Benutzerhandbuch
Wie man Ancestris verwendet, um Genealogien zu erstellen.
- Ancestris installieren
- Install and start Ancestris
- Reinstall or upgrade Ancestris
- Update Ancestris
- Step-by-step installation on MacOS
- Step-by-step installation of version 11 on Windows
- Step-by-step installation of version 12 on Windows
- Java installation
- Launch settings
- Software files and User settings files
- Ancestris entdecken
Ancestris installieren
Installieren oder aktualisieren Sie Ancestris unter MacOS, Windows und Linux. Java Voraussetzung. Speicherort der Dateien, Starteinstellungen und Benutzereinstellungen.
Install and start Ancestris
Lizenz und Benutzerrechte lesen
Ancestris is free software, licensed under the GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE V3.
Ancestris is a free genealogy program, for unlimited time usage, and an unlimited number of individuals.
It is made available to you by volunteers.
Überprüfe unsere erforderliche Konfiguration
Ancestris läuft auf allen aktuellen MacOS-, Windows- und Linux-Betriebssystemen.
If Ancestris does not start, or shows the Ancestris splash screen and stops, it is most generally related to an issue with the Java installation.
Um Ancestris benutzen zu können ist folgende Konfiguration erforderlich:
- Java Version 8 oder version 11. Wir können nur LTS Versionen von Java unterstützen, wenn auch Ancestris mit anderen Version richtig funktionieren könnte (12 to 15).
- 2 Gb RAM
- 200 Mb erforderlicher Festplattenspeicher
- Ein ausreichend großer Bildschirm. Als Minimum wird 1920 x 1080 empfohlen.
Java ist Voraussetzung
To use Ancestris, you need to have Java installed on your system.
Most of the Ancestris features are compatible with Java Version 11 and Java Version 8 (aka Version 1.8).
To identify which Java version is installed on your system, other Java versions available, how to swap between Java versions, or the Java technical requirements, check out the Java installation page.
Installation
If you need detailed installation steps, we provide you with a step-by-step guide corresponding to your system :
✔ Step-by-step installation guide for MacOS
✔ Step-by-step installation guide of version 11 for Windows
✔ Step-by-step installation guide of version 12 for Windows
What follows is the general overview of the installation and the links in case of troubles or to change launch settings.
Go to Download on the Ancestris site
Ancestris can be downloaded for free on our page https://www.ancestris.org via the DOWNLOAD option.
Choose your Ancestris version
Two versions are available.
- Choose the stable version 11 if you are aiming for stability and do not need to benefit from the latest developments.
- Choose the daily version 12 if you wish to benefit from the latest functionalities.
All versions work on any device under any operating system that can use Java.
All versions work with all existing translations.
All versions are full versions and allow unlimited usage.
Download Ancestris
This shows the Download section of the Ancestris site.
- Click on the Ancestris version button of your operating system
- MacOS
- Windows
- or Linux. Hovering over Ancestris 11, a menu will appear where you can pick one of the following distributions : Fedora, Redhat, Mandriva, Ubuntu, Mint, Debian, or a generic ZIP file.
- The downloaded file will be specific to the operating system you choose
- Follow the steps suggested by your Internet browser and save the file
- The download will take a few minutes and will result in a file of about 86 Mb.
This is an example with Ancestris 11 for Windows.
This is an example with Ancestris 12 for Windows or for Linux.
Choose Ancestris folder
At the end of the download, the file will be placed in your default download
folder.
If you don't know what this folder is, check your Internet browser's settings or else click on the downloaded icon of your browser.
From that folder, feel free to move the downloaded file wherever you want on your computer.
Start Ancestris
The way to start Ancestris slightly differs depending on the OS system you have.
Ancestris's files will be inside the resulting ancestris
folder. Refer to the Software files page to have the detailed view of the ancestris
folder.
To start Ancestris, run the downloaded file or else run the executable in the bin folder that corresponds to the operating system you are using.
- MacOS : just click on the downloaded file and Ancestris will start.
- Windows : for version 11, just double-click on the downloaded exe file
Ancestris11Setup.exe
. This installation programme will assist you in the installation of Ancestris and it will also create the launcher icon. For version 12, run the ancestris64.exe file in the bin folder. - Linux : unzip the archive and then double-click on the 'ancestris' file of the bin folder.
Regardless of the version, here is what you will see when Ancestris is started.
