Installing the full easy install distribution

This topic describes how to set up your system to work with the DITA-OT full easy install distribution.

This topic is intended as a quick start guide using the "full easy install" version of the DITA-OT; for information about setting up and running other versions of the toolkit (the minimal or standard distribution packages), see Installing the DITA Open Toolkit. If you are uncertain which distribution you are using, see Distribution packages.

Installing DITA-OT Full Easy Install package in Windows

The DITA-OT depends on several external open source libraries, such as Ant for running builds, ICU for sorting indexes, and more. The "full easy install" distribution of the DITA-OT includes all of the prerequisite tools - everything you need except for Java itself.

Before installing DITA Open Toolkit full distribution, you need to complete the following steps:

  • Download and configure the Java JRE (the minimum version is 1.5).
  • (Optional) Download and configure HTMLHelp Compiler properly for HTMLHelp transformation.
  • (Optional) Download and configure JavaHelp Compiler properly for JavaHelp transformation.

After installing Java and (if needed) HTML Help or JavaHelp compilers, you will need to follow these steps to complete your installation.

  1. Download the DITA-OT Full Easy Install package.
  2. Unzip DITA-OT1.6_full_easy_install_bin.zip into the installation directory.
  3. Run the batch file "startcmd.bat" to set up the necessary environment variables. A new Command Prompt window will open up, with the environment variables already set to enable DITA-OT to run within that shell.
  4. You may now run a build in the Command Prompt window by using Ant or command-line tool.

The resulting Command Prompt can be used to run as many builds as you want. Once that window is closed, you will need to run startcmd.bat again to set up a new environment for running builds.

Installing DITA-OT Full Easy Install package in Linux

The DITA-OT depends on several external open source libraries, such as Ant for running builds, ICU for sorting indexes, and more. The "full easy install" distribution of the DITA-OT includes all of the prerequisite tools - everything you need except for Java itself.

Before installing DITA Open Toolkit full distribution, you need to complete the following steps:

  • Download and configure the Java JRE (the minimum version is 1.5).
  • (Optional) Download and configure JavaHelp Compiler properly for JavaHelp transformation.

After installing Java and (if needed) the JavaHelp compiler, you will need to follow these steps to complete your installation.

  1. Download the DITA-OT Full Easy Install package.
  2. Extract DITA-OT1.6_full_easy_install_bin.tar.gz into the installation directory.
  3. Run shell script "startcmd.sh" to set up the necessary environment variables. A new Terminal window will open up, with the environment variables already set to enable DITA-OT to run within that shell.
  4. You may now run a build in the Terminal window by using Ant or command-line tool.

The resulting Terminal can be used to run as many builds as you want. Once that shell is closed, you will need to run startcmd.sh again to set up a new environment for running builds.