Software Installation Guide

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Software Installation Guide

This document serves as a guide on how to install the required software to participate in the SE Lab.

General Information

  • We recommend using the IntelliJ IDEA IDE for the SE Lab and will only provide technical support for IntelliJ IDEA. You may use other IDEs or text editors, but you will not receive help with any technical issues that may arise.
    • Optionally, you can get an educational license for IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate at this link.
  • Required software:
    • Java 21
    • Git
    • IntelliJ IDEA (or another IDE/text editor)

MacOS

Installing JDK 21

We first need to install Temurin JDK 21.0.8.

You need to install the correct version for your Mac’s architecture:

  • If you have an M Series Mac (M1, M2, M3 and M4), install the aarch64 version.
  • If you have an Intel Mac, install the x64 version.

After downloading, install it like any other Mac app.

Installing Git

If you already have Git installed, you can skip this step.

  • To check if you have Git installed, open your Terminal and run the command: which git
    • If you get a file path (i.E: /opt/homebrew/bin/git), it means you already have git installed.
    • If you don’t get any output, you need to install git.

1. Installing Homebrew

We first need to install Homebrew, a package manager for MacOS.

You can either follow the guide here, or install it from the .pkg version via this direct download link.

2. “Brewing” Git

After installing Homebrew, we can install (brew) Git by running the following command:

brew install git

This will install git on your system.

After installing git, you can open a new Terminal tab and type the command which git to confirm that it has been installed, as mentioned before.

Installing IntelliJ IDEA

We can now install and set up IntelliJ IDEA.

Similar to previous steps, make sure to choose the correct architecture (Apple Silicon for M-Series Macs, and Intel for Intel Macs) when downloading.

The following link contains downloads for IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate and a bit lower on the page, IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition. If you don’t have an educational license, simply scroll down and install IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition. You do not need to install the Ultimate version.

After downloading and installing IntelliJ IDEA, we can continue with setting it up.

Setting Up Intellij IDEA

Firstly, launch IntelliJ IDEA. You will be welcomed by the empty project menu.

We will now continue with an example project setup.

Click New Project > Kotlin > Create.

After creating a new project, click the gear icon on the top right of the window, and click Project Structure.

Under Project Settings > Project > SDK, select temurin-21 Eclipse Temurin 21.0.8.

You are now ready to start developing in IntelliJ IDEA!

Creating an SSH Key

We need to create an SSH key and connect it to our GitLab account.

If you created an SSH key before, you can use that. Run the following command:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

If you get an output like: sh-ed25519 ABCDEF... example@mail.com, you already have an SSH key set up, so you can use that.

If you don’t have an SSH key, create one by entering the following command in your Terminal:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519
  • Do not enter a passphrase (Otherwise you will have to enter it every time you push/pull to GitLab)

After creating the key, run the command:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

And copy its output.

Now, go to Gitlab > Preferences > Access > SSH Keys > Add new key then, paste the copied key in the Key field. Optionally, enter a title that matches your device. And click `Add key

If you need more help: GitLab SSH Docs

You are now all set!

Windows

Installing JDK 21

  • Visit the official Temurin JDK Release Page and download the Windows installer (.msi).

  • Run the Temurin Installer: double-click the downloaded file, follow the wizard, accept the license, and select the installation path. The installer typically sets the JAVA_HOME variable automatically. If prompted, restart Windows.

  • Verify Temurin Java installation: open Command Prompt and run:

java -version

should see output similar to:

openjdk version "21.0.8" 2025-07-15 LTS
OpenJDK Runtime Environment Temurin-21.0.8+9 (build 21.0.8+9-LTS)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM Temurin-21.0.8+9 (build 21.0.8+9-LTS, mixed mode, sharing)

Installing Git

  • Navigate to the latest Git for Windows installer and download the latest version.
  • Once the installer has started, follow the instructions as provided in the Git Setup wizard screen until the installation is complete.
  • Open the windows command prompt (or Git Bash if you selected not to use the standard Git Windows Command Prompt during the Git installation).
  • Type git version to verify Git was installed.

Note: git-scm is a popular and recommended resource for downloading Git for Windows. The advantage of downloading Git from git-scm is that your download automatically starts with the latest version of Git included with the recommended command prompt, Git Bash . The download source is the same Git for Windows installer as referenced in the steps above.

Installing IntelliJ IDEA

  • Download the installer .exe file.
  • Run the installer and follow the wizard steps.
  • To run IntelliJ IDEA, find it in the Windows Start menu or use the desktop shortcut.
  • When runnig IntelliJ for the first time, refer to the official guide.

