Startup

This article is part of the Getting Started Guide. It tells you how to get BaseX running.

Requirements

BaseX

Please download the latest BaseX version from our homepage. The official releases include the BaseX JAR file, libraries and optional Start Scripts. If you do not use the Windows version, we recommend to manually add the project’s bin directory to your path environment; this way, you will be able to run BaseX from everywhere in your shell/terminal.

Java

A Runtime Environment of Java 1.6 (JRE) is needed to run BaseX. BaseX is platform independent and runs on any system that provides a Java Virtual Machine. BaseX has been tested on Windows (2000, XP, Vista, 7), Max OS X (10.x), Linux(SuSE xxx, Debian, Ubuntu) and OpenBSD (4.x).

GUI/Standalone vs. Client/Server

The standalone client and the GUI of BaseX are not synchronized with other BaseX instances. If you plan to concurrently write to the same database instances, the client/server architecture is mandatory! You may encounter unexpected behavior, and your databases might even get corrupt, if you use BaseX instances that run in different Java VMs.

BaseX GUI

The BaseX GUI is the visual interface to the features of BaseX. It can be used to create new databases, perform queries or interactively explore your XML data.

The GUI can be started as follows (get more information here):

• Double click on the BaseX.jar file.
• Run one of the basexgui/basexgui.bat scripts.
• Execute the command: java -cp BaseX.jar org.basex.BaseXGUI.
• On Windows: Double click on the BaseX GUI start icon.
• For Maven users: type in mvn exec:java in the main directory of the basex project.

BaseX Standalone

The BaseX Standalone interface can be used to enter database commands, or execute automated database operations and queries, on command line.

The standalone version can be started as follows (get more information here):

• Run one of the basex/basex.bat scripts
• Execute the command java -cp BaseX.jar org.basex.BaseX
• On Windows: Double click on the BaseX start icon

BaseX Server

The BaseX Server comes into play if BaseX is to be used by more than one user (client). It handles concurrent read and write transactions, provides user management and logs all user interactions.

By default, the server listens to the port 1984. There are several ways of starting the server (get more information here):

• Run one of the basexserver/basexserver.bat scripts.
• Execute the command java -cp BaseX.jar org.basex.BaseXServer.
• On Windows: Double click on the BaseX Server (Start) start icon. This will also start the JAX-RX (HTTP) server.

Pressing Ctrl+c will close all connections and databases and shut down the server process.

BaseX Client

The BaseX Client interface can be used to send commands and queries to the server instance on command line.

It can be started as follows (get more information here):

• Run one of the basexclient/basexclient.bat scripts
• Execute the command java -cp BaseX.jar org.basex.BaseXClient
• On Windows: Double click on the BaseX Client start icon

The default admin user can be used to connect to the server:

• Username: admin
• Password: admin

The password should be changed with the PASSWORD command after the first login.

Please check out our little Server Tutorial for more details.

BaseX HTTP Server

Introduced with Version 6.8:
The HTTP server is required to activate the REST and WebDAV services of BaseX. It starts an instance of the Jetty WebServer, which listens to the port 8984 by default, and the BaseX Server, which listens to 1984.

The HTTP Server can be started as follows (get more information here):

• Run one of the basexhttp/basexhttp.bat scripts
• On Windows: Double click on the BaseX Server (Start) start icon
• For Maven users: type in mvn jetty:run in the main directory of the basex-api project. The BaseX server needs to be manually started if the org.basex.local property is set to false (this is the default). Please have a look into the pom.xml file of the basex-api project for more options.

Pressing Ctrl+c will close all connections and databases and shut down the server process.

BaseX JAX-RX Server

Deprecated from Version 6.8: The JAX-RX (REST) server can be started as follows (get more information here):

• Run one of the basexjaxrx/basexjaxrx.bat scripts
• On Windows: Double click on the BaseX Server (Start) start icon

See also

Server Tutorial, GUI Tutorial, Standalone Tutorial, Getting Started