If you're a power user, you can run the Urbit virtual machine directly using the command line. This can be run on your local machine or a server in the cloud, we just cover the general case here.

Note there is a much more comprehensive cloud hosting guide which walks through setting up Urbit on a Digital Ocean VPS.

1. Install Urbit

Choose your operating system and run the given command in your terminal to download the Urbit runtime:

• MacOS
• Linux
• Windows

curl -L https://urbit.org/install/mac/latest | tar xzk --strip=1 && ./urbit

Note our Mac build is only compatible with Apple Silicon (M1/M2) via Rosetta. If you have such a machine you may need to run the following command:

/usr/sbin/softwareupdate --install-rosetta --agree-to-license

If successful, you will see a block of output beginning with the line:

Urbit: a personal server operating function

2. Boot Urbit

An Urbit instance is intrinsically tied to a unique identity called an Urbit ID. There are five classes of Urbit ID, but we will consider two here: comets and planets.

• Comet: A comet is an identity which anyone can generate themselves, for free. It's a good option to try out Urbit. Comets are limited by the fact they cannot be "factory reset", meaning if your urbit somehow becomes broken or corrupted then you'll have to start again with a new identity. In that sense, they are impermanent.

• Planet: A planet is a permanent identity which you own forever. Planets are the class intended for individuals. While there are essentially an unlimited number of comets, planets are more scarce (preventing spamming, among other things). This scarcity means they usually aren't free (though sometimes nice people give them away). This guide will assume you've already acquired a planet. If you haven't, you can refer to the "Get a planet" guide before continuing.

Follow the instructions for your case:

• Boot a Comet
• Boot a Planet

In the terminal, with the urbit binary you installed in the previous step, a comet can be booted with the -c option:

./urbit -c mycomet

mycomet will be the name given to the data folder it will create. You can choose any name you like.

It may take a while to initialize the comet (usually only a couple of minutes, but it could take longer). When it's done, it'll take you to the dojo prompt (the dojo is Urbit's shell):

ames: live on 31337
http: web interface live on http://localhost:8080
http: loopback live on http://localhost:12321
~sampel_marzod:dojo>

You can shut down the comet again by typing |exit in the dojo or hitting Ctrl+D. When it's first shut down, the runtime will be copied inside the data folder, so you can start it up again by doing:

./mycomet/.run

Since comets are often used temporarily and then discarded, kernel updates are not enabled by default. If you plan to use your comet for a while, it's a good idea to enable updates with the following command in the dojo:

|ota (sein:title our now our)

Lastly, while the dojo is quite powerful, most people use their urbit via Landscape, the browser-based UI. In order to access Landscape, you need your web login code. You can get this by running the following command in the dojo:

+code

It'll spit out a code that'll look something like lidlut-tabwed-pillex-ridrup. Copy the code it gives you to the clipboard.

3. Login

While your urbit is running, the web interface called Landscape can be accessed in the browser. Its URL will usually be either localhost or localhost:8080, depending on your platform. To check the address, you can look at the boot messages in the terminal. You should see a line like:

http: web interface live on http://localhost:8080

Whichever address and port it says there is the one to open in the browser.

Once open, you'll be presented with the login screen. Paste in the web login code you copied from the dojo in the previous step and hit "continue". You'll now be taken to your homescreen, with tiles for the default apps such as Groups and Terminal.

Next steps

Learn how to get around your urbit.