Installing on Linux

This guide explains how to run SetFN SpaceBuilder directly on a Linux host. The examples below are based on Ubuntu-family distributions; package names and install commands may differ on other distributions.

Before you begin

• sudo privileges are required only the first time you install the required libraries
• Sufficient disk space to store service data and files you'll upload in the future
• Firewall access to the server port if you'll connect from other devices

Running SpaceBuilder itself does not require sudo privileges. Run it under a regular user account.

GPU Servers and AI Workstations

In addition to general Linux PCs and servers, GB10-based personal AI systems such as NVIDIA DGX Spark, ASUS Ascent GX10, Dell Pro Max with GB10, HP ZGX Nano AI Station, Lenovo ThinkStation PGX, and MSI EdgeXpert can be used as Linux hosts. These systems are well suited to GPU-intensive workloads such as running local AI models and knowledge indexing.

CPU architecture, Linux distribution, NVIDIA driver requirements, and AI runtime support vary by device. Before installation, confirm that the SpaceBuilder installer and your chosen AI runtime support the target environment.

Planned Full Installation Option

Downloading the installer

Download the Linux installer from the download page.

Grant execute permission to the downloaded file.

chmod +x ~/SetFnSpaceBuilder

Installing required libraries

The SpaceBuilder binary uses native libraries for image analysis and preview generation. On Ubuntu 24.04 and later, install the following packages first.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y \
  libvips42t64 libvips-tools \
  libheif1 libheif-plugin-libde265 \
  libglib2.0-0

Installing recommended feature packages

The SpaceBuilder server also handles OCR, PDF analysis, document previews, and format conversion for uploaded files on its own. The server's core features will run without the following packages, but some functionality will be limited or fewer conversion engines will be available when processing related files.

To use all OCR and document conversion features, we recommend installing the following packages together.

sudo apt install -y \
  tesseract-ocr tesseract-ocr-kor tesseract-ocr-jpn \
  poppler-utils mupdf-tools \
  libreoffice pandoc

You can check your installation status with the following commands.

vips --version
vips list classes | grep -i heif
tesseract --version
tesseract --list-langs
pdftotext -v
mutool -v
libreoffice --version
pandoc --version

Running the installer

Run the installer file.

./SetFnSpaceBuilder

By default, the installer opens the initial setup page on port 18510. If that port is already in use by another program, the next available port is chosen automatically, so always connect using the address printed in the terminal.

When the initial setup page opens in your browser, review and agree to the terms of service, then configure the administrator account and service environment. For details on the specific fields and precautions, see Initial Setup.

Starting automatically when the computer turns on

Once you've completed the initial setup, we recommend configuring auto-start so that SpaceBuilder is always running. With auto-start configured, the following behavior applies.

• SpaceBuilder keeps running even if you close the terminal you launched it from.
• SpaceBuilder starts automatically when you turn the computer off and back on.
• If SpaceBuilder exits due to an error, it restarts automatically.

On Linux, programs that should always be running are registered with the standard management facility called systemd. Follow the commands below in order.

1. Check your username and file location

Run the following two commands, one line at a time.

whoami

realpath ~/SetFnSpaceBuilder

• whoami shows the username you're currently logged in as.
• realpath shows the exact location of the SpaceBuilder executable.

Make a note of the output — you'll use it in the next step.

2. Create the auto-start configuration file

If SpaceBuilder is currently running in your terminal, press Ctrl+C to stop it first. Open the auto-start configuration file with the following command.

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/setfn-space-builder.service

Paste in the following content. Replace every instance of <user> with the username you confirmed in step 1, and set ExecStart to the executable location you confirmed.

[Unit]
Description=SetFN SpaceBuilder
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=<user>
WorkingDirectory=/home/<user>
Environment=HOME=/home/<user>
ExecStart=/home/<user>/SetFnSpaceBuilder
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

In nano, save with Ctrl+O then Enter, and exit with Ctrl+X.

3. Turn on auto-start

Run the following commands, one line at a time. The first command tells Linux about the configuration you just wrote, and the second starts SpaceBuilder now while also enabling it to start automatically on every future boot.

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

sudo systemctl enable --now setfn-space-builder

Check that it's running correctly.

systemctl status setfn-space-builder

If active (running) is displayed, auto-start has been configured successfully. Press q to close the status screen.

4. Troubleshooting when it doesn't run

If active (running) is not shown, or you can't connect to SpaceBuilder, check recent logs with the following command.

journalctl -u setfn-space-builder -n 100 --no-pager

To watch the startup process in real time, use the following command. Press Ctrl+C to exit when you're done.

journalctl -u setfn-space-builder -f

Auto-start management commands

If you modify the auto-start configuration file, run sudo systemctl daemon-reload and then restart SpaceBuilder for the changes to take effect.