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Getting Started

Aidan Veney edited this page Oct 11, 2021 · 1 revision

Getting Started with Flames

This guide will cover the preparations needed to set up your environment for Flames. It's a good idea to read the guide introduction-to-conclusion so you have an understanding of what you are undertaking before you get started. This entire process could take anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour, depending on your setup. Read each step thoroughly and carefully to ensure optimal performance.

Set Up Your Server

A server is just a computer that stays turned on and connected to the internet always. This tutorial will assume you know the basics of the system you are using, as covering every detail about network and system administration would be far outside the scope of this guide.

Selecting a System

Some systems are better than others for running Flames. Refer to the guide below for help setting up the best system possible.

Minimum Hardware Requirements

Flames has very low system requirements, although you will get far better millage with better hardware.

You will need at least

  • An Intel i3 or equivalent x86* CPU
  • 1 GB RAM
  • 500 MB Disk Space

*Flames is known not to run at all on other architectures (namely ARM), so while Flames ideally would run on other platforms, it's best to stick to x86, preferably x86-64.

Software

Flames can technically run on any platform compatible with JRE Version 10. However, for whatever reason, it's pretty particular about where it wants to run.

Windows

Tested Minimum: Windows 10 / Probable Minimum: Windows 7

Flames should run alright on Windows. In testing, I've noticed some problems connecting to the Discord API and the Spotify API, although that very well could just be my setup. Windows is pretty infamous for being total overkill in most cases, and that certainly applies here. I'd recommend going with Ubuntu Server if that's an option available to you, otherwise Windows should work alright.

tl;dr: Windows is fine if it's your only option, but, if you can, use Ubuntu Server instead.

Ubuntu Server (Recommended)

Tested Minimum: 21.04 / Should work on just about any semi-modern version of Ubuntu

This is probably the most straightforward you can get, especially if you've worked with it before. Flames' upstream instance is currently running on Ubuntu Server 21.04, so as you can imagine if set up properly success is all but guaranteed*

Of course, you can use any distribution of Linux you please, but this wiki will assume you are using Ubuntu, so make sure you understand the ins and outs of your specific distribution.

*Meaning, it's not guaranteed, but you have a very high chance of success.

tl;dr: Flames will almost certainly run if you set it up in Ubuntu server.

macOS

Tested minimum: 10.15 (Catalina) / Probable minimum: 10.11 (El Capitan)?

macOS is absolutely infamous for not running anything that isn't Microsoft Office or Adobe Creative Cloud. I've tried, legitimately tried, to get Flames to run on macOS, I really have. The best I can come up with is that it runs for a bit before just kind of stopping with out any visible error or logging. That, and for what you have to spend on a Mac (entry price is around $1000), why on earth would you use it as a server for Flames? Yeah, it could probably work if you really tried, but don't expect much support if you choose it. If all you have lying around is Mac hardware, you could always just install Ubuntu onto it, as whatever machine you are using to run Flames really shouldn't be used for much else.

tl;dr: Don't use macOS. Seriously, don't.

Setting Up the Environment

Install Java

I won't bother going into detail on how to install Java, as if you are attempting this project you should at least understand your system enough to know how to install Java, and if not just Google 'how to install java on x operating system' and follow those instructions.

You'll need at least JRE version 10 to get Flames to work.

Download Flames

Check out the releases page and download the file called something like Flames-x.x-all.jar. I'd recommend creating a directory for it and moving it there, as Flames drops some extra data files in there that could get messy. Once you've completed that, you're ready to move on!