# Installation The Joulescope software is available to download at [www.joulescope.com/download/](http://www.joulescope.com/download/) Click on the download link for your operating system and platform architecture. We recommend installing the Joulescope software on the native operating system, not under a virtual machine, due to Joulescope’s demanding USB communication requirements. Check that your computer runs one of the [supported platforms](https://docs.joulescope.com/en/getting_started/install_ui.md#supported-platforms), then see the section below for your operating system. ## Microsoft® Windows Click on the installer executable. Read and accept the license agreement, and click **Next**. Accept the default installation location or change it as needed, then click **Next**. Select **Next** and **Install**. Finally, click **Finish** to complete the setup and launch the Joulescope UI. ## Apple® macOS On macOS, download the dmg file which supports both x86_64 (Intel) and arm64 (Apple Silicon) platforms. Open the dmg file and then drag **joulescope.app** to the **Applications** folder. Once the installation completes, you can eject the dmg file. The macOS distribution is currently signed and notarized, but it is not distributed through the Apple Store. macOS should display that the application has been checked by Apple, but that it was downloaded from the web. It should install and run if you accept this warning. If you receive a security warning, control-click the Joulescope application in Finder, then select **open** to bypass these security warnings. You will need to repeat the control-click, **open** process several times (usually twice) until macOS finally allows the Joulescope software to launch. After going through this process to grant permission once, subsequent runs will start normally. ## Ubuntu Linux Unpack the tar.gz file to the location of your choice. Then run the joulescope_launcher binary in the extracted directory. You may need to install additional dependencies. ```default sudo apt install libudev-dev libxcb-cursor0 ``` Many Linux systems, including Ubuntu, use “udev” to manage devices and grant permissions. You will need to install a udev rule that grants Joulescope hardware access to your account. Download and follow the instructions in this file: [https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jetperch/joulescope_driver/main/99-joulescope.rules](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jetperch/joulescope_driver/main/99-joulescope.rules) If you receive the error `Could not load the Qt platform plugin "xcb" in "" even though it was found`, then you need to install additional Qt6 dependencies. You can identify the missing dependencies by running `export QT_DEBUG_PLUGINS=1` before starting the Joulescope UI. Then install the missing dependencies with your package manager. ## Python (all platforms) Install a [supported version of Python](https://docs.joulescope.com/en/getting_started/install_ui.md#supported-platforms) for your platform. Then create a virtual environment, which keeps the Joulescope UI and its dependencies separate from your other Python software: ```default python -m venv ~/venv/joulescope ``` Activate the virtual environment. On Windows: ```default ~\joulescope\Scripts\activate ``` On macOS and Linux: ```default source ~/venv/joulescope/bin/activate ``` Then install the Joulescope UI: ```default python -m pip install -U --upgrade-strategy=eager joulescope_ui ``` Whenever you want to run the Joulescope UI, activate the virtual environment, then type: ```default python -m joulescope_ui ``` To update the Joulescope UI, activate the virtual environment and repeat the install command.