Download and Install DFF

System Requirements

Linux or Windows operating systems with at least 2 GB of free disk space and 1 GB of memory are required.

1. Windows – versions after XP are supported.
2. Linux - kernel version 2.6.9 and above are supported.

DFF requires Java Runtime Environment (JRE). The DFF installation package of Windows includes JRE. From release 7.2.3, Linux version includes JRE as well. For previous Linux releases, make sure that JRE has been installed, which can be verified by using java -version from command line.

Verification of Download

From release 7.2.3, a SHA-256 digest file, SHA256SUMS.txt, is provided for verification of the downloaded DFF installation files. The digest is a unique, fixed-length 256-bit (64-character hexadecimal) digital fingerprint generated by applying the Secure Hash Algorithm 256-bit to the DFF files.

Before you install, confirm the file you downloaded is complete and unmodified. This is done by computing the digest of your downloaded file and compare it with the matching line in SHA256SUMS.txt. If they differ, delete the download and get the installer again from Aeon Technology. Do not run a file whose checksum does not match.

Windows

On Windows this can be done by using Windows PowerShell. In the folder that contains the downloaded file such as DFF-7.2-windows-x64.exe, run the following commands:

Get-FileHash .\DFF-7.2-windows-x64.exe -Algorithm SHA256
Get-Content .\SHA256SUMS.txt

The Hash value must match the line that ends with DFF-7.2-windows-x64.exe in SHA256SUMS.txt.

Linux

On Linux, run the following command in the folder that contains the downloaded file:

sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS.txt

A good result prints OK for the file you have. The command reports FAILED if the file is corrupt or truncated, and No such file for the other platform's installer if you only downloaded one package — that is expected.

Installation

Windows

On Windows run the installer program to start the installation process, accept the notice and choose the install folder. The default is
C:\Program Files\Aeon Technology\Direct Force Field 7.2.
A per-user location is offered if the user declines administrator rights.

After successful installation, launch DFF from the Start menu shortcut, or run dff7.bat that is in the install folder.

Linux

A similar installer such as dff7.2.30-Linux-x64.run is provided. This programs runs on all 64-bit Intel or AMD cpu computers (any glibc distro).

The program can be installed on user's directory, the default is $HOME/DirectForceField7:

./DFF-7.2-linux-x64.run 

To install the program in a system directory, use sudo prefix, for example:

sudo ./DFF-7.2-linux-x64.run --prefix /local/user/dff7

Options can be used with the installer are:

--prefix <DIR>     Install directory
--no-desktop       Do not write a .desktop shortcut
--keep             Leave extracted files in /tmp
--help             Show help

You may need to change the permission after the installation so that the software is accessible by all users, such as:

sudo chmod -R 755 /usr/local/DirectForceField

After successful installation, launch DFF by running dff7.sh that is in the install directory.

The installation directory is referred as <dff-root> in this document. Several subdirectories such as: /bin64w, /data, /database, /force fields, /images, /jar, /License, can be found in the installation directory.

Uninstall

Windows

Use Settings → Apps, or Start → Direct Force Field 7.2 → Uninstall Direct Force Field.

Linux

# user uninstall
$HOME/DirectForceField7/uninstall.sh

# system uninstall
sudo /opt/aeon/dff7/uninstall.sh

That removes the install directory and the desktop shortcut.

Start DFF

On windows, a shortcut link will be created by the installer. Click the link to get DFF user interface started. If the link does not start DFF, browse to the installation directory <dff-root>\bin64w and run dff8.exe to start the program. You can manually create a shortcut link to this program.

On Linux, the installer will add a PATH to your .bashrc configuration file. You may need to source the configuration file or restart a terminal, and then type dff8.exe from command line to start the program.

Note that the DFF user interface is written in Java. The program dff8.exe is an executable wrapper that runs the Java program. In <dff-root> directory, two shell scripts: dff8.bat for Windows and dff8.sh for Linux can be used to start the program as well.

Unless the license file has been installed, an information message will appear when you first start DFF. Close the message, the "License Manager" dialog will appear for configuring a license. Follow the instruction to set up a license. For more details, read License to continue.

If DFF is installed in a folder that needs administrator privilege, to configure license needs administrator's privilege. To start DFF using run as administrator on windows or using sudo prefix on Linux. Alternatively, you can manually copy the authorized license file to <dff-root>\License.