BB Eco
Install BB-Eco
A single self-contained desktop app — no Java, no .NET runtime, everything bundled. Public beta available now for Windows.
Windows ships in the public beta. macOS (Apple Silicon) and Linux are coming soon. Download URLs and installer formats may change before the 1.0 release — check this page after each update.
BB-Eco ships as a single self-contained desktop app. No Java runtime, no .NET runtime — everything is bundled.
Target platforms
| Platform | Minimum | Status |
|---|---|---|
 Windows | 10 or 11, 64-bit | Available now (beta) |
 macOS | 11 Big Sur on Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4) | Coming soon |
 Linux | Ubuntu 22.04+, Debian 12+, Fedora 38+, RHEL 9+ (64-bit) | Coming soon |
| RAM | 512 MB free | — |
| Disk | 350 MB | — |
| Network | Same Layer 2 broadcast domain as your devices for auto-discovery; cross-subnet works with manual entry | — |
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. Firmware upgrades still need UDP 67/69 open in Windows Defender Firewall and an L2 path to the device.
Install on Windows
- Download the latest installer: BB-Eco-Setup-x64.exe (beta).
- Double-click the installer. Windows SmartScreen may warn about an unrecognised publisher during the beta — click More info then Run anyway.
- The installer is per-user — no admin prompt, no install-location wizard. It silently extracts to
%APPDATA%\bb-eco\(typicallyC:\Users\<you>\AppData\Roaming\bb-eco\) and launches BB-Eco automatically when it finishes. - After the first launch, BB-Eco is also available from the Start menu for subsequent runs.
On first launch, Windows asks whether BB-Eco can communicate over private and public networks. Allow both — BB-Eco needs UDP broadcasts for device discovery and BOOTP/TFTP for firmware upgrades.
Install on macOS
The macOS build is not yet available in the public beta. 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 beta cadence — see Install the BB-Eco CLI below.
Install on Linux
The Linux desktop build is not yet available in the public beta. We plan to ship a .deb package (Ubuntu / Debian), a .rpm package (Fedora / RHEL 9+), and a portable AppImage for any other distribution. Firmware upgrades on Linux will require sudo for the BOOTP/TFTP transfer because UDP ports 67 and 69 are privileged — same as the Windows flow, just with a polkit prompt instead of UAC.
The Linux CLI is on the same beta 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 — no .NET runtime to install, no Electron. Same auto-discovery, configuration, drift, and firmware-upgrade capabilities as the desktop app, scripted from a terminal:
bb-eco discover # find Brainboxes devices on the LAN
bb-eco firmware status --json | jq # which devices have updates
sudo bb-eco upgrade --latest 192.168.1.50 # apply latest cached firmware
bb-eco template export 192.168.1.50 ed.json # capture a config baseline
bb-eco template diff 192.168.1.50 ed.json # check 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/beta/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 beta zip straight into $dest, then tidy up
Invoke-WebRequest https://update.brainboxes.com/bb-eco/beta/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 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.
For the stable channel, swap beta for stable in the URL:
- Stable:
https://update.brainboxes.com/bb-eco/stable/cli/win-x64/bb-eco.zip - Beta:
https://update.brainboxes.com/bb-eco/beta/cli/win-x64/bb-eco.zip
The download URL is permanent — every release overwrites the same path with the latest version, so the same command always pulls the current build. To check what version a download contains, fetch the channel manifest:
Invoke-RestMethod https://update.brainboxes.com/bb-eco/beta/cli/win-x64/beta.yml
version: 0.3.0-alpha.49
files:
- url: bb-eco-0.3.0-alpha.49.zip
sha512: V7SycKhbT15ZP9yRCyhxehRUVDZQRr2qtIcDuDgzOKiYeiA90b9V6AfdsZ2/CnouKwkFCZ1dUWgIFI8Olh+pFw==
size: 6258179
path: bb-eco-0.3.0-alpha.49.zip
sha512: V7SycKhbT15ZP9yRCyhxehRUVDZQRr2qtIcDuDgzOKiYeiA90b9V6AfdsZ2/CnouKwkFCZ1dUWgIFI8Olh+pFw==
releaseDate: '2026-05-08T18:09:02.233Z'
macOS / Linux
The macOS (Apple Silicon) and Linux (x86_64) CLI builds are not yet available in the public beta. Once those build agents are enabled in the pipeline, the binaries will land at:
- macOS:
https://update.brainboxes.com/bb-eco/beta/cli/osx-arm64/bb-eco.tar.gz - Linux:
https://update.brainboxes.com/bb-eco/beta/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/ — same bb-eco … invocation across platforms once installed.
Verifying the install
After launching, BB-Eco opens to the dashboard. The status indicator in the bottom-left corner should show Sidecar running:
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:
Next step
Once BB-Eco launches cleanly, discover your first device.
More resources
- BB-Eco overview — what BB-Eco does and which device families it supports
- Brainboxes products — the full Brainboxes product range on the main site
- Contact support — for installation issues during beta