1.2 Launching eHOST

Start eHOST

Unzip the release archive (eHOST-<version>.zip) into any folder. Inside you will find eHOST.jar together with run.bat (Windows), run (macOS/Linux) and the default eHOST.sys and application.properties files.

There are three equivalent ways to start eHOST:

Double-click eHOST.jar in your platform’s file browser.
Double-click run.bat, or run ./run from a terminal.
Run it from a terminal yourself:
```
java -jar eHOST.jar
```

Starting from a terminal is worth doing at least once: eHOST prints its version, its configuration folder and — if the RESTful server is enabled — the URL it is listening on.

******************************************
*     Welcome to eHOST                   *
*     Version: 1.39                      *
******************************************
...
--------------------------------------------------------------
eHOST RESTful Server is running at:
 - Local URL: http://127.0.0.1:8010
--------------------------------------------------------------

A splash screen with a progress bar is shown while eHOST loads its configuration, settings and GUI.

Command line options

Option	Long form	Description
`-c`	`--ehostconfighome`	Folder that holds `eHOST.sys` and `application.properties`
`-w`	`--workspace`	Folder that holds your eHOST projects
`-s`	`--spring.config.location`	Explicit path to an `application.properties` file
`-h`	`--help`	Print the option list and exit

Both -c /path and -c=/path forms work:

java -jar eHOST.jar -w /home/me/ehost_workspace -c /home/me/ehost_config
java -jar eHOST.jar --workspace=/home/me/ehost_workspace --ehostconfighome=/home/me/ehost_config

Where eHOST keeps its configuration

If -c is not given, the configuration home defaults to USER_HOME/.ehost (C:\Users\<you>\.ehost on Windows). The first time eHOST starts, it copies the bundled default eHOST.sys and application.properties into that folder, so several people can share one copy of the eHOST program while each keeps their own settings.

If -w is not given, the workspace is read from the [WORKSPACE_PATH] parameter in eHOST.sys; if that is empty too, eHOST asks you to pick one (see 1.3 Assign Workspace and Project).

Once eHOST is running, you can change most of these settings from the GUI instead of editing files — see 2.8 System Configuration.