Creating an SSH key

If you created an SSH key before, you can use that. Press Win + S, type Windows PowerShell, and run it. Run the following command:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

If you get an output like: sh-ed25519 ABCDEF... example@mail.com, you already have an SSH key set up, so you can use that.

If you don’t have an SSH key, create one by entering the following command in your PowerShell Terminal:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"
  • It will ask where to save the key. Default: C:\Users\<YourUsername>\.ssh\id_ed25519. Press Enter to accept.
  • Do not enter a passphrase. (Otherwise you will have to enter it every time you push/pull to GitLab.)

After creating the key, run the command:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

And copy its output.

Now, go to Gitlab > Preferences > SSH Keys > Add new key then, paste the copied key in the Key field. Optionally, enter a title that matches your device. And click `Add key

On older versions of Windows, if the steps above do not work as expected, consider repeating them using the Terminal provided by Git Bash (after Installing Git) rather than Windows PowerShell.

If you need more help: GitLab SSH Docs

Linux

Installing JDK 21

Debian/Ubuntu

  • Ensure the necessary packages are present:
apt install -y wget apt-transport-https gpg
  • Download the Eclipse Adoptium GPG key:
wget -qO - https://packages.adoptium.net/artifactory/api/gpg/key/public | gpg --dearmor | tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/adoptium.gpg > /dev/null
  • Configure the Eclipse Adoptium apt repository. To check the full list of versions supported take a look at the list in the tree here.
echo "deb https://packages.adoptium.net/artifactory/deb $(awk -F= '/^VERSION_CODENAME/{print$2}' /etc/os-release) main" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/adoptium.list
  • Install Temurin:
apt update # update if you haven't already
apt install temurin-21-jdk

CentOS/RHEL/Fedora

  • Add the RPM repo to /etc/yum.repos.d/adoptium.repo making sure to change the distribution name if you are not using CentOS/RHEL/Fedora. To check the full list of versions supported take a look at the list in the tree here.
# Uncomment and change the distribution name if you are not using CentOS/RHEL/Fedora
# DISTRIBUTION_NAME=centos

cat <<EOF > /etc/yum.repos.d/adoptium.repo
[Adoptium]
name=Adoptium
baseurl=https://packages.adoptium.net/artifactory/rpm/${DISTRIBUTION_NAME:-$(. /etc/os-release; echo $ID)}/\$releasever/\$basearch
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://packages.adoptium.net/artifactory/api/gpg/key/public
EOF
  • To install Temurin you require dnf:
dnf install temurin-21-jdk

Alternatively, if you are using yum:

yum install temurin-21-jdk

Installing Git

You can install Git on Linux through the package management tool that comes with your distribution.

Debian/Ubuntu

  • Git packages are available using apt.
  • It’s a good idea to make sure you’re running the latest version. To do so, Navigate to your terminal and run the following command to make sure everything is up-to-date: sudo apt-get update.
  • To install Git, run the following command: sudo apt-get install git-all.
  • Once the command output has been completed, you can verify the installation by typing: git version.

Fedora

  • Git packages are available using dnf.
  • To install Git, navigate to your terminal and run the following command: sudo dnf install git-all.
  • Once the command output has been completed, you can verify the installation by typing: git version.

Note: You can download the proper Git versions and read more about how to install on specific Linux systems, like installing Git on Ubuntu or Fedora, in git-scm’s documentation.

Installing IntelliJ IDEA

  • Download the tarball .tar.gz file.
  • Extract the tarball to a directory that supports file execution. For example, to extract it to the recommended /opt directory, run the following command for IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate:
sudo tar -xzf ideaIU-*.tar.gz -C /opt

For IntelliJ IDEA Community, run:

sudo tar -xzf ideaIC-*.tar.gz -C /opt
  • Execute the idea.sh script from the extracted directory to run IntelliJ IDEA.
  • In the main menu, go to Tools | Create Desktop Entry to create a desktop shortcut.

Creating an SSH Key

If you created an SSH key before, you can use that. Run the following command:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

If you get an output like: sh-ed25519 ABCDEF... example@mail.com, you already have an SSH key set up, so you can use that.

If you don’t have an SSH key, create one by entering the following command in your Terminal:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519
  • Do not enter a passphrase (Otherwise you will have to enter it every time you push/pull to GitLab)

After creating the key, run the command:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

And copy its output.

Now, go to Gitlab > Preferences > SSH Keys > Add new key then, paste the copied key in the Key field. Optionally, enter a title that matches your device. And click `Add key

If you need more help: GitLab SSH Docs

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