# Installation

## Windows:

- Requires Windows 8.1 or later, but only Windows 10 is tested.
- Download the `.exe` package of the [latest release](https://github.com/EDCD/EDMarketConnector/releases/latest).
- Double-click on it to install.
- The application should open at the end of the installation process.  Else
  run **Elite Dangerous Market Connector** from the Start Menu or Start Screen.

## Windows in custom location, i.e. a different drive:

- If you are installing for the first time, you should be prompted to choose a location.
- If you are installing an update, the only way to move the install location is to uninstall and reinstall.

## Linux with Steam Play:

- Follow the instructions on [running from source](https://github.com/EDCD/EDMarketConnector/wiki/Running-from-source).
- Continue with [Setup](#Setup) below.

## Linux with Wine:

- Follow the above instructions for Windows.

## Mac:

- You'll need to [run from source](https://github.com/EDCD/EDMarketConnector/wiki/Running-from-source).

______________________________________________________________________

# Setup

## Journals

This application needs to know where your Game Journal files are in order to
function.

### Windows

On Windows these will always be in one standard location, because
that's determined by where the game writes them.  It will always be:

```
Saved Games\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous
```

and this is the default.  To access this reliably in a File Explorer window use
the path:

```
shell:SavedGames\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\
```

*If you ever have a need to move `Saved Games` to another drive then you must
do this via the `Properties` on its right-click menu, else neither the game nor
this application will be able to find the new location.*

### Linux

If you're running the Game via Steam Play on Linux then your journal files
should be located at:

```
~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/359320/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Saved Games/Frontier Developments/Elite Dangerous
```

Copy and paste the following into a Terminal app window:

```
mkdir -p ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/359320/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Saved\ Games/Frontier\ Developments/Elite\ Dangerous
```

and press Enter (assuming that your Steam library is in the default `~/.steam` location). This will ensure the directory exists, as it will create the directory if it doesn't yet exist, and does nothing if the directory already exists.

Now change `Settings` > `Configuration` > `E:D journal file location` to
point to there.

If you have file-shared the Game Journals from another machine that's
running the game and mounted them on your Linux machine then you will need to
configure this to point to where you mounted them.

### macOS

It has not been possible to run the Game on macOS for many years now, so the
only use of this Application is if you have file-shared the Game Journals and
mounted them on your macOS machine.

Thus you will need to configure `Preferences` > `Configuration` >
`E:D journal file location` to point to where you have mounted them.

## Frontier Authentication

The first time that you run the app while playing the game you are redirected to Frontier's authentication website and prompted for your username and password. This is the same username and password combination that you use to log into the Elite: Dangerous launcher.

This step is required so that the Frontier servers can send the app *your* data and the data for the station that *you* are docked at. Refer to the [Privacy Policy](Privacy-Policy.md) for how this app handles your data.

______________________________________________________________________

# Output

This app can save a variety of data in a variety of formats:

- Market data

  - Trade Dangerous format file - saves commodity market data as files that you can load into [Trade Dangerous](https://github.com/eyeonus/Trade-Dangerous/wiki).
  - CSV format file - saves commodity market data as files that you can upload to [mEDI's Elite Tools](https://github.com/mEDI-S/mEDI_s-Elite-Tools).

  Note that the above tools can be configured to consume data from the “[EDDN](https://github.com/EDCD/EDDN/wiki)” data feed (see below). You may find using the EDDN feed easier and more productive than using these data files.

- Ship loadout

  - After every outfitting change saves a record of your ship loadout as a file that you can open in a text editor and that you can import into [E:D Shipyard](http://www.edshipyard.com), [Coriolis](https://coriolis.edcd.io) or [Elite Trade Net](http://etn.io/).

By default these files will be placed in your Documents folder. Since this app will create a lot of files if you use it for a while you may wish to create a separate folder for the files and tell the app to place them there.

### EDDN

- Station data
  - Sends station commodity market, outfitting and shipyard data to
    [EDDN](https://github.com/EDCD/EDDN/wiki) from where you and others
    can use it via trading tools such as [eddb](https://eddb.io/),
    [EDSM](https://www.edsm.net/),
    [Inara](https://inara.cz/) ('Live' galaxy only),
    [mEDI's Elite Tools](https://github.com/mEDI-S/mEDI_s-Elite-Tools),
    [Roguey's](https://roguey.co.uk/elite-dangerous/),
    [Trade Dangerous](https://github.com/eyeonus/Trade-Dangerous/wiki) with the
    [EDDBlink](https://github.com/eyeonus/Trade-Dangerous/wiki/Plugin-Options#eddblink)
    plugin, etc.
  - Sends system and faction information and the results of your planet scans
    to [EDDN](https://github.com/EDCD/EDDN/wiki) from where you and others
    can use it via online prospecting tools such as [eddb](https://eddb.io/),
    [EDSM](https://www.edsm.net/), [Inara](https://inara.cz), etc.
  - You can choose to delay sending this information to EDDN until you're next
    docked at a station. Otherwise, the information is sent as soon as you
    enter a system or perform a scan.

### EDSM

You can send a record of your Cmdr's details, ship details, cargo, materials,
missions and flight log to [Elite Dangerous Star Map](https://www.edsm.net/).
You will need to register for an account and then follow the
[Elite Dangerous Star Map credentials](https://www.edsm.net/settings/api)
link to obtain your API key.

### Inara

**As of EDMarketConnector 5.6.0 and Update 14 of the game only the 'Live'
galaxy is supported by Inara**.  Thus, if you are playing only in the 'Legacy'
galaxy you should just disable the Inara plugin's "Send flight log and Cmdr
status to Inara' option.

You can send a record of your Cmdr's details, ship details, cargo, materials,
missions, community goal progress, and flight log to [Inara](https://inara.cz/).
You will need to register for an account and then follow the
[Inara credentials](https://inara.cz/settings-api/) link to obtain your API
key. Your flight log on Inara is updated in real-time. Other information is
updated on startup and then less frequently - typically on leaving a station.

______________________________________________________________________

# Uninstall

## Windows

- Uninstall **Elite Dangerous Market Connector** from `Settings`
  (WinKey+`I`) > `Apps`.  NB: Registry keys will NOT remain in place. Be sure to back up your plugins if you want to reinstall!

## Linux

You will have installed from source, so simply delete the location you
downloaded the source to.

## macOS

- If you installed the old package (up to version 3.43) then delete the
  `EDMarketConnector` app.

- Else you installed from source and should just
  remove the folder you downloaded/unpacked it to.

Note: Uninstalling the app does not delete any output files that it has previously written.

See also [Location of configuration files](Troubleshooting#location-of-configuration-files).