Troubleshooting
If you need detailed installation steps, please read the step-by-step guide below corresponding to your system :
✔ Step-by-step installation guide for MacOS
✔ Step-by-step installation guide of version 11 for Windows
✔ Step-by-step installation guide of version 12 for Windows
If Ancestris does not start, or shows the Ancestris splash screen and stops, it is most generally related to an issue with the Java installation.
Either Java is not installed or Ancestris does not find it or finds an incompatible version or finds a corrupted version.
Please check the Java installation page for help.
Personalisation
Shortcut icon
If you need to customize a shortcut with a nice icon to start Ancestris, please check your operating system's documentation on how to create it, and feel free to use the included image file ancestris.gif provided within the softwares files.
For MacOS, see the step-by-step guide.
For Windows, see the step-by-step guide.
For Linux, there are several of these procedures, and quite different from one system to another.
Launch settings
You can personalise the way Ancestris starts such as the memory allocation for instance. In case you need to personalise the way Ancestris is launched, please refer to the Launch settings page.
User settings
If you are interested in knowing where the user settings files are, please refer to the Software and user settings files page.
Reinstall or upgrade Ancestris
There are several situations where you may need to reinstall Ancestris, but they all end up following the same steps described below.
Situations to justify reinstallation
Reinstalling Ancestris on the same computer
- If a new version of Ancestris is out and you want to benefit from it. For instance, upgrading from version 11 to version 12.
- If there was a major modification of the same version, usually the daily version. For instance, when the Ancestris team makes changes to the Ancestris platform, they will ask you to reinstall. To be notified of such changes, you will need to subscribe to the discussion list.
- If a change has happened to your computer, or if some Ancestris files are lost. In this situation, Ancestris might no longer work properly.
In all those situations, your action will result in reinstalling Ancestris.
When reinstalling Ancestris, you will automatically be able to preserve your customizations.
It is up to you to decide if you want to reinstall Ancestris at the same location on your computer or not.
In either case, we recommend you to get rid of the former Ancestris instance and replace the Software files.
In case you were to keep two different instances of Ancestris on the same computer, Ancestris might get confused as there is only one set of user settings.
Reinstalling Ancestris on a second computer
If you are to install Ancestris on a second computer, just proceed as a regular first-time installation.
If you want to have the same user settings on both computers, you should first copy the user settings folder from one computer to the other one.
Alternatively, you can also use the export button of the Ancestris preferences window.
Reinstalling stable version 11
To reinstall the main version, while preserving your user settings, just proceed as a regular first-time installation.
It should be much quicker as Java should already be installed and your Ancestris launcher is already set.
In practice, it will consist of simply replacing the 5 folders listed in the following steps.
Reinstalling daily version 12
To upgrade from the main version to the daily version, or reinstall the daily version, follow the instructions below.
You have two possibilities:
- Either erase the previous application and re-install the new one (the preferred choice for MacOS).
- Or replace the existing files with the new ones, which lets you keep the launcher that you might have set up (the preferred choice for Linux and Windows).
In the first situation, erase the previous Ancestris application and reinstall the new one.
In the second situation, follow the steps below:
- Quit Ancestris, if it is running
- Download the daily version from the Ancestris web site and install it as per the initial installation.
- In case you need to replace the files manually, go to the
ancestris
folder of the previous installation and delete the following 5 foldersancestris
bin
etc
harness
platform
- Replace them with the recently downloaded corresponding 5 folders included in the package or the compressed archive.
- Restart Ancestris as usual
In case some settings no longer work, or are not compatible with the new version, please refer to the User settings page if you want to manage them yourself.
Update Ancestris
The Ancestris team constantly works on improving the Ancestris software.
All updates we make to the version you have are available to you automatically, and you do not have anything to do, whether you are using the Main version or the Daily version.
Automatic updates
You will receive an automatic notification for updates to the version you currently use, each time you start Ancestris.
When Ancestris starts, a small window will open for a few seconds at the lower right corner, indicating the number of available updates. Just click the link in this window and follow the steps.
If you miss this window as it only appears for a few seconds, the little icon will remain available for you to click on it. The window above will reappear again.
If you click to get the updates, you will be asked to confirm to download the updates.
Click Next and Ancestris will download them. A progress bar will appear on the bottom right corner.
Ancestris then asks for your confirmation.
Click Continue and then, Ancestris will offer to restart. Click on the link. Ancestris will close and restart.
Proactive updates
It is also possible to retrieve updates at any time.
Just choose Options / Update Ancestris from the main menu bar.
The same assistant shown above will open.
