Getting Started

Getting Started with Orbit

Prerequisites

Orbit requires Ansible and Terraform for automation and infrastructure management. Here’s how to install them:

macOS

# Install Homebrew if you haven't already
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

# Install Ansible and Terraform
brew install ansible
brew install terraform

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Install Ansible
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ansible

# Install Terraform
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y gnupg software-properties-common
wget -O- https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com/gpg | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/hashicorp-archive-keyring.gpg] https://apt.releases.hashicorp.com $(lsb_release -cs) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hashicorp.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install terraform

Linux (RHEL/CentOS)

# Install Ansible
sudo dnf install -y ansible

# Install Terraform
sudo yum install -y yum-utils
sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo https://rpm.releases.hashicorp.com/RHEL/hashicorp.repo
sudo yum -y install terraform

Quick Installation

macOS

For Apple Silicon (M1/M2) Macs:

# Download the macOS ARM64 version
wget https://github.com/orbitscanner/orbit/releases/download/v0.5.0/orbit_0.5.0_Darwin_arm64.tar.gz

# Extract the archive
tar -xzf orbit_0.5.0_Darwin_arm64.tar.gz

For Intel Macs:

# Download the macOS Intel/x86_64 version
wget https://github.com/orbitscanner/orbit/releases/download/v0.5.0/orbit_0.5.0_Darwin_x86_64.tar.gz

# Extract the archive
tar -xzf orbit_0.5.0_Darwin_x86_64.tar.gz

After extracting, continue with:

# Make it executable
chmod +x orbit

# Set your encryption key (must be 32 characters)
export API_ENCRYPTION_KEY=12345678901234567890123456789012

# Start Orbit
./orbit serve

# Access the web interface at
http://localhost:8090

Linux

For x86_64 (64-bit) systems:

# Download the Linux x86_64 version
wget https://github.com/orbitscanner/orbit/releases/download/v0.5.0/orbit_0.5.0_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz

# Extract the archive
tar -xzf orbit_0.5.0_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz

For ARM64 systems:

# Download the Linux ARM64 version
wget https://github.com/orbitscanner/orbit/releases/download/v0.5.0/orbit_0.5.0_Linux_arm64.tar.gz

# Extract the archive
tar -xzf orbit_0.5.0_Linux_arm64.tar.gz

After extracting, continue with:

# Make it executable
chmod +x orbit

# Set your encryption key (must be 32 characters)
export API_ENCRYPTION_KEY=12345678901234567890123456789012

# Start Orbit
./orbit serve

# Access the web interface at
http://localhost:8090

Windows Support

Windows Limitations

Windows is not natively supported due to dependencies on Ansible and Terraform. These tools are designed for Unix-like systems and have limited Windows support. We recommend using one of these alternatives:

• Docker installation (recommended for Windows users)
• Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2) with Ubuntu
• Running in a Linux virtual machine

If using WSL2, you can follow the Ubuntu installation instructions above within your WSL2 environment.

Docker Installation

Docker provides the easiest way to run Orbit across all platforms.

# Pull the Orbit image
docker pull ghcr.io/orbitscanner/orbit:latest

# Run Orbit container
docker run -d \
  -p 8090:8090 \
  -e API_ENCRYPTION_KEY=12345678901234567890123456789012 \
  ghcr.io/orbitscanner/orbit:latest

# Access the web interface at
http://localhost:8090

Docker Compose

For a more complete setup, you can use Docker Compose:

docker-compose.yml

version: '3.8'
services:
  orbit:
    image: ghcr.io/orbitscanner/orbit:latest
    ports:
      - "8090:8090"
    environment:
      - API_ENCRYPTION_KEY=12345678901234567890123456789012
    volumes:
      - orbit_data:/data
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  orbit_data:

Run with:

docker-compose up -d

Next Steps

• Setup Guide - Configure Orbit through the web interface
• Configuration Guide - Learn how to configure Orbit
• User Guide - Learn how to use Orbit’s features
• Development Guide - Set up Orbit for development
• API Reference - Explore the API documentation
• Join our Discord community for support

Troubleshooting

If you encounter any issues:

1. Check the logs with ./orbit logs
2. Ensure all prerequisites are installed
3. Verify your encryption key is exactly 32 characters
4. Join our Discord for community support