The Release numbers are actually dates 'yy.mm.dd.hr'. Each release has a full Change log... accessed by Help->History
As we make enhancements to the Windows version, I have noticed that both Windows and, (I suppose most) Anti Virus systems are detecting fr as a threat. Fr is not a threat, but like most useful tools, it has capabilities the the AV systems see as threats.
This is info on installing filerunner.
FILERUNNER installation
=======================
There are sevaral ways to install "filerunner". The way you use will depend on, first your system, and second, if you plan to make changes or modify "filerunner". Below you will find sections on each system and, following that
a section on setting up to modify the code.
Installation on Linux systems using rpm or deb package files.
=============================================================
For these systems down load the *.rpm or the *.deb file.
Cd to the directory you downloaded the file to.
For systems using the rpm package managment system enter:
sudo dnf install *.rpm
(If you have more than one *.rpm in this directory, you may need a more complete file name.)
For systems using the deb package manager enter:
sudo dpkg -i *.deb
(If you have more than one *.deb in this directory, you may need a more complete file name.) If you get a message saying there are missing dependencies do this:
sudo apt-get install -f
Deb installs may require you to satisfy dependencies (see below for what these are), while rpm installs will take care of this during the install.
Thats it. You are ready to start filerunner by entering:
fr
Or you should be able to find "fr" in your system menues.
Installation on Linux or Unix systems which don't use rpm or deb package files.
===============================================================================
Filerunner uses the tcl/tk scripting language. You must have tcl/tk on the system (see "Required and optional packages" below). Also, it is recommended that you read the section (Icons & desktop issues) below prior to running the INSTALL program.
Once you have tcl and tk download the *.tar.gz file to a local directory (i.e. one in your home tree).
Cd to that local directory and enter the command:
tar xfBpz *.tar.gz
(If you have more than one *.tar.gz in this directory, you may need a more complete file name.)
This will create a new directory tree. Now (from there):
cd filerunner/Makefiles
To install filerunner in your HOME directory tree enter (the INSTALL program is written in tcl/tk which is why you must have installed tcl/tk first):
./INSTALL
(This is a program in the package you just unarchived, NOT the system install)
To install filerunner in the system wide space (/usr/share/...) enter:
sudo ./INSTALL
Thats it. You are ready to start filerunner by entering:
fr
Or, you should be able to find "fr" in your system menues.
Installation Mac systems.
=========================
Filerunner will run on Mac systems. First you must have tcl/tk on the system (see "Required and optional packages" below).
Download the current *.tar.gz file to a convenient place on your system, then:
Cd to that convenient place and enter the command:
tar xfBpz *.tar.gz
(If you have more than one *.tar.gz in this directory, you may need a more complete file name.)
The exectuable file is .../filerunner/fr
If you then put the directory .../filerunner in your path you will be able to run fr from a terminal or bash window, simply enter fr or fr &. Alternatively you can put a soft link in a 'bin' directory that is in your path e.g. ~/bin, /usr/local/bin or /usr/bin. (You may need root capabilities to do this on some of these.)
For a system wide or protected install, as root move the *.tar.gz file to /opt/local/share, cd to that directory and enter tar xfBpz *.tar.gz. Then add a soft link to /opt/local/bin that points to /opt/local/share/filerunner/fr.
You might also want to set up a soft link for the 'Terminal' program, something like:
link /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app/Contents/MacOS/Terminal /usr/bin/Terminal
Where ever you put this link, that directory should be in your 'PATH' environment variable. Again, you may need root privileges to do this, depending on where you put the link.
Installation on MS Windows systems using *.exe download.
========================================================
(As of rev 25.05.**.** we are no longer supporting a filerunner version for 32-bit windows systems. Also, as of this rev we are nolonger supporting a *.msi file. It turns out that the fr-*.exe version not only loads faster but also runs faster than any other way of making filerunner present on windows systems (including running from the expanded unpacked tar file)).
Download the fr-*.exe file.
Either put this file on your desktop or put a link to it on your desktop. You may want to rename the file to "fr.exe".
Thats it. You are ready to start filerunner by clicking on the desktop icon.
Installation on MS Windows systems using in WSL.
