To run Selenium Grid, you need a valid Java 5+ JDK install on your system.

Mac OS X

If you are running Mac OS X you can safely skip this step — the system comes with a ready-to-use Java runtime and development environment.

Need more detailed instructions? Check out our step-by-step installation instructions for Mac OS X.

Ubuntu

If you are running Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron", the easier way to install the JDK is to run:

sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jdk

Other Systems

Download Java 6 JDK, install it on your file system and make sure it is in your PATH:

$ java -version
java version "1.6.0"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0-b105)
Java HotSpot(TM) Server VM (build 1.6.0-b105, mixed mode)

To run Selenium Grid, you need Ant 1.7+ to be installed on your system.

Mac OS X

If you are running Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) you can safely skip this step — the system comes with Ant 1.7.0 pre-installed.

If you are running an older version on Mac OS X you still need to install Ant 1.7: the pre-installed Ant version is too much behind. Follow the instructions described in the "Other Systems" section.

Ubuntu

If you are running Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron", the easier way to install Ant 1.7 is to run:

sudo apt-get install ant ant-optional

Other Systems

Install Ant 1.7.x and make sure it is in your PATH:

1. Download the binary distribution.
2. Unpack the binary distribution in the directory of your choice.
3. Add <where you unpacked the zip file>/apache-ant-1.7.0/bin to your PATH environment variable.
4. Check that your Ant installation is OK:

   $ ant -version
   Apache Ant version 1.7.0 compiled on December 13 2006

If you feel adventurous, Selenium Grid also comes with alternative launchers, based on Rake.

Download Selenium Grid latest binary distribution and unpack it on your computer.

Go at the root of selenium grid directory and validate your installation:

$ cd selenium-grid-1.0
$ ant sanity-check

Need more detailed instructions? Check out our step-by-step installation instructions for Mac OS X.

At this point the best way to get up to speed with Selenium Grid usage and concepts is to run the Demo.