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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.

macOS-01.png

These steps include the following:

  • Installation of Java 15 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 MacOS Big Sur:

  • From this MacOS version, it might be necessary to specify the path to the java version in the ancestris configuration file (see the corresponding section in this documentation)
  • For security reasons, it might be necessary to store Gedcom files in another folder than the 'Documents' folder

 

Installation of Java

1. From the MacOS desktop...

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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.

macOS-03.png

 
3. You are on the Java web site. Click on "JDK Download"

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4. Go down to the "macOS Installer" line and click on the ".dmg' file
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5. Click on the green download button.
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6. Downloading starts... Wait.
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7. Downloading is completed. Open the Downloads folder to check out the file.
macOS-08.png

 

8. Double click on the JDK package.

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9. The JDK installer starts. Just follow the steps.

macOS-10.png

 

10. The installation should be successful. Close the window.

macOS-11.png

 

11. Then type again "java -version" in the terminal.

The following result should appear, indicating Java 15 is installed in our example.

macOS-12.png

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

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13. In the menu, click on DOWNLOAD. This will scroll down to the download section.

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13. Click on the Ancestris 11 button of the MacOS panel.

macOS-15.png

 

14. Allow downloads from the Ancestris web site if this is the first time you do it.

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15. Downloading starts. It will take a couple of minutes.

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16. Wait a bit more ... we said a couple of minutes !

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17. Once complete, move the file to your genealogy folder.

macOS-19.png

 

18. It is better to place your Ancestris application in a separate folder from your genealogy data.

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19. To make sure it is the version you expect, click on "Quick Look "Ancestris" from the context menu.

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20. The applicaiton panel should tell you about the file.

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21. Click 'Open ancestris' or go back top your Genealogy folder.

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22. Ancestris starts but MacOS tells you it comes from an unidentified developer. Not a problem. Ancestris is open source and does not have any malware. Let's authorize it.

macOS-24.png

 

23. For that, go to the System Preferences

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24. Click on "Secutiry & Privacy"

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25. Click on "Open anyway"

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26. If it is the first time you do this, confirm with your password.

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27. Yes, you are sure. Click "Open".

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28. Finally, Ancestris starts.

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29. You can see the Welcome window.

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30. Please note that from the application Menu, you can access the Preferences and the "About Ancestris" panel.

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31. Let's fix the applicaiton to the Dock by clicking on the Ancestris icon in the dock panel.

macOS-33.png

 

32. Choose "Option" and "Keep in Dock".

macOS-34.png

 

33. This is it. Ancestris is intalled and in the Dock. Yessss !

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