Downloads

INCEpTION 41.3

Choose your operating system below. INCEpTION stores its database and files in a directory called .inception under your home directory.

Windows

Download and run the installer. It bundles a Java runtime, so you do not need to install Java separately.

INCEpTION 41.3 for Windows (MSI installer, 64bit)

macOS

Download and open the disk image, then drag INCEpTION into your applications folder. These bundle a Java runtime, so you do not need to install Java separately. If you are unsure which one you need, check whether your Mac has an Apple Silicon or an Intel processor.

Linux

There is no Linux-specific installer package yet. Use the executable JAR below, which runs on any Linux distribution, or run INCEpTION via Docker.

Install a Java runtime (version 21 or higher) using your distribution’s package manager, for example apt install openjdk-21-jdk on Debian and Ubuntu, then start INCEpTION with:

java -jar inception-app-webapp-41.3-standalone.jar

Then open http://localhost:8080 in your browser.

Executable JAR (any operating system)

Runs anywhere a Java runtime (version 21 or higher) is available. Start it by double-clicking it in your file manager, or from the command line using java -jar inception-app-webapp-41.3-standalone.jar.

INCEpTION 41.3 (executable JAR) (signature)

Docker

If you have Docker installed, the recommended way to run INCEpTION is with Docker Compose. Copy the Docker Compose file from the administrator guide into a folder, then run:

INCEPTION_VERSION=41.3 docker compose -p inception up -d

Then open http://localhost:8080 in your browser. To stop INCEpTION again, run docker compose -p inception down.

This keeps your data in Docker volumes that live outside the containers, so it survives stopping, deleting and upgrading the containers. It also runs INCEpTION against a separate MariaDB database rather than the built-in one, which is what we recommend for anything beyond trying it out.

To upgrade, start the containers again with a newer INCEPTION_VERSION — your data is picked up again from the volumes.

If you prefer to keep the data in folders on your computer instead of in Docker volumes — for example to place a custom settings.properties next to it — set INCEPTION_HOME and INCEPTION_DB_HOME to the paths you want before starting. Note that you cannot freely switch between the two afterwards, so decide before you start annotating.

See the Docker instructions for running INCEpTION from a plain docker run command, memory settings and UID/GID options.