Anthias/docs/installation-options.md

Using the image from the Raspberry Pi Imager

Note

Raspberry Pi 5 images are not yet available via the Raspberry Pi Imager. For Pi 5 installations, please use either:

• balenaHub images
• Release images
• Manual installation

The quickest way to get started on supported devices is to use Raspberry Pi Imager, where you can find Anthias under Other specific-purpose OS.

Using the images from balenaHub

Important

This option is recommended for those who want to install Anthias without touching the command line interface. When a new rolling release is available, updates will automatically be installed on your device.

Balena made a big update to their IoT marketplace. Included in that change is the launch of Fleets for Good. With that, you may find it hard to find the Anthias images on the marketplace. In the meantime, here are the links to the images:

• Raspberry Pi 5
• Raspberry Pi 4
• Raspberry Pi 3
• Raspberry Pi 2
• Raspberry Pi 1

Go to one of the links above and click the Join button, then select either Ethernet only or Wifi + Ethernet for Network options. You can either click the Flash button to open balenaEthcher (make sure that it's installed) or download the image file and flash it using your preferred imager. Flash the SD card and boot up your Raspberry Pi. It will take a few minutes to boot up and start the services.

Alternatively, you can download our pre-built Balena disk images from the releases.

Using the images from the releases

You can find the latest release here. From there, you can download the disk image that you need and flash it to your SD card. The image file looks something like <yyyy>-<mm>-<dd>-raspberry<version>.zst. Take note that the .img file is compressed in this .zst file.

Note

We started to release the images in .zst format in v0.20.0 so that the images are smaller in size. Using zip with the -9 flag won't make the each of the images smaller than 2 GB.

At the moment, only the Raspberry Pi Imager—starting from version v1.9.4—supports the .zst format.

For those who are using balenaEtcher, you can use the zstd command to decompress the image file.

zstd -d <yyyy>-<mm>-<dd>-raspberry<version>.zst

Starting with v0.19.0, devices installed using this option will be pinned to the version that you've downloaded. This means that the devices will still be in the same version even if a new release (e.g., v0.19.1, etc.) is available.

Installing on Raspberry Pi OS Lite or Debian

Overview

If you'd like more control over your digital signage instance, try installing it on Raspberry Pi OS Lite or Debian.

Warning

Anthias does not currently support devices running Debian Trixie. Please use Debian Bookworm or Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm for the best experience.

Important

When installing on PC (x86) devices, make sure do follow the steps in the x86 installation guide so that the installation script will work.

Note

For Raspberry Pi 5:

• We recommend using the 64-bit version of Raspberry Pi OS Lite (Bookworm)
• 32-bit Raspberry Pi OS is not supported on Pi 5
• If you experience any issues, please report them either:
  • On our forums
  • As a GitHub issue
  • In GitHub Discussions

The TL;DR for on Raspberry Pi OS or Debian is:

$ bash <(curl -sL https://install-anthias.srly.io)

You'll be prompted with the following questions:

• Do you still want to continue?
• Would you like Anthias to manage the network for you?
• Which version of Anthias would you like to install?
• Would you like to perform a full system upgrade as well?

You can either use the arrow keys to select your choice and then press Enter or type y or n (for yes-no questions). The installer will display your responses before proceeding with the installation.

This installation will take 15 minutes to several hours, depending on variables such as:

• The Raspberry Pi hardware version
• The SD card
• The internet connection

Note

During ideal conditions (Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, class 10 SD card and fast internet connection), the installation normally takes 15-30 minutes. On a Raspberry Pi Zero or Raspberry Pi Model B with a class 4 SD card, the installation will take hours.

Prompt: Network Management

Opting for network management will enable and configure the NetworkManager service on your device.

Prompt: Version Selection

You can choose between the following choices — latest and tag.

• Selecting latest will install the version from the master branch.
• Selecting tag will prompt you to enter a specific tag to install.
• Do take note that latest is a rolling release, so you'll always get the latest changes.

Installing from a Specific Tag

Select this option if you want to install a pinned version of Anthias. You'll be prompted to enter a specific tag to install. You can find the tags in the releases page.

The script will check if the tag specified is valid and can be installed. If it's not, you need to run the script again and enter a valid tag.

Prompt: Full System Upgrade

If you've selected Yes when prompted for an upgrade – i.e., "Would you like to perform a full system upgrade as well?" – you'll get the following message when the installer is almost done executing:

Please reboot and run `/home/$USER/screenly/bin/upgrade_containers.sh` to complete the installation.

Would you like to reboot now?

You have the option to reboot now or later. On the next boot, make sure to run upgrade_containers.sh, as mentioned above.

Otherwise, if you've selected No for the system upgrade, then you don't need to do a reboot for the containers to be started. However, it's still recommended to do a reboot.

Installing with Balena

Go through the steps in this documentation to deploy Anthias on your own Balena fleet.

Installing on a Raspberry Pi 5 with an SSD

Go through the steps in this documentation to deploy Anthias on a Pi5 with an SSD