• Fedora 35
• Ubuntu 20.04
• CentOS 8/RHEL 8/Amazon Linux 2
• MacOS Big Sur & Monterey on Intel & Apple M processors
• Windows 10 & 11

Node.js

FlowFuse requires Node.js v18.

Linux

The install script will check to see if it can find a suitable version of Node.js. If not, it will offer to install it for you.

It will also ensure you have the appropriate build tools installed that are often needed by Node.js modules to build native components.

Windows/MacOS

If the install script cannot find a suitable version of Node.js, it will exit.

You will need to manually install it before proceeding. Information about how to do this can be found on the Node.js website here: https://nodejs.org/en/download

You will also need to install the appropriate build tools.

• Windows: the standard Node.js installer will offer to do that for you.
• MacOS: you will need the XCode Command Line Tools to be installed. This can be done by running the following command:

  xcode-select --install
  

Installing FlowFuse

1. Create a directory to be the base of your FlowFuse install. For example: /opt/flowforge or c:\flowforge

   For Linux/MacOS:

   sudo mkdir /opt/flowforge
   sudo chown $USER /opt/flowforge
   

   For Windows:

   mkdir c:\flowforge
   

2. Download the latest Installer zip file into a temporary location.

3. Unzip the downloaded zip file and copy its contents to the FlowForge directory

   For Linux/MacOS:

   Assumes /tmp/ is the directory where you downloaded flowforge-installer.zip

   cd /tmp/
   unzip flowforge-installer.zip
   cp -R flowforge-installer/* /opt/flowforge
   

   For Windows:

   Assumes c:\temp is the directory where you downloaded flowforge-installer.zip

   cd c:\temp
   tar -xf flowforge-installer.zip
   xcopy /E /I flowforge-installer c:\flowforge
   

4. Run the installer and follow the prompts

   For Linux/MacOS:

   cd /opt/flowforge
   ./install.sh
   

   For Windows:

   cd c:\flowforge
   install.bat
   

Installing as a service (optional)

On Linux, the installer will ask if you want to run FlowFuse as a service. This will mean it starts automatically whenever you restart your device.

If you select this option, it will ask if you want to run the service as the current user, or create a new flowforge user. If you choose to create the user, it will also change the ownership of the FlowForge directory to that user.

Configuring FlowFuse

The default FlowFuse configuration is provided in the file flowforge.yml

• Linux/MacOS: /opt/flowforge/etc/flowforge.yml
• Windows: c:\flowforge\etc\flowforge.yml

The default configuration file already contains everything you need to get started with FlowFuse.

It will allow you to access FlowFuse and the projects you create, from the same server running the platform. If you want to allow access from other devices on the network, you must edit the configuration file and change the host setting to 0.0.0.0. NOTE: We do not support changing the host value once you have created a project. For more information on all of the options available, see the configuration guide.

Running FlowFuse

If you have installed FlowFuse as a service, it can be started by running:

service flowforge start

To run it manually, you can use:

• Linux/MacOS:

  /opt/flowforge/bin/flowforge.sh
  

• Windows:

  c:\flowforge\bin\flowforge.bat
  

First Run Setup

Once FlowFuse is started, you can access the platform in your browser at http://localhost:3000.

The first time you access it, the platform will take you through creating an administrator for the platform and other configuration options.

For more information, follow this guide.

Footnotes

1. Arm6 devices, such as the original Raspberry Pi Zero and Zero W are not supported. ↩