Install and run Z2 in 5 minutes¶

« Step 1 - What is z2

Prerequisites¶

Z2 has the following Java Version requirements

Z2 Version	Min. Java version required	Max Java version supported	Max language level
2.1 - 2.3.1	Java 6	Java 7	Java 7
2.4 - 2.5	Java 8	Java 8	Java 8
2.6	Java 9	Java 11	Java 10
2.7	Java 9	Java 11	Java 11
2.8	Java 9	Java 13	Java 13
2.9b	Java 8	Java 8	Java 8
2.9.1	Java 11	Java 16	Java 15
2.9.1b	Java 8	Java 8	Java 8
2.10	Java 11	Java 18	Java 18
master	Java 11	?	Java 18

Note: Most samples suggest to use the master branch. You may choose another version branch (please check the respective repository).
Make sure you have a corresponding Java Development Kit (JDK) or Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed. If in doubt, go to Download Java SE.

Note: Running v2.1-v2.3.1 on Java 8 is supported by specifying

com.zfabrik.java.level=7

(or 6, if that is your desired compilation language level) in <home>/run/bin/runtime.properties. By this the Java compiler version detection does not fall back to a lower level.

It is beneficial to use the Eclipse IDE (Ganymed, Helios, Indigo, Kepler work all fine). There's a small Eclipse plug-in called "Eclipsoid" which makes it easier to develop z2 applications within Eclipse (see Step 3 - First steps with Z2 on Git for more details). That plugin is also available for Intellij. However you can use any IDE (including vi and notepad) together with z2.

Creating a home for Z2¶

This is a best practice approach (and other approaches are possible). We recommend to keep the repositories and the IDE workspace close together. This way we don't need to adjust the path settings in the Z2 configuration files and they can remain relative paths.

Create a folder called z2-base inside your favorite/home/development/what-ever directory and enter it:

mkdir z2-base
cd z2-base

Installing the z2-base Distribution¶

The fastest way to start with z2 is by installing the z2-base distribution that contains the z2-core and complete copy of the z2-base.base component repository in one installable archive and requires no access to remote repositories (see also How_to_create_your_own_system for more details).

In order to install, download from the web site and unpackage.

On Mac-OS or Linux run:

wget https://redmine.z2-environment.net/attachments/download/428/z2-base-v2.6.zip
unzip z2-base-v2.6.zip

On Windows download the archive and unpack using the Windows explorer. Make sure to unpack into the z2-base folder we created before.

This will create a folder z2-base.core that contains the complete version 2.6 z2-base installation.

Starting¶

Make sure to have a Java Development Kit (JDK) or a Java Runtime Environment of version 9 or 10 installed and executable. Test this by running

java -version

Start Z2 by running

z2-base.core/bin/gui.sh

on Mac-OS or Linux, or

z2-base.core/bin/gui.bat

on Windows.

That's it.

What's Next¶

This tutorial will continue by showing you how to develop with Z2. If you ask yourself how to add remote repositories, please check out How_to_create_your_own_system.

• » Step 3 - First steps with Z2 on Git