Bitfocus - Choose an installation path

Choose an installation path

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Choose an installation path

Buttons ships a small number of genuinely distinct installation paths: this page helps you pick the right one before you download anything. For what happens once you've picked, see First-time setup.

What's actually available#

Path	Platform	Format	Notes
macOS installer	Apple Silicon (arm64) or Intel (x64)	`.pkg`	Both architectures are built and supported.
Windows installer	x64 only	`.exe`	There's no separate Windows-on-Arm build: an Arm machine installs the x64 build instead.
Headless Linux	x64 only	`.tar.gz`	Runs without a desktop environment: see Install Buttons on Debian or Ubuntu for the full setup.
Kubernetes high availability	Any Kubernetes cluster	Container images + manifests	A separate, advanced deployment path: requires an Enterprise license and exactly three nodes (see Understand HA clustering for why). See Deploy Buttons with Kubernetes high availability.

Note

There's no officially released single-host Docker or container image for Buttons outside of the Kubernetes path above: don't look for one. There's also no Linux Arm build (including Raspberry Pi) for the main Buttons application itself; that's a real gap, not an oversight in this guide: the only Arm-Linux release this project ships is USB Relay, a separate companion tool, not Buttons itself.

Choose by license, not just platform#

The macOS, Windows, and headless Linux paths all run regardless of your license tier: an unlicensed installation still starts up, just with feature restrictions (for example, user/role management needs a paid tier). Kubernetes high availability is different: it requires an Enterprise license outright, with no reduced tier available under it. See Manage your Buttons license.

If you get stuck#

What you see	What to try
You're looking for a Windows-on-Arm or Linux-on-Arm build of Buttons itself.	It doesn't exist: Windows only ships as x64, and Linux only ships as x64. Use an x64 machine, or consider the Kubernetes path if you're building a cluster.
You expected a Docker image for a single host.	There isn't an officially released one: Docker/container images only exist as part of the Kubernetes high-availability path.
You're not sure whether Kubernetes HA is the right choice.	It's meant for a genuine multi-node, Enterprise-licensed deployment, not a convenient way to containerize a single machine: if you just need one host running Buttons, use the regular OS installer instead.

Where to go next#

First-time setup
Install Buttons on Debian or Ubuntu
Deploy Buttons with Kubernetes high availability
Understand HA clustering, if you're weighing whether the Kubernetes path's three-node requirement fits your situation.
Update or remove Buttons, once you've settled on a path and want to know how to change or remove it later.

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