---
tags: English
---
# SideeX Launcher
This is the SideeX Recorder launcher developed based on electron, some key features include:
- Automatically installs SideeX Recorder onto Chrome
- Supports auto-update when new versions are released
- Supports opening Chrome and recording with Normal Mode, Guest Mode and Incognito Mode.
- Will install the browser drivers according to the locally installed browsers and start the Selenium Standalone server automatically.
<!-- - Supports perform OS-level commands. -->

## Installation
- Go to the [SideeX Launcher GitHub Repository Releases](https://github.com/SideeX/sideex-launcher/releases) and download the installer according to your OS.
- Windows: `.exe`
- MacOS: `.dmg`
- Linux: `.AppImage`
- Run the installer after the download is complete.

:::info
For Windows users, click on `More info` when the following SmartScreen appears, and then click on `Run anyway`.

:::
- To verify if the installation is successful:
- On Windows, a `SideeX Launcher` icon should appear on Desktop.
- On MacOS, a `SideeX Launcher` icon should appear in the Launch Pad
- On Linux, you can find `SideeX Launcher` in installed packages.

## How to Start
1. After launching the application, you will see the following page:

2. Click on `Start Testing` and you will see a dropdown menu

- `Using Chrome`
- This option will install SideeX Recorder and open Chrome with the current signed-in Chrome user
- The current user's bookmarks, passwords and histories will remain
:::info
- Note that all existing Chrome windows must be closed before launching with this mode.
:::
- `Using Chrome in Guest Mode`
- This option will install SideeX Recorder on a Chrome's guest user

- `Using Chrome in Incognito Mode`
- This option will let you use SideeX in an incognito window

:::info
Note:
- Before running this mode, you must first allow the extension in incognito mode by first running `Using Chrome in Guest Mode`
- Enter `chrome://extensions` on the address bar, or click on `Manage Extensions` on the top right corner.
- Click on `Details` of the SideeX Recorder
- Turn on "Allow in incognito" and you can use SideeX in incognito mode!

3. The `About` section consists of the current SideeX Launcher version and the link to `Learn more at sideex.io`


## How to Auto-Update
- SideeX will be checking for new releases every 24 hours, when there is a new version, SideeX Launcher will automatically download the release in the background

- When the download is completed, an `Update Now` button will appear in both Home and About page. Click on it to restart and a new version will be installed. A manual restart will also let the application install the newest version.


### Advanced Settings
- After the installation is completed, a folder named `.sideex` will be created under the home directory.
- Windows: `C:\Users\{USER_NAME}\.sideex`
- MacOS: `~/.sideex`
- The folder structure is as the following:

    .sideex
    | -- .sideexrc
    | -- selenium-server-standalone-3.141.59.jar
    | -- ${browser_dirvers}
    | -- ...
    | -- drivers
         | -- ${drivers}.zip
         | -- ...

- The `.sideex` folder includes the Selenium Standalone Server and the browser drivers.
- The `.sideexrc` file is the run time configuration file

    {
      "version": "0.0.1",
      "showIncognitoDialog": true,
      "seleniumServer": {
        "autoCheck": true,
        "autoRun": true,
        "path": "${home_path}/.sideex/selenium-server-standalone-3.141.59.jar",
        "javaPath": "",
        "host": "127.0.0.1"
      },
      "browserDriver": {
        "chrome": {
          "autoCheck": true
        },
        "firefox": {
          "autoCheck": true
        },
        "safari": {
          "autoCheck": true
        },
        "edge-chromium": {
          "autoCheck": true
        },
        "edge-legacy": {
          "autoCheck": true
        },
        "opera": {
          "autoCheck": true
        },
        "IE": {
          "autoCheck": true
        }
      }
    }

- `seleniumServer` can let you customize your Selenium Server's settings:
- `autoCheck`: decides whether to auto-update `selenium-server-standalone-3.141.59.jar` or not. The default value is set to `true`.
- `autoRun`: decides whether to run `Selenium Server` automatically when `SideeX Launcher` is launched or not.
- `path`: the path to launch the `Selenium Server`, the default path is set to `${home_path}/.sideex/selenium-server-standalone-3.141.59.jar`.
- `javaPath`: the path to execute java command, the default path is set to `""`. `""` will directly use `java` to execute java command.
- `host`: the ip address which the `Selenium Server` listen to on your computer, the default value is set to `127.0.0.1`.

- `autoCheck`: decides whether to auto-update the drivers for each browser driver. The default value is set to `true`.
- if you set `autoCheck` to `false`, you can manually download the corresponding drivers and place them under the directory. See the [SideeX Doc](https://hackmd.io/@sideex/book/%2F%40sideex%2Fwebdriver) for more information.

- `showIncognitoDialog`: decide whether to show the hint dialog window when using incognito mode.

## Troubleshooting
- Please refer to [SideeX Troubleshooting](https://hackmd.io/@sideex/book/%2F%40sideex%2Ftroubleshooting#SideeX-Launcher)