Installing Firestorm

Firestorm is a free, open-source viewer based on the Second Life viewer. It is the most widely used viewer for OpenSim grids.

Important: download the OpenSim build of Firestorm, not the Second Life-only build. The SL-only build will not let you log in to OpenSim grids. On the Firestorm download page the OpenSim releases are clearly labelled (e.g. “Firestorm for OpenSim” / Phoenix-FirestormOS-...).

Where to download

Always download Firestorm from the official site:

Choose the release (not the beta) unless you have a reason to test pre-release code. Firestorm will never ask for your login credentials to download the viewer – if a site does, it is not official.

Install on Windows

  1. Run the downloaded Phoenix-FirestormOS-...-Setup.exe.
  2. Follow the installer. The default options are fine.
  3. Launch Firestorm from the Start menu or desktop shortcut.

Install on macOS

  1. Open the downloaded .dmg.
  2. Drag Firestorm to the Applications folder.
  3. Launch it from Applications. If macOS blocks it because of an unidentified developer, right-click the app and choose Open the first time.

Install on Linux

  1. Extract the downloaded .tar.xz archive:

    tar xf Phoenix-FirestormOS-*.tar.xz
cd Phoenix-FirestormOS-*/
./install.sh

  2. The installer places the viewer under ~/firestorm (or similar) and adds a menu entry. Run it from your applications menu, or directly:

    ~/firestorm/firestorm

Note for Linux: Firestorm needs some 32/64-bit compatibility libraries (e.g. libGLU, libuuid, alsa, gtk). If the viewer fails to start, install your distribution’s “viewer/OpenGL” compatibility packages. The exact package names vary by distro (Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, etc.).

First launch

When Firestorm opens you will see the login screen. Before you can log in to an OpenSim grid you must add it – see Adding a grid and logging in.

If you do not see a grid selector (a dropdown to pick the grid) at the bottom of the login screen, press Ctrl+Shift+G to show/hide it.