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Install Muster on a Windows or Linux computer

Reading time: 5 minutes. You do not need to be good with computers to follow this guide.

You will download one file, open it, and answer one or two questions from your computer.

Windows 10 or Windows 11

1. Download

Download Muster-Setup from the link Safe Signals gave you. The file name ends in .exe.

Your browser may warn you about the download. If it does, choose Keep.

2. Open the file and get past the blue warning

Double-click the file in your Downloads folder.

A blue box may appear that says "Windows protected your PC." This is expected. It appears because Muster's installer is new to Microsoft, not because something is wrong with the file.

  1. Click More info.
  2. Check that the file name starts with Muster-Setup.
  3. Click Run anyway.

3. Say yes to the permission question

Windows asks, "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?" Click Yes.

If Windows asks for an administrator password and you don't have one, ask whoever manages that computer. Muster needs this once, to install.

4. Finish the installer

Click Next on each screen, then Install, then Finish. Muster opens, and an icon appears on your desktop.

5. Set your Wi-Fi to Private

Do this on every Windows computer that will use Muster, or devices may not find each other.

  1. Connect to your station or apparatus Wi-Fi.
  2. Open Settings, then Network & internet (on Windows 10, Network & Internet, then Properties under your connection).
  3. Under Network profile, choose Private.

Windows sets each new Wi-Fi network to Public, and it blocks Muster's device-to-device connections on Public networks. If you join a new network and Windows shows a firewall box for Muster, set that network to Private as well. Only do this on networks your department trusts.

If you installed Muster from the Microsoft Store, Windows shows a firewall box the first time you use Muster. Check Private networks and click Allow.

You don't need to install Bonjour or anything else. Muster uses what's built into Windows.

Remove Muster from Windows

Open Settings, then Apps, find Muster, and choose Uninstall.

Ubuntu Linux

These steps are for Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04. There are two kinds of file. Most people should use the .deb file, because it adds Muster to your app menu.

  1. Download the file whose name ends in _amd64.deb.
  2. Double-click it in your Downloads folder.
  3. Choose Install and type your computer password.
  4. Open Muster from your app menu.

If double-clicking does not offer to install it, open Terminal and paste these two lines, pressing Enter after each:

cd ~/Downloads
              sudo apt install ./muster_*_amd64.deb

To remove it, open Terminal and run:

sudo apt remove muster

Option B: the AppImage file

An AppImage runs without installing anything. It will not appear in your app menu.

  1. Download the file whose name ends in .AppImage.
  2. Right-click it and choose Properties.
  3. Turn on Allow executing file as program (on Ubuntu 22.04 it is on the Permissions tab). Close the window.
  4. Double-click the file.

If nothing happens, open Terminal and paste these lines, pressing Enter after each:

cd ~/Downloads
              ./Muster-*-x86_64.AppImage --appimage-extract-and-run

To remove it, delete the file.

After installing

  1. Open Muster.
  2. Activate it. On a computer, choose Paste a License Key and paste the key from your Safe Signals email. See the quick-start guide for the other options.
  3. Connect every device to the same Wi-Fi network. They should find each other within a few seconds.
  4. If you pasted a License Key, your chief approves this computer in the admin console. Until then, other devices won't connect to it automatically, so pair it by QR (Settings → Peer Mesh → Show pairing QR).

Using a Windows or Linux computer as an Incident Commander station works the same way as a tablet.

If something goes wrong

Devices can't find each other. Check that every device is on the same Wi-Fi, and that Windows computers have that Wi-Fi set to Private (step 5 above). You can also pair devices by QR code: go to Settings, then Peer Mesh, then Show pairing QR.

"Windows protected your PC" has no Run anyway button. Click More info first. If there is still no button, your department may have blocked unknown apps. Ask your IT contact.

Windows says the administrator password is wrong or asks for one you don't have. Muster must be installed by someone with administrator rights on that computer.

The Muster window is blank on Linux. Run sudo apt install libegl1 libgles2 in Terminal, then open Muster again.

You want to confirm your download wasn't damaged. This step is optional. Safe Signals publishes a file called SHA256SUMS.txt. Put it in the same folder as your download.

  • On Linux, run sha256sum -c --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS.txt. It should say OK.
  • On Windows, open PowerShell in that folder, run Get-FileHash Muster-Setup-*.exe, and check the long code matches the one in the text file.

Still stuck? Email support@safesignals.io and tell us which computer you have and what the screen says. A photo of the screen helps.