Install HF Server

HF Server comes as an installer for each system. After installing, you download the servers themselves from the Components page.

Where: download HF Server from https://hostfog.io

Windows

You need Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. No administrator rights are needed.

1. Run HF-Server-<version>-Windows-Setup.exe. It installs into C:\hostfog and adds HF Server to the Start menu and desktop.
2. If Windows shows Windows protected your PC, click More info, then Run anyway.
3. Open HF Server.

Or use the portable zip: unzip it to C:\hostfog. Don't unzip it inside Program Files, where Windows blocks writing files.

Apache and PHP need the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable (x64). HF Server warns you when it is missing and links to the download. The window uses Microsoft Edge WebView2, which is part of Windows 10 and 11.

The installer also trusts HF Server's own HTTPS certificate, so https:// sites open without a warning. Click Yes when Windows asks.

macOS

You need macOS 11 or newer, on Apple Silicon or Intel.

1. Unzip HF-Server-<version>-macOS.zip and drag HF Server.app into your Applications folder.
2. Open it. Because the app isn't from the App Store, macOS asks first:
   • macOS 15 and newer: if it says the app can't be opened, open System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll down, click Open Anyway next to HF Server and confirm.
   • macOS 14 and older: Control-click the app, choose Open, then Open.
3. If macOS says the app "is damaged", run xattr -cr "/Applications/HF Server.app" in Terminal and open it again.

On a Mac, HF Server installs Apache, PHP and MariaDB with Homebrew. If you don't have Homebrew, the app shows a Get Homebrew button; install it, then reopen HF Server.

The first time HF Server opens, it trusts its HTTPS certificate. Your Mac asks for your password once.

Linux

Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint and similar:

sudo apt install ./hf-server_1.0.0_amd64.deb

Use the _arm64.deb on ARM computers.

Any other Linux (no administrator rights needed):

tar xzf hf-server-1.0.0-linux-amd64.tar.gz
cd hf-server-1.0.0-linux-amd64
./install.sh

Then open HF Server from your apps menu, or run hostfog-panel.

On Debian, Ubuntu and Fedora, HF Server installs Apache, PHP and MariaDB from your system's packages and asks for your password once. It then switches off the system's own Apache and MariaDB services, because it runs its own copies. On other distributions, install Apache, PHP (with its Apache module) and MariaDB with your package manager; HF Server finds them by itself.

Note: on Linux, Apache uses port 8080 (http://localhost:8080) and HTTPS port 8443, because only administrators may use ports below 1024. You can change this in Settings.

First start

1. Open Components and click Install everything missing. HF Server downloads Apache, PHP, MariaDB and phpMyAdmin, checks them and sets them up. This takes a few minutes.
2. Open Control panel and click Start all.
3. Click Open site on Apache to see http://localhost.

The MySQL user is root, with the password password on a new install. Change it with Databases › Root password.

The HostFog folder

Everything HF Server uses lives in one folder: C:\hostfog on Windows, ~/HostFog on macOS and Linux.

On Windows the servers are in the same folder too (apache, php, mariadb, phpmyadmin…), and you can move or rename the whole folder: HF Server fixes the paths the next time it starts a server.

On macOS and Linux

The app opens in a browser window (an app window of an installed browser, or your default browser). Closing that window doesn't stop your servers: open HF Server again to get the window back, or click Quit HF Server to stop everything.

Related

• Components
• Control panel
• Uninstall