Installation & Setup

Netcatty is a truly cross-platform application, built on Electron and React. We maintain first-class support for macOS (Apple Silicon & Intel), Windows 10/11, and modern Linux distributions.

This guide covers the installation process, post-install configuration, and troubleshooting for each platform.

macOS Installation

Mac users, especially those in the DevOps space, are our primary demographic. We support macOS Catalina (10.15) and newer.

Method 1: DMG (Recommended)

The .dmg (Disk Image) is the standard distribution format.

Download

Visit the GitHub Releases page. Download the DMG for your architecture:

Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4): Netcatty-x.x.x-mac-arm64.dmg
Intel Mac: Netcatty-x.x.x-mac-x64.dmg

Install

Double-click the downloaded .dmg file. Drag the Netcatty icon into the Applications folder shortcut.

As an open-source project, we currently do not pay Apple the $99/year developer fee to notarize the app. macOS Gatekeeper will block the app by default, saying "It cannot be checked for malicious software."

The Fix:

Open your Terminal (Cmd+Space, type "Terminal").
Run the following command to remove the "Quarantine" attribute:
```
xattr -cr /Applications/Netcatty.app
```
Now open Netcatty normally. It will launch without issues.

Fixing macOS Gatekeeper issues

Method 2: Homebrew (Unofficial)

While we don't maintain an official Cask currently, you can install manually if you prefer CLI management. (Note: Instructions for eventual brew install --cask support will be added here).

Windows Installation

We support Windows 10 (Build 1809+) and Windows 11.

Method 1: NSIS Installer (`.exe`)

This is the standard wizard-based installer.

Download: Netcatty-Setup-x.x.x.exe
Privileges: Does not require Administrator check. Installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\netcatty.
Auto-Update: Supports background auto-updates.

Method 2: Portable Mode (Directory)

For users on restricted corporate laptops where installation is blocked.

Download: Netcatty-x.x.x-win-x64.zip (or extract from the win-unpacked directory in releases)
Usage: Extract to any folder and run Netcatty.exe directly.
Data Storage: Creates a data folder in your user profile. You can copy the entire folder to a USB drive to carry your Vault with you.

Linux Installation

We treat Linux as a first-class citizen.

Method 1: AppImage (Universal)

Works on Arch, Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS, OpenSUSE, etc.

x86_64: Download Netcatty-x.x.x-linux-x64.AppImage
ARM64 (Raspberry Pi, etc.): Download Netcatty-x.x.x-linux-arm64.AppImage

chmod +x Netcatty-*.AppImage
./Netcatty-*.AppImage

Method 2: Debian/Ubuntu (`.deb`)

x86_64: Download Netcatty-x.x.x-linux-x64.deb
ARM64: Download Netcatty-x.x.x-linux-arm64.deb

sudo dpkg -i Netcatty_*.deb
# or
sudo apt install ./Netcatty_*.deb

Method 3: RPM (Fedora/RHEL)

x86_64: Download Netcatty-x.x.x-linux-x64.rpm
ARM64: Download Netcatty-x.x.x-linux-arm64.rpm

sudo rpm -i Netcatty-*.rpm
# or
sudo dnf localinstall Netcatty-*.rpm

App Data Locations

If you need to backup manually or migrate your data, here is where Netcatty stores its database and settings:

Platform	Path
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/netcatty/`
Windows	`%APPDATA%\netcatty\`
Linux	`~/.config/netcatty/`

Inside this folder:

Database: Local data is stored using the system's standard application storage.
Sync Payload: netcatty-vault.json (The encrypted package used for Cloud Sync).
Logs: logs/ directory contains runtime debug information.

Troubleshooting Installation

"GPU Process Crashed" (Linux)

Some older Linux GPU drivers conflict with Electron's hardware acceleration. Fix: Launch with --disable-gpu.

./Netcatty --disable-gpu

"Code Signature Invalid" (macOS)

If the app crashes immediately on launch on macOS:

Ensure you moved it to /Applications. Running directly from the Downloads folder often triggers "App Translocation" security mechanisms which break resource loading.
Re-run the xattr -cr command.

"Antivirus False Positive" (Windows)

Because our installer is not signed with an EV Certificate (which costs ~$400/year), Windows Defender SmartScreen might show a "Windows protected your PC" popup. Fix: Click "More Info" -> "Run Anyway". This usually only happens for the first few users of a new release version until Microsoft's reputation system learns it is safe.