As explained above, just follow the steps and Ancestris will offer to restart at the end.
If no updates are available, the following window will appear.
Knowing more about the updates
If you use Stable version 11
When we discover bugs that could impact your use of the Main version, we fix them and the update becomes available to you according to the instructions above.
These updates are very rare.
If you use daily version 12
Regarding the daily version, updates happen almost daily !
Minor updates
Most of the time, these updates are evolutions or new functionality.
These updates are available to you and happen on a regular basis.
You can benefit from them according to the description above.
That's it.
Structural updates
On rare occasions, certain Ancestris updates of daily version 11 happen in the core platform of Ancestris.
These changes can be simple menu translations or something major. For instance when we upgrade the underlying Netbeans platform on which Ancestris sits.
The Ancestris team will know when that happens, and will notify you through the forum or the discussion list and in the Recent updates panel of the Welcome window of Ancestris.
For instance, the image below shows an update of version 11 that occurred on June 2nd, 2020.
As usual, these updates will be available to you through the Automatic updates described above.
However, if you only apply these updates automatically, it will not reinstall the whole software. Therefore, either the new evolution will still not be available to you (e.g. menu translations), or maybe you will experience some major dysfunctions. Ancestris might just not work anymore.
Do not worry, you will notice if it happens and it will not alter your data.
To fully benefit from those changes, you will have to reinstall Ancestris.
Please follow the reinstallation instructions in this case.
Step-by-step installation on MacOS
This page documents a detailed step-by-step installation of Ancestris on a MacOS system.
We will show an example that occurred on January 2021, of the installation of Ancestris version 11 on MacOS Catalina.
These steps include the following:
- Installation of Java which was not already installed on Catalina
- Download of Ancestris version 11 from the secure Ancestris web site
- Confirmation of the security check to allow Ancestris to run even though it comes from an unidentified developer
- Launch of Ancestris
- Creation of a Dock icon of Ancestris
Please note that the screenshots shown here might look different from those of the current Ancestris web site or the current Ancestris software version.
Special note for users of MacOS Big Sur: please follow the steps below and then, please do read this specific section at the bottom of this page.
Installation of Java
1. From the MacOS desktop...
2. Open a terminal and type "java -version"
If Java is not installed, a popup window will suggest to install it. Click "More Info...".
If java is installed, you can directly go to screen 11.
3. You are on the Java web site. Click on "JDK Download"
We can see from the web site that Java 15 was suggested. Let us install that version even though we recommend to use version 8 or 11 which are long terme versions (see required configuration).
4. Go down to the "macOS Installer" line and click on the ".dmg' file
5. Click on the green download button.
6. Downloading starts... Wait.
7. Downloading is completed. Open the Downloads folder to check out the file.
8. Double click on the JDK package.
9. The JDK installer starts. Just follow the steps.
10. The installation should be successful. Close the window.
11. Then type again "java -version" in the terminal.
The following result should appear, indicating Java 15 is installed in our example.
Your are now done with the Java installation. Let's install Ancestris now.
Installation of Ancestris
12. Go to the https://www.ancestris.org web site
13. In the menu, click on DOWNLOAD. This will scroll down to the download section.
14. Click on the Ancestris 11 button of the MacOS panel.
15. Allow downloads from the Ancestris web site if this is the first time you do it.
16. Downloading starts. It will take a couple of minutes.
17. Wait a bit more ... we said a couple of minutes !
18. Once complete, move the file to your genealogy folder.
19. It is better to place your Ancestris application in a separate folder from your genealogy files.
- You may for instance place Ancestris in a
Documents/Genealogy folder
. - And you may place later your genealogy data in a folder such as
{Home}/Public/Genealogy Files/
Do not place your genealogy files in the Documents, Desktop or Downloads folders, or underneath them. MacOS will not let you see them from Ancestris as a security check for non-signed application like Ancestris.
20. To make sure it is the version you expect, click on "Quick Look "Ancestris" from the context menu.
21. The application panel should tell you about the file version and date.
22. Click 'Open ancestris' or go back top your Genealogy folder and click on the icon to launch Ancestris.
Confirmation of the security check
23. Ancestris starts but MacOS tells you it comes from an unverified developer. Not a problem. Ancestris is open source and does not have any malware. Let's authorize it.
24. For that, go to the System Preferences
25. Click on "Security & Privacy"
26. Click on "Open anyway"
27. If it is the first time you do this, confirm with your password.
28. Yes, you are sure. Click "Open".
29. Finally, Ancestris starts.