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. 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
- 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, 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 beta that was installed for all users shows one prompt to remove that old copy and keeps your settings and device cache.) - After the first launch, BB-Eco is also available from the Start menu for subsequent runs.
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 — 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
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. 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 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
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/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 dot in the bottom-left corner should be green; hovering it reads 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