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Quick Start

Install GemStone/S 64 Bit 3.7.5, create a repository, and log in for the first time. Select your platform below.

macOS is for development only

GemStone/S 64 Bit on macOS is supported for development use only, not production deployments.

Before you begin​

All three tracks share the same prerequisites. Verify these before starting.

Hardware and OS

  • Intel x86_64 (Sandy Bridge or newer, no Atom) or AMD x86_64 (Bulldozer v1 or newer), or 64-bit Raspberry Pi 5 (arm64)
  • Red Hat-compatible Linux ES 7.9/8.10/9.6, Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 LTS, or Debian 12/13

Disk and memory

  • ~1.3 GB disk space for the distribution, plus space for your repository
  • Swap space at least 20–25% of physical RAM
  • ext4, XFS, or ZFS filesystem; XFS recommended for large systems
  • Do not install on NFS-mounted partitions or CIFS volumes

Step 1: Download the distribution​

Go to gemtalksystems.com/products/gs64/versions37x and download the 3.7.5 package for your platform.

Download the zip file matching your architecture:

  • GemStone64Bit3.7.5-x86_64.Linux.zip (x86_64)
  • GemStone64Bit3.7.5-arm64.Linux.zip (arm64 / Raspberry Pi 5)

You must agree to the Community Edition License Terms before downloading, unless you have a GemTalk contract license.

Step 2: Install​

Install as a regular user (gsAdminUser), not as root. Some configuration steps later require sudo.

  1. Choose an installation directory (InstallDir). Avoid NFS-mounted partitions and volumes that contain OS swap space.

  2. Move the zip file to InstallDir and unzip it:

cd InstallDir
unzip GemStone64Bit3.7.5-x86_64.Linux.zip

The distribution unpacks into a directory named GemStone64Bit3.7.5-x86_64.Linux (or arm64 for arm64).

Step 3: Set environment variables​

Set GEMSTONE and update your PATH before running any GemStone commands. Add these to your shell profile (.bashrc, .zshrc, or equivalent) to persist across sessions.

export GEMSTONE=InstallDir/GemStone64Bit3.7.5-x86_64.Linux
export PATH=$GEMSTONE/bin:$PATH

Replace x86_64 with arm64 if you installed the arm64 distribution.

If you have previously installed GemStone on this machine, check for stale environment variables and clear any that do not apply to 3.7.5:

env | grep GEM

Step 4: Run configuregs​

configuregs creates the /opt/gemstone/locks and /opt/gemstone/log directories that GemStone requires to run. On a machine with no prior GemStone installation, you must run this step.

Run as sudo with the GEMSTONE variable passed through:

sudo -E $GEMSTONE/install/configuregs

The script prompts for:

PromptWhat to enter
User to own GEMSTONEYour gsAdminUser account name (not root)
Group to own GEMSTONEA group that includes all GemStone users
Key file pathPath to your keyfile, or press Enter to use the bundled community key
Add Netldi to /etc/services?n (default) unless you know you need named Netldi
Protect processes from OOM killer?y (default) — recommended
Update logind.conf to prevent session kill?y (default) — recommended on systemd systems

Step 5: Configure shared memory (macOS only)​

No action needed. Modern Linux kernels have sufficient default shared memory limits for GemStone.

Step 6: Create a repository​

The recommended approach for new installs is createNewGemStoneRepository, which sets up all repository files in a single directory outside the distribution tree.

$GEMSTONE/install/createNewGemStoneRepository /path/to/your/repo

Replace /path/to/your/repo with a path that does not yet exist or is empty, and is writable by gsAdminUser. The script prints the exact startstone and startnetldi commands to run next.

Step 7: Start the Stone and Netldi​

# Start the Stone, pointing to the configuration file created in Step 6
startstone -E /path/to/your/repo/gemstone_data.conf

# Start the Netldi in guest mode with captive account
startnetldi -g -a gsAdminUser

Both commands use the default names gs64stone (Stone) and gs64ldi (Netldi). If you need to use a port number instead of a named Netldi, pass the port as an argument:

startnetldi -g -a gsAdminUser 54321

Step 8: Verify the installation​

Log in using Topaz, the GemStone command-line interface. Run this on the same host as the Stone with your environment set up.

topaz

At the Topaz prompt, set your login parameters and connect:

topaz> set stone gs64stone user DataCurator password swordfish
topaz> login

A successful login confirms the Stone, Netldi, and repository are all working.

Change the default passwords

The built-in administrative accounts (DataCurator, SystemUser, GcUser) all use the default password swordfish. Change these passwords before any multi-user or networked use. See the System Administration Guide for instructions.