Install

Install on Windows

Download HotDog CMS for Windows, check it, and add it to your PATH so any terminal can run it. About ten minutes.

What you need

  • Windows 10 or 11, on an Intel or AMD processor.
  • PowerShell or Windows Terminal (both come with Windows; search the Start menu).
  • Git for Windows, which Installing git covers.

1. Download it

From the releases page, download hotdog-cms-windows-amd64.exe and SHA256SUMS. Or in PowerShell:

cd $HOME\Downloads
Invoke-WebRequest https://git.coffeylabs.org/coffey-labs/hotdog-cms/releases/latest/download/hotdog-cms-windows-amd64.exe -OutFile hotdog-cms-windows-amd64.exe
Invoke-WebRequest https://git.coffeylabs.org/coffey-labs/hotdog-cms/releases/latest/download/SHA256SUMS -OutFile SHA256SUMS

2. Check the download

In PowerShell, in your Downloads folder:

(Get-FileHash .\hotdog-cms-windows-amd64.exe -Algorithm SHA256).Hash.ToLower()
Select-String windows SHA256SUMS

The first line prints a long code. The second shows the code Coffey Labs published for the Windows file. They should be the same. If they're not, delete the file and download it again.

3. Put it in its own folder

Make a folder for it and move it there, renamed to hotdog-cms.exe:

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force $HOME\hotdog-cms
Move-Item .\hotdog-cms-windows-amd64.exe $HOME\hotdog-cms\hotdog-cms.exe

4. Add the folder to your PATH

The PATH is the list of folders Windows looks in for programs. Adding this one means you can type hotdog-cms from anywhere:

[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "User") + ";$HOME\hotdog-cms", "User")

Then close PowerShell and open it again, so it sees the change.

Prefer clicking? Search the Start menu for "environment variables", choose Edit environment variables for your account, select Path, choose Edit → New, and add the folder (for example C:\Users\you\hotdog-cms).

5. Check it works

hotdog-cms version

It prints the version, the license and where the source code is.

"Windows protected your PC"? If you start it by double-clicking, Windows SmartScreen may stop it the first time, because it's new to Windows. Choose More info → Run anyway. HotDog is meant to be run from a terminal, though, and double-clicking it only shows its help.

You're ready: start your first site. In the docs, commands are written with forward slashes, like content/about.md; on Windows both kinds of slash work in HotDog commands.