==================================================
Where you put filerunner in a MSW system to run from a WSL system is rather flexable. The least work would be to download the .tar.gz file to a convenient place on the MSW side of the system, unpack (tar xfBpz *.tar.gz as above) and run filerunner on both the MSW and WSL side of the system from that location. Run on the MSW side by:
cmd ../filerunner/fr.tcl (This assumes you have set up the system to use 'wish' to execute *.tcl scripts. The way to set this up is with the file explorer and doing a right click on the .../filerunner/ft.tcl file and telling it to open the file with 'wish.exe' (you do remember where you put it, right?)). Once you have 'fr' running you might want to put the 'Desktop' in a filerunner pane and ../filerunner in the other, select 'fr.tcl' and then clicking the 'shortcut' button. You can then select the new shortcut and change the icon to .../filerunner/icons/filerunner.ico.
For the WSL side, you will need an X-server on the MSW side of the house. Once that is up, open the WSL side, make sure the DISPLAY environment variable is set up and then navigate to the MSW directory (likely /mnt/c/...filerunner) and type ./fr (you did remember to download tcl and tk).
Once fr is up you might navigate to .../filerunner/Makefiles and execute the INSTALL file there. If you check the 'Don't move fileruner' button, it will set up the icons and link to 'fr' while leaving the code in .../filerunner.
It is also possible to use the *.rpm or *.deb packages to install filerunner on the WSL side, but this wastes disc space. Also, at this time, for reasons unkown, the *.rpm WSL install does not properly install the 'doc' files.
Installation to "work" on filerunner (or use some of its code for your project(s).
==================================================================================
Usually but not required you may want to do the appropiate install from the above list as well. You will need tcl/tk on your system (see "Required and optional packages" below).
Download the *.tar.gz file and put it in a convenient place on your system.
Cd to that convenient place and enter the command:
tar xfBpz *.tar.gz
(If you have more than one *.tar.gz in this directory, you may need a more complete file name. Also on Windows systems you may find the the tar program does not handle the .gz. In this case first run the gzip to unzip the tar.)
You can run filerunner from here by entering:
./filerunner/fr
at a command prompt. If this is the only "fr" on your system you may want to put a soft link to .../filerunner/fr in your PATH (I use ~/bin). This filerunner will use the same configure file that the installed version uses until its revision code changes. The official revision code is generated by the .../filerunner/Makefiles/makerelease script.
Required and optional packages
==============================
Filerunner is written in the tcl/tk scripting language which must be installed on your system. If you are using the *.rpm or *.deb install the installer should insure that they are available. If you are useing the *.exe (MS Windows) install the fr-*.exe contains the required tcl/tk code. For other installs the following packages are required:
tcl
tk
you can check that tcl and tk are both available by entering:
wish
from a command (cmd) prompt. If you get a small window, you have the tcl and tk packages.
To dismiss wish either enter:
exit
or click the "X" in the small window frame.
If you need Tcl or Tk and they are not provided by your systems distro this site will help you obtain them:
https://www.tcl.tk/software/tcltk/
For MS Windows I recommend the Magicsplat or Active State install unless you are already using cygwin. Neither of these allow fr to change its taskbar icon but the Magicsplat icon is more pleasing (to me).
Other things you might want:
To use the Secure FTP or the ssh feature you will need to have sftp and/or ssh on your system. Both of these are provided by OpenSSH for windows.
Fr communicates with sftp and ssh using an "expect" dialog. Since expect is not available for tcl/tk versions 9.x. or for MSW. Fr has an expect package written in pure tcl. This package uses a Python script to connect via pseudo terminals. These scripts are provided by the fr code but the Python3 program must be on the system and in the users PATH environment variable.
sftp and ssh should be in one of the vendor packages for your system. On Fedora it is in the openssh-clients rpm.
Icons & desktop issues:
=======================
There is an INSTALL file in <directory>/filerunner/Makefiles (called INSTALL, imagine that!) that you can run to install filerunner most anywhere on a unix/linux system. The INSTALL script behaves differently depending on if the runner has root access or not. Before you run INSTALL as root run 'INSTALL -help' to get a list of options and how you may provide them (commandline or env).
The INSTALL file attempts to install the various bits and pieces of filerunner to the proper directories, however, your distro may have other conventions. You may introduce these conventions to INSTALL when you run INSTALL or even after it is running (if Tk is installed there is a gui interface to help here). (Tk is not required, but is used if INSTALL is run in a user environment or the gui is requested on the command line.)
