The following section explains more about the software prerequisites that you need to install so that you are ready to install the zipped distribution for Galasa for running offline.

Java JDK

Required. Galasa tests and Managers are written in Java - you need to install a Java version 11 JDK or later to use it. Note: We do not currently support Java 21 or later. After installing, you must set the JAVA_HOME environment variable to your Java JDK installation path and check it set successfully by running the command echo $JAVA_HOME on Mac or Unix, or echo %JAVA_HOME% on Windows (PowerShell). The returned result shows the path to your JDK installation.

Gradle

Required to install the offline zipped distribution. You can also build Galasa projects using Gradle. (You can build projects using Maven if you prefer). Galasa projects are hierarchical file structures that provide the ability to store and run Galasa tests.

The following table shows the current compatibility between Gradle and Galasa versions:

Gradle release	Compatible Galasa version
6.8.x	All
6.9.x	All
7.x.x	All
8.x.x	0.36.0 or later

If you are upgrading to Gradle version 8 from an earlier version, see the Upgrading tests to compile using Gradle version 8 section in the Upgrading documentation to understand the changes you need to make to create Galasa projects and build and compile Galasa test code.

Remember to add Gradle to your PATH. You can check by running echo $PATH on Mac or Unix, or echo %PATH% on Windows (PowerShell).

Maven

You must install either Maven or Gradle in order to build Galasa projects, which are hierarchical file structures that provide the ability to store and run Galasa tests.

Docker

Required if using the Docker image. If you want to deploy the Docker image that is provided in the zip file, you will need to have Docker installed.

3270 emulator

Optional. Although you do not need a 3270 emulator to run a Galasa test (even if it tests a 3270 application) you can use one to run Galasa Simbank online, a simulated version of an application that helps you get acquainted with Galasa before connecting to a real mainframe to run your own tests. There are many such emulators available but IBM's Personal Communications (PCOMM) is frequently used, as is IBM's Host on Demand software, which includes support for Windows, Linux and MacOS.

Next steps

Install the Galasa plug-in using the zipped distribution by following the instructions in Installing the Galasa CLI offline.