Installation

Two ways:

• Download from the latest GitHub release: tala-wte-linux-amd64 or tala-wte-linux-arm64, matched to your host's CPU architecture (see System Requirements).
• Build it yourself with the Makefile. make linux cross-compiles both Linux targets into dist/ (make linux-amd64 or make linux-arm64 for just one). Each build embeds the SvelteKit console, the license, and the terminal, so the output is a single self-contained binary.

Copy the binary to the host (for example into the operator's home directory) and make it executable.

sudo ./tala-wte-linux-arm64 install

This is the standard install: the box becomes an access point that broadcasts your target networks. It takes no flags and is idempotent. What it does, in order (verified against cmd/server/install.go):

1. Verifies and installs system dependencies (heavy on the first run, a no-op afterward). See System Requirements for the package list.
2. Installs USB wireless recovery units and heals any USB Wi-Fi adapter wedged on first probe, so it surfaces without a reboot.
3. Warns about any connected adapter that has no driver support.
4. Copies the running binary to /var/lib/tala-wte/tala-wte-linux-<arch> (atomic temp-file-and-rename, so re-running over the live service binary is safe).
5. Sets up the in-browser terminal for the operator account (the user who ran sudo, or the first regular user).
6. Writes /etc/systemd/system/tala-wte.service, runs systemctl daemon-reload, then enables and starts the unit.
7. Waits for systemd to report the unit active, then waits for :8443 to answer.
8. Prints the console URL to open.

It never creates an account. Admin setup happens in the browser (see First boot below).

The systemd unit runs ExecStart=<binary> serve as root, with Restart=on-failure, ordered after network-online.target and the USB-rescan / Wi-Fi-recover units.

sudo ./tala-wte-linux-arm64 install-client

Use this when the box should join another Tala WTE access point and generate traffic instead of broadcasting. Same binary, same data dir, and the same tala-wte.service unit, but the unit sets TALA_MODE=client so the console shows the client view. It installs a lighter client dependency set (wpasupplicant, iw, isc-dhcp-client, iputils-ping, ca-certificates, wireless-regdb), heals wedged adapters, then writes and starts the unit.

You can also flip an already-installed box between roles later from Settings without reinstalling; install-client is just the way to provision a host directly into the client role. See The Pack for driving a fleet of client members from one leader.

install is also the upgrade path. The database under /var/lib/tala-wte is preserved across reinstalls, so you can re-run sudo ./tala-wte install any time to upgrade the binary or repair the systemd unit without losing networks, portals, captures, or your admin account. For routine updates, prefer the in-app updater (see Updating) rather than hand-installing.

sudo tala-wte uninstall

Stops and disables the service and removes the unit file, but preserves /var/lib/tala-wte (the database and all captures) so a later reinstall picks up where you left off.

sudo tala-wte uninstall --purge

Also deletes /var/lib/tala-wte (the database and all captures) and wipes the terminal session logs and recorder binaries. There is no undo.

Open the printed URL over HTTPS:

https://<host>:8443/

Port 80 redirects to 8443. The certificate is self-signed, so your browser will warn about it on the first visit; accept it to continue (the console is meant for an isolated lab, not the public internet).

On a fresh install the console shows a setup wizard, not a login. Tala WTE never auto-provisions an administrator and never prints credentials. The wizard asks for:

• An admin email and a password (minimum 10 characters).
• The license acknowledgment (enforced server-side; the full license is viewable from that screen).

Create the account from the wizard. It is one-shot: once the admin exists, the setup screen becomes the normal sign-in, and the wizard hard-refuses to create a second admin.