Run Urbit Using Port (Not Recommended)

Get your Urbit Ship booted up

Port is Urbit ship running software available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It has a nice user interface, but is buggy and unreliable. Especially on Windows. It is recommended to use either the Linux command line or Groundseg by Native Planet as a more reliable alternative. I will write detailed guides for using those alternatives soon.

If you still want to try Port here is how

Now we need to install Port. Follow this link to grab the latest version of Port from GitHub.

Download the correct program for your operating system and run the installer. In this example, it is the Windows .exe file.

Windows seems to think that the file is dangerous. We know that it is not. Click on "More info" and run the installer anyway.

Once the installation completes, run the Port software. You will see an interface that looks like this.

If you are booting a new Planet ID for the first time, select "Boot a fresh ID". If you don't have a Planet ID you can start with a Comet. Comets are disposable and are missing some of the features that a Planet ID enjoys on the Urbit network.

For Planets, on this next screen, you will need to enter your ship details.

The "Name" field can be whatever you would like.

The "Shipname" field needs to be the exact name of your ship. You can find this information in the Master Ticket file you downloaded previously.

The "Key File" field is asking you to locate the .key file that was included in your passport download that also included your Master Ticket.

Note: Your ships .key file will only be used to verify your identity once on this initial boot and launch or your ship. You will not need this file again, and Port will defeat it automatically for you.

If the information was entered correctly, then you will see this screen while your ship boots up for the first time. This can take a few minutes. Something like 10 min.

Once your initial boot is completed can now launch your ship into the Urbit network and start using your new Urbit Identity.

It may take another minute to load the interface. You can see on the lower left a button to "Copy Access Key". This is like a password to access the interface of your ship if you are using it remotely. However, that is beyond the scope of this tutorial.

This is the Landscape interface. It is the main interface of your Urbit Ship. At the top, you will see a blue dot that displays your notifications.

Click on it to open the notification dropdown.

You should see one new notification from the System to Enable Link Handler.

Click on "Enable Link Handler"

This will take you to the System settings.

Toggle on the link handler to enable Port to automatically open Urbit links.

Lastly, you will notice that the .key file should be gone.

And that's it! Welcome to Urbit and I look forward to chatting with you on the network. If you need any assistance or would like to learn more about using Urbit join ~lanlyd/terminal.

Here is a link to a tutorial for how to join our Terminal group if you would like.

Thanks!

~lanlyd