Installing Bookmark Manager

Which download?

Each download has everything it needs; you don't install .NET or anything else first. The packages are called studerworks-bookmark-manager in your package manager.

Windows

1. Download BookmarkManager-Setup-version.exe from studerworks.com/download. If your browser says the file isn't commonly downloaded or could harm your device, choose Keep (Edge may ask once more: Keep anyway).
2. Double-click it. No admin rights are needed.
3. If Windows shows "Windows protected your PC", click More info, then Run anyway.
4. Accept the license agreement and click Install. Bookmark Manager starts and opens in your browser.
5. Later, open it from the Start menu: Bookmark Manager (it's http://localhost:5280/).

Why the warnings: this first version of the Setup isn't code-signed yet, so Windows doesn't know the publisher (it says Unknown publisher). Studer Works' code signing certificate is being issued; a later update brings a signed Setup that shows Studer Works, LLC. Updates from inside the app are checked against Studer Works' own signature either way, and install without these questions.

It installs for your Windows account in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\BookmarkManager, runs in the background (no window) and starts every time you sign in. Your bookmarks are in %LOCALAPPDATA%\BookmarkManager. If you installed an earlier version with install.cmd, the Setup simply updates it.

For IT departments: BookmarkManager-Setup-version.exe /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES installs it without questions for the user who runs it (the Windows protected your PC screen usually only appears when the file is opened from Explorer or a browser).

Linux, just for you

1. Install the package for your distribution (see the table above): open it in your software installer, or for example sudo apt install ./bookmark-manager_version_amd64.deb.
2. Open Bookmark Manager from your app menu. The first time, it sets itself up for you and opens in your browser.

Or in a terminal, as yourself (not with sudo): bookmark-manager-setup. It runs in the background as a systemd user service (or desktop autostart where there's no systemd) and starts with your login. Open http://localhost:5280/. Your bookmarks are in ~/.local/share/bookmark-manager.

Installs just for you listen on this computer only and have no sign-in. Nobody else on your network can reach them.

Team server (Linux server, VM or LXC)

One install for the whole team. Any Linux distribution with systemd or OpenRC works; one processor, 1 GB of memory and a few GB of disk are plenty. A standard Debian 13 Proxmox container works out of the box (unprivileged is fine).

sudo apt install ./bookmark-manager_version_amd64.deb
sudo bookmark-manager-setup --server

1. Install the package for your distribution (the .deb on Debian/Ubuntu, the .rpm on Fedora/RHEL, the Arch package with pacman -U), then run sudo bookmark-manager-setup --server. It creates a bookmark-manager service account and a service that comes back after reboots, and prints a one-time setup code.
2. Open http://server-address:5280/. The first visit asks for the setup code and you create the first admin account.
3. Add your team under Manage users, and enter the license key there.

Use --port 8080 to pick another port, and --data-dir /path to keep the data somewhere else. A server set up earlier from the tar.gz is taken over by the package: install the package and run sudo bookmark-manager-setup --server once; your data and accounts stay.

Alpine and other systems

For Alpine (musl), or a distribution the packages don't fit, use the tar.gz for your CPU: linux-musl-x64 (Alpine), linux-x64 or linux-arm64.

tar xzf bookmark-manager-version-linux-x64.tar.gz
cd bookmark-manager-version-linux-x64
./install.sh                 # just for you
sudo ./install.sh --server   # or a team server

It installs to ~/.local/lib/bookmark-manager (just for you) or /opt/bookmark-manager (server); on Alpine it also installs the few libraries it needs. Everything else works as described above. The Windows zip (install.cmd) is still offered so copies installed with it can update; new installs use the Setup.

HTTPS

The app itself speaks plain HTTP, which is fine on your own network. To reach it from anywhere else, put it behind a reverse proxy that handles HTTPS — Caddy, nginx, Traefik or your firewall's proxy — and set BookmarkManager__TrustForwardedHeaders=true in the settings file so sign-ins and links use the right address.

Updating

The app checks studerworks.com for a new version every hour (updates come with your license key). When one is out, a bar at the top says so; Settings → Updates (on a team server: Manage users → Updates) shows what's new. Every download is checked against Studer Works' signature before anything runs, and your bookmarks, accounts, settings and license are kept. An update uses the same kind of installer you installed with:

• Windows: Install update runs the new Setup in the background; the app is back a few seconds later.
• Team server: Install update hands the checked package to a small helper that checks it again as root and installs it with the package manager (apt, dnf, zypper or pacman). Without systemd, the panel shows the commands to run.
• Linux, just for you: installing a system package needs your password, so the panel downloads and checks the update and shows the one command to run, for example sudo apt install …. Updating through your software installer works too.
• Install new versions automatically (Windows and team servers): tick it in the same panel and new versions install within the hour after they come out. If a download fails, it tries again the next hour (up to three times). If an install itself doesn't work, it isn't repeated on its own; the panel says so and keeps the button.
• You can always update by hand: download the new version and install it the same way as the first time.

Uninstalling

• Windows: Settings → Apps → Installed apps → Bookmark Manager → … → Uninstall (Windows 10: Settings → Apps → Bookmark Manager → Uninstall). It stops Bookmark Manager, removes the program, its Start-menu entry and its start-at-sign-in task. No admin rights are needed.
• Linux: remove the package studerworks-bookmark-manager (for example sudo apt remove studerworks-bookmark-manager). For a copy just for you, run bookmark-manager-setup --uninstall first to remove its background service.
• tar.gz installs: ./install.sh --uninstall, or sudo ./install.sh --server --uninstall for a server.

Your data is kept so you can reinstall later; delete the data folder yourself if you don't need it. Before removing it for good, use Settings → Deactivate here (or Manage users on a server) to free the install on your license key.