Installing OghmaNano

Windows

Go to the download page for OghmaNano and download the latest version. Double-click the installer and confirm all prompts. The program will install on your PC and an icon will appear in the Start Menu. We recommend installing in the default directory.

New versions are released every couple of weeks, so it’s worth keeping your installation up-to-date. On modern versions of Windows, you may see a warning about installing an unsigned executable from an unknown publisher. This is because the installer is not cryptographically signed - to sign the executable the OghmaNano project would have to pay around £500/year for a code signing certificate, this is something we are not prepared to do. So, you can safely dismiss this warning when installing OghmaNano.

Windows beta versions

Beta versions of OghmaNano for Windows are released relatively regularly. These can be found at the bottom of the downloads page. To access beta versions, download the installer from this section. The installer provides options to install the current stable release, the upcoming release, and several recent previous releases.

Linux

A Linux version of OghmaNano is available at https://www.oghma-nano.com/download_ubuntu.php . This build runs under Wine, so you will need Wine installed for it to work. The package is provided as a standard .deb installer, which integrates with your desktop menu system. Please note that the Linux version is updated less frequently than the Windows build, but provides the same core functionality.

Windows defender warnings

When you first install or run OghmaNano on Windows, the operating system may show a warning that the software is "unsigned" or "from an unknown publisher." This message does not mean the program is unsafe – it simply means that the installer has not been signed with a commercial code-signing certificate.

Code signing is essentially a way of attaching a digital signature purchased from a certificate authority. While it can make installation smoother, it is not a guarantee of software quality or security. Many legitimate open-source and academic tools are distributed unsigned because obtaining and renewing a certificate costs hundreds of pounds or dollars per year. For small research projects and academic software, this money is often better spent on actual development rather than on paperwork with a third-party authority.

Running unsigned software is common in research environments, and Windows provides the warning mainly so that users pause before installing programs they did not expect to download. As long as you obtain OghmaNano directly from the official website (oghma-nano.com), you can be confident you are getting the authentic version. Once installed, the program runs normally, and the unsigned status does not affect simulation performance or functionality in any way.