# Install

PLESTY Bench goes on the **bench** — the lab PC your instruments are plugged
into. Each release carries an installer per platform, offered on
[plesty.net/download](https://plesty.net/download/index.html); older ones are
on the [releases](https://gitlab.com/plesty/core/plesty-bench/-/releases)
page. An installer needs no administrator rights, installs
the complete application — the console, the command line and the agent — and
pins it to that release, so every bench installed from the same file runs the
same version.

## Windows

1. From [plesty.net/download](https://plesty.net/download/index.html#windows),
   download `plesty-server-<version>-windows-setup.exe`.
2. Run it. Windows may say *"Windows protected your PC — Unknown publisher"*:
   the installer is not signed yet. Press **More info**, then **Run anyway**.
3. On *Plesty share*, choose the **Plesty share** — the shared disk every
   machine of the lab reaches, as this machine mounts it, e.g. `Z:\plesty` —
   and this bench's own **folder** in it, e.g. `platform-a`. Every device the
   bench starts writes in that folder. **Skip** if the disk is not mounted
   yet, and set both later in *Server ▸ Configure…*.
4. On *Select Additional Tasks*, tick **Create a desktop shortcut** if you
   want one; press **Next**, then **Install**. The wizard shows the
   application being downloaded and installed — a few minutes on a first
   install.
5. At the end, leave **Launch PLESTY Bench** ticked and press **Finish**.

What it installs, all under your own user:

| | Where |
|---|---|
| `uv` and a Python 3.12 of its own | where `uv` keeps them |
| the application | `%LOCALAPPDATA%\PLESTY Bench\app` |
| the commands `plesty-server` and `plesty-server-gui` | `%USERPROFILE%\.local\bin` |
| Start-menu entries | *PLESTY Bench* and *Uninstall PLESTY Bench* |
| the install log | `%LOCALAPPDATA%\PLESTY Bench\install.log` |

If an install fails, the wizard names the reason; the install log has the
rest.

The `plesty-server` command line has no Start-menu entry of its own: open a
terminal (PowerShell or Command Prompt) and type `plesty-server`, or use the
*Terminal* tab of the app. Later releases are installed from the app itself,
*Help ▸ Check for updates…* ([Upgrade a bench](usage/upgrade.md)).

## macOS and Linux

1. From [plesty.net/download](https://plesty.net/download/index.html#macos-and-linux),
   copy the install command — `curl -LsSf <install.sh of the release> | sh` —
   or download `install.sh` itself.
2. In a terminal, run that command, or the downloaded script:

   ```bash
   sh install.sh
   ```

   It installs `uv` if it is missing, then the application as a `uv` tool, and
   adds *PLESTY Bench* to `~/Applications` (Launchpad) on macOS or to the
   applications menu on Linux.

`PLESTY_SERVER_VERSION=0.3.3 sh install.sh` installs another release than the
one the script came with.

## Check it

Open *PLESTY Bench* from the Start menu, Launchpad or the applications menu.
The console opens on an empty bench, and its first start offers the welcome
demo; *Help ▸ About* names the version. In a terminal, `plesty-server status`
answers with an empty table.

Next: [The welcome demo experiment](welcome_demo.md) — a measurement on this
PC with no instrument attached — or [Set up a bench](usage/first_bench.md),
your first instrument.

## What else a bench needs

Nothing, in most labs. `git` is used only for modules installed from a
repository (for field tests or development): a Windows bench fetches a
portable one for itself, and on macOS or Linux it comes from the package
manager. Instrument vendors' own drivers — a VISA runtime, a camera SDK — are
the device module's requirement, and its documentation names them.

## Without the installer

On macOS or Linux the same application is one command. The `gui` extra is the
console; leave it out on a bench that runs without a window.

```bash
uv tool install "plesty-server[gui]"
```

This takes the newest release rather than a pinned one and adds no launcher;
`sh install.sh --launcher-only` adds the launcher to an installation made this
way.

## On your own computer

To drive a bench from another machine you need only the client:

```bash
uv tool install plesty-bench              # the client
uv tool install "plesty-bench[control]"   # … with the control panels, which need Qt
```

See [Work from another machine](usage/remote.md).

## From a source checkout

To work on PLESTY Bench itself:

```bash
git clone https://gitlab.com/plesty/core/plesty-bench.git
cd plesty-bench && uv sync --extra gui
uv run python -m plesty.server gui
```

## Update and uninstall

Upgrading to a newer release is [Upgrade a bench](usage/upgrade.md);
uninstalling — with or without the bench's own data — and moving a bench to
another PC are [Uninstall a bench](usage/uninstall.md).