Install and first start

Unpack and run

OwlAttic Terminal for Windows comes as a ZIP file. Unpack it to a folder of your choice and run owlattic-terminal.exe. There is nothing else to install.

The app is not code-signed yet, so the first time you run it, Windows SmartScreen may say that it protected your PC: click More info, then Run anyway.

OwlAttic Terminal for macOS comes as a ZIP file with one app for Macs with Apple silicon or an Intel processor, on macOS 13 Ventura or newer. Unzip it, drag OwlAttic Terminal into Applications (or any folder) and open it.

The app is not signed by Apple yet, so the first time you open it, macOS says it cannot check it for malicious software. Close the message, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down to the message about OwlAttic Terminal, click Open Anyway and confirm. After that it opens like any other app.

OwlAttic Terminal for Linux comes as a .tar.gz archive, for 64-bit Linux with glibc 2.35 or newer (Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12 and later). Unpack it and run ./owlattic-terminal in its folder. It needs a graphics driver with Vulkan: Mesa for Intel and AMD, the NVIDIA driver for NVIDIA.

Choose where your data lives

The first time it starts, OwlAttic Terminal asks where to keep your servers, settings and vault:

• The usual place (recommended): %APPDATA%\OwlAttic\Terminal on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/OwlAttic/Terminal on macOS, ~/.config/owlattic/terminal on Linux. New versions find it on their own.
• Next to the program (portable, Windows and Linux only), for example on a USB drive. When you update, copy the data folder to the new version.
• Somewhere else: a folder you choose, on another drive for example.

You can change it later in Settings → Advanced → Config & data. One copy of OwlAttic Terminal opens a data folder at a time; starting it again brings the open window to the front.

OwlAttic Terminal is in beta, and later versions may not read this version’s data: back up your data folder before you update.

Open your first connection

Click quick connect in the title bar, type user@host and press Enter. The first time you connect to a server, OwlAttic Terminal shows its host key fingerprint: confirm it only if it matches the one you expect.

On macOS 15 and later, the first time you connect to a server on your local network, macOS asks whether OwlAttic Terminal may connect to devices on your local network. Allow it, then press Enter in the tab to connect again: the first try fails while macOS asks. You can change it later in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Local Network.

Next: Connect to your servers.