title: Zettelstore installation for the intermediate user
role: manual
tags: #installation #manual #zettelstore
syntax: zmk
back: 00001003000000
backward: 00001003000000 00001003305000
box-number: 1
copyright: (c) 2020-present by Detlef Stern <ds@zettelstore.de>
created: 20211125191727
forward: 00001003305000 00001003310000 00001003315000 00001003600000 00001004010000 00001004011200 00001010040100 00001010090100
lang: en
license: EUPL-1.2-or-later
modified: 20250227220050
published: 20250227220050
visibility: public

You have already tried the Zettelstore software and now you want to use it permanently.
Zettelstore should start automatically when you log into your computer.
* Grab the appropriate executable and copy it into the appropriate directory
* If you want to place your zettel into another directory, or if you want more than one [[Zettelstore box|00001004011200]], or if you want to [[enable authentication|00001010040100]], or if you want to tweak your Zettelstore in some other way, create an appropriate [[startup configuration file|00001004010000]].
* If you created a startup configuration file, you need to test it:
** Start a command line prompt for your operating system.
** Navigate to the directory, where you placed the Zettelstore executable.
   In most cases, this is done by the command ``cd DIR``, where ''DIR'' denotes the directory, where you placed the executable.
** Start the Zettelstore:
*** On Windows execute the command ``zettelstore.exe run -c CONFIG_FILE``
*** On macOS execute the command ``./zettelstore run -c CONFIG_FILE``
*** On Linux execute the command ``./zettelstore run -c CONFIG_FILE``
** In all cases ''CONFIG_FILE'' must be replaced with the file name where you wrote the startup configuration.
** If you encounter some error messages, update the startup configuration, and try again.
* Depending on your operating system, there are different ways to register Zettelstore to start automatically:
** [[Windows|00001003305000]]
** [[macOS|00001003310000]]
** [[Linux|00001003315000]]
A word of caution: Never expose Zettelstore directly to the Internet.
As a personal service, Zettelstore is not designed to handle all aspects of the open web.
For instance, it lacks support for certificate handling, which is necessary for encrypted HTTP connections.
To ensure security, [[install Zettelstore on a server|00001003600000]] and place it behind a proxy server designed for Internet exposure.
For more details, see: [[External server to encrypt message transport|00001010090100]].