Quick Start Guide
This guide takes you through installing the application files, adding your licence, and connecting to a database.
1. Installing the Application
You have two options here.
1.1. Installing with the Installer
Visit the downloads page, download and run the installer for your platform.
1.2. Installing the Bundle
1.2.1. Installing the bundle on Windows
-
Download the StrataBugs Windows bundle. (Includes Java 22 for 64-bit Windows systems)
-
We recommend creating a StrataBugs
root
folder and an application folder within it, so just create a folder e.g.C:\StrataBugs
, and move the downloaded .zip bundle into this folder before extracting. You can also put previous versions of StrataBugs, and external related files within this folder. -
Extract the zip file into this folder, e.g.
C:\StrataBugs\StrataBugs-3.0_x64
- do NOT extract intoProgram Files
. This is now your StrataBugs application folder. Do not put any other files in here apart from your licence file and logo (if required).If the file is blocked, you won’t be able to run it:
Right-click the file and choose Properties to check whether the file is blocked; and if so, unblock it.
-
Create a shortcut to
StrataBugs.exe
onto your Desktop. To do this, pres theAlt
key while dragging the fileStrataBugs.exe
onto the Windows Desktop.
1.2.2. Installing on MacOS:
-
You will need to know whether you are running an Arm or x86 based mac. The newest machines are Arm based.
-
Downloaded the appropriate
.dmg
file for your platform, and double click to open. You should see this window: -
Drag the icon from left to right to install.
You will see a new icon in the launchpad. If you click this icon, you will see this message:
-
Click
Show in Finder
, then click the icon in Finder while holding the Command key. From the popup menu selectOpen
. You will get another popup window from where you should be able to open StrataBugs:Once you have done this for the first time, it will remember the settings, and you can open using the launchpad.
Under MacOs Sequoia 15.2 the procedure is different to the above: you will need to open System Settings and go to Privacy and Security, then Accessibility and change the permissions for the app. -
You can unmount the downloaded file icon after installation - the application should be visible in the Launchpad.
2. Adding the licence file
-
If you already have a licence file (a file from StrataData with a
.lic
extension), copy this into your StrataBugs folder, or, if you used the installer, press "Select licence file …" and select the file you were sent. -
To obtain an evaluation licence, launch StrataBugs and press "Copy hostID to Clipboard". Use Paste (Ctrl-V) in your email to send the displayed host ID to StrataData for an evaluation licence, along with the details of your Organisation.
3. Connecting to a database
The first time you run the control panel you will need to set up a connection to a database. This might be a database in a local file, on a network or on a cloud server.

-
To download the demo database for v3.0, open the database utility at the prompt and select the option to download the demo database. (You can also download it here.) Save the database in a folder you have write access to. For the bundle, we recommend using a folder called
Data
inside yourRoot
folder, i.e.You can also use the database utility to convert an existing v2.1 database. See this guide.
Exit the Database Utility and run StrataBugs again.
-
Create a new connection. For the demo database, choose H2 and select the downloaded database file. Parameters for an existing database will be different; you may need to contact your system administrator.
Figure 2. Example connection parameters for downloaded demo database -
You can now choose your connection and press "Connect".
Figure 3. For the demo database you do not need to enter a username or password on the connection dialog. -
When the connection is established, you will see the login screen. For the demo database, select the user Demo and use the password DEMO. If the demo user isn’t available, select SYSTEM with password ADMIN.
When you press connect, you should see the StrataBugs control panel.
4. Further Steps
-
If you have a logo for charts, copy to a file called
logo.jpg
in your StrataBugs application folder, or see the help pages under "Logo" for alternative locations. -
To download updates, use Config | Look for updates from the control panel.
5. Downloading a new bundle
If there is an update to the Java version we are using, it might be necessary to download a new bundle. The updater will inform you of this.
-
Rename the application folder
StrataBugs-3.0_x64
toStrataBugs-3.0_x64_old
-
Extract the zip as above into
StrataBugs-3.0_x64
-
Delete the zip file.
-
Move your licence file (and logo file) into
StrataBugs-3.0_x64
from the old folder. -
After testing the application, you can delete the old folder.