To install and update BioDynaMo execute the following command.

curl https://biodynamo.github.io/install | bash

This will also install all prerequisites, including ROOT, ParaView and Qt5. By default the installation directory is set to $HOME/biodynamo-vX.Y.Z, where X.Y.Z is the version number.


Important

In every new terminal execute source <installation-directory>/bin/thisbdm.sh to use BioDynaMo, where <installation-directory> is the BioDynaMo installation directory.
To do this automatically for every shell, put this in your .bashrc or .zshrc.

Install development version

The command shown at the top of the page installs the latest BioDynaMo release including all patches for this release.

If you want to install the latest development version with all experimental features, use:

export BDM_INSTALL=master
curl https://biodynamo.github.io/install | bash

Install specific version

It is also possible to install a specific BioDynaMo version. Let's assume that in a publication you read that the authors used BioDynaMo version v1.01.115-e1088d4a. To install the exact same version on your system, use the following commands.

export BDM_INSTALL=e1088d4a
curl https://biodynamo.github.io/install | bash

Supported platforms

  • Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04, 24.04
  • Ubuntu 26.04 (x86_64, experimental compatibility with the Ubuntu 24.04 libraries)
  • MacOS > 12.0 (Intel and ARM)

Ubuntu 26.04 support requires a checkout containing the new installation scripts; the release installer above may still point to an older version. From that checkout, run ./install.sh. See the Ubuntu 26.04 build notes for the toolchain and validation requirements.

Currently, we do not support Windows or Windows subsystem for Linux.


Note

If you are a developer please follow the build instructions in our Developer Guide.