Skip to main content
BB-Eco app icon: Brainboxes 'B' logomark on a dark rounded squareBB Eco

Install BB-Eco

A single self-contained desktop app with no Java, no .NET runtime, everything bundled. Available now for Windows.

Download for Windows

macOS  ·  Linux  ·  CLI: coming soon

BB-Eco-Setup-x64.exe · Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit · per-user installer, no admin required
Platforms

Windows is available now. macOS (Apple Silicon) and Linux are coming soon.

BB-Eco ships as a single self-contained desktop app. No Java runtime, no .NET runtime: everything is bundled.

Target platforms​

PlatformMinimumStatus
Windows10 or 11, 64-bitAvailable now
macOS13 Ventura on Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4)Coming soon
LinuxUbuntu 22.04+, Debian 12+, Fedora 38+, RHEL 9+ (64-bit)Coming soon
RAM512 MB free—
Disk350 MB—
NetworkSame Layer 2 broadcast domain as your devices for auto-discovery; cross-subnet works with manual entry—
Windows Server

Windows Server 2019 and later with Desktop Experience can run BB-Eco on a best-effort basis; primary QA is on Windows 10 / 11 client. Server Core (no GUI) is desktop-app-incompatible; use the BB-Eco CLI there. Beware: Server usually suppresses firewall notifications, so blocked inbound UDP fails silently. Run bb-eco firewall status to check, and bb-eco firewall register (elevated) to fix. Firmware upgrades also need an L2 path to the device.

Install on Windows​

  1. Download the latest installer: BB-Eco-Setup-x64.exe.

  2. Double-click the installer. It is signed by Brainboxes Ltd; if Windows SmartScreen still shows a warning, click More info then Run anyway.

  3. The installer is per-user, with no install-location wizard: it installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\bb-eco\ without administrator rights and launches BB-Eco when it finishes. The one thing that needs administrator permission is the Windows firewall rule BB-Eco needs for device discovery and firmware upgrades, so a first install asks once, with the standard Windows administrator prompt. Later updates never ask. (Updating from a 0.8 or early 0.9 version that was installed for all users shows one prompt to remove that old copy and keeps your settings and device cache.)

  4. After the first launch, BB-Eco is also available from the Start menu for subsequent runs.

Windows Defender Firewall

The installer adds the firewall rule for you, so no Windows Security Alert should appear. If you declined the prompt, or the rule was removed later, BB-Eco shows an Add firewall rule banner that performs the same one-off registration. If Windows itself ever asks whether BB-Eco can communicate on private and public networks, allow both, because plant-floor networks usually count as "public". On IT-managed machines where Group Policy controls the firewall, see BB Eco firewall rules for IT administrators.

Install on macOS​

Coming soon

The macOS build is not yet available. We're targeting Apple Silicon only (M1, M2, M3, M4); there will be no Intel Mac build. The disk image will be distributed as BB-Eco-arm64.dmg from the same channel as the Windows installer once it ships.

In the meantime: install the Windows build under Parallels or UTM. The CLI follows the same Windows-first cadence (see Install the BB-Eco CLI below).

Install on Linux​

Coming soon

The Linux desktop build is not yet available. We plan to ship a .deb package (Ubuntu / Debian), a .rpm package (Fedora / RHEL 9+), and a portable AppImage for any other distribution. Linux is the one platform where firmware upgrades need elevation: UDP ports 67 and 69 are privileged there, so BB-Eco asks for your password once per upgrade session. Windows and macOS run the transfer without any prompt.

The Linux CLI is on the same channel; see Install the BB-Eco CLI. Linux/macOS CLIs will land in the same channel directory once those build agents are enabled.

Install the BB-Eco CLI​

The CLI is a single self-contained Native AOT binary, with no .NET runtime to install and no Electron. Same auto-discovery, configuration, drift, and firmware-upgrade capabilities as the desktop app, scripted from a terminal:

bb-eco discover
bb-eco upgrade 192.168.1.50 --latest
bb-eco template export 192.168.1.50 ed.json
bb-eco template diff 192.168.1.50 ed.json

In order: find the Brainboxes devices on the LAN (the Update column shows which have newer firmware), apply the latest cached firmware to one device (prefix with sudo on Linux only), capture a configuration baseline, and check that device for drift.

See the BB-Eco CLI reference for every command and option.

Windows​

Grab the CLI directly from https://update.brainboxes.com/bb-eco/stable/cli/win-x64/bb-eco.zip, unzip it anywhere, and run bb-eco.exe. That's all it needs.

To install it onto your user PATH so bb-eco works from any shell, run the PowerShell snippet below instead:

# Install location on your user PATH
$dest = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\bb-eco"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $dest | Out-Null

# Download and extract the latest zip straight into $dest, then tidy up
Invoke-WebRequest https://update.brainboxes.com/bb-eco/stable/cli/win-x64/bb-eco.zip -OutFile bb-eco.zip
Expand-Archive -Force bb-eco.zip -DestinationPath $dest
Remove-Item bb-eco.zip

# Add $dest to the user PATH permanently (idempotent) and to this shell
$userPath = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('Path', 'User')
if (-not ($userPath -split ';' -contains $dest)) {
    [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('Path', "$userPath;$dest", 'User')
}
$env:Path = "$dest;$env:Path"

bb-eco --version

The persistent PATH update is User scope, so there's no admin prompt. It'll be picked up by any new PowerShell, cmd, or Windows Terminal session you open. To remove it later: System Properties → Environment Variables → Path → Edit and delete the %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\bb-eco entry.

The download URL is permanent: every release overwrites the same path with the latest version, so the same command always pulls the current build. The version, size and SHA-256 of the current zip are shown above; the channel manifest lists the same version with its SHA-512:

Invoke-RestMethod https://update.brainboxes.com/bb-eco/stable/cli/win-x64/latest.yml

macOS / Linux​

Coming soon

The macOS (Apple Silicon) and Linux (x86_64) CLI builds are not yet available. Once those build agents are enabled in the pipeline, the binaries will land at:

  • macOS: https://update.brainboxes.com/bb-eco/stable/cli/osx-arm64/bb-eco.tar.gz
  • Linux: https://update.brainboxes.com/bb-eco/stable/cli/linux-x64/bb-eco.tar.gz

Each archive contains a single un-versioned bb-eco binary you'll extract, chmod +x, and drop into /usr/local/bin/ or ~/.local/bin/, giving the same bb-eco … invocation across platforms once installed.

Verifying the install​

After launching, BB-Eco opens to the dashboard. The status dot in the bottom-left corner should be green; hovering it reads Sidecar: running:

Bottom-left corner of the BB-Eco window with a small green dot indicating the sidecar process is running and ready

If the dot is missing or red for more than ten seconds, see BB-Eco finds no devices on my network for the layered checklist.

The toolbar across the top of the dashboard is where you'll spend most of your time:

BB-Eco dashboard top toolbar showing the search box, grid/list view toggle, family filter (All Families), status filter (All Status), grouping dropdown (Group: None), and the Export and Add buttons on the right

Next step​

Once BB-Eco launches cleanly, discover your first device.

More resources​

Tags:
Last updated on