A request: If your distro puts things in different directories could you send me a note describing this to me (email address at end of this document)? A simple way to do this is to just send a copy of the 'uninstall' file that INSTALL puts in the CODE directory.
Why INSTALL?
============
INSTALL sets up filerunner icons and a desktop file. This allows filerunner to be easily found in the system menus and allows you to easily set it up as your default handler for inode events (such as plugging in a memory stick or camera memory).
Note that the INSTALL file allows you to install just the icons and desktop files, leaving the code in place. This is a useful way to install if you are going to work on the code.
In addition INSTALL manages keeping filerunner appraised of the location of its 'doc' files and of a system wide configure file.
System wide config file:
========================
The RPM, DEB and root INSTALL code sets up a system wide configure file for filerunner. The default location of this file is:
/usr/share/config/filerunnerrc if a root (or RPM/DEB) install and
~/.local/share/config/filerunnerrc if a user install
This file is created if it does not exist, but is not touched if it does, thus it survives updates.
Sources:
========
The fr-*.tar.gz file is the complete source including several tools and scripts to build all the release files. The RPM source file is just this file packaged as an RPM.
And, if you want to modify the code, a decent editor is helpful.
This file is also available as the 'Installation' file under the help menu.
(C) 2010-2026 Tom Turkey
(C) 1996-1999 Henrik Harmsen
FileRunner is a file manager for Unix and Windows systems. It is simple and efficient and has a built-in FTP client.
FEATURES
========
* Simple and powerful interface.
* History and Hotlist (bookmarks).
* Recursive directory menu of entire file system tree (not supported in windows).
* Browse FTP and SFTP directories as easy as normal directories.
* FTP & SFTP capabilities:
- Copy: FTP files/directories upload/download (recursive).
- FTP/SFTP Delete (recursive), FTP/SFTP Makedir, FTP/SFTP Rename.
- FTP/SFTP chmod (if server supports it)
- Supports FTP through proxy.
- FTP resume download function.
- Rule based configuration of FTP/SFTP site logins (password/user/proxy).
- Asynchronous file transfer.
- Cached directory listings.
* Asynchronous file operations.
* Built-in command shell windows. Synchronized with file panels.
These have history, aliases and file name completion.
* Extendable by adding your own command buttons.
* Very configurable.
* User defined file pattern / actions. (*.jpg -> launch image viewer etc.)
* Distributed under the GNU General Public License.
REQUIREMENTS
============
* A standard Unix platform or Windows NT or later.
* Tcl/Tk 8.5.7 or later.
FileRunner does not require rebuilding the wish binary. It is pure Tcl/Tk and uses some helper programs as available on the host. These functions are configured by default and the user as needed.
For windows platforms:
======================
Regardless of how you install filerunner (.exe or the tar.gz) you may need an sftp and/or a ssh server. You will also need the "Python3" program in your PATH environment variable.
COMPATIBLE PLATFORMS
====================
FileRunner has been verified to work on:
- Linux
- Windows XP or later
Past versions have worked on (but the current version is not tested on):
- SunOS 4.x
- Solaris 2.x
- Irix 5.x
- UnixWare 2.x
- HP-UX
- Dec Alpha OSF (Digital Unix)
- FreeBSD
- SCO OpenServer
- AIX
- NetBSD
WHERE TO GET FILERUNNER
=======================
Use this site:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/filerunner/files/
WHERE TO GET TCL/TK
===================
First try your distro then please see the web page at
https://sourceforge.net/projects/magicsplat/files/magicsplat-tcl/
or
http://www.tcl.tk/software/tcltk/
or
http://www.activestate.com/activetcl
COMMON PROBLEMS
===============
See the FAQ-file in the installation. Please also see chapter 13 in the online guide.
KNOWN BUGS
==========
Please see the file KnownBugs.txt.
E-MAIL LIST WITH ANNOUNCEMENTS
==============================
You can signup at at the filerunner sourceforge site to get on the
FileRunner announcement mailing list.
FILERUNNER IS OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
==================================
FileRunner is Open Source software and is distributed under the GNU General Public License. If you like it, send me a cool postcard so I can fill the front of my fridge :-) See the end of the User's Guide for my address.
FileRunner is Copyright (C) 1996-1999 Henrik Harmsen.
FileRunner is Copyright (C) 2010-2026 Tom Turkey.
Henrik Harmsen (the orgional author seems to have disappeared).
Email:
tom@GandK.site
For more contact info see online guide.
