Getting Started with ActiveState

Welcome to ActiveState! Using our Platform developers and organizations can implement a turnkey, end-to-end secure software supply chain.

Securely building your projects from source and decreasing the risk of the development process being compromised. The following is a quick tour of our user flow from creating an account to getting started running your project. For more detailed information please see the links provided in each section.

1. Creating an account

You can choose to sign up for your ActiveState Platform account with your email address, or using an existing GitHub account.

To create an account using your email:

  1. Go to the “Create an Account” page.
  2. Enter the following information:
    • A valid email address (a confirmation email will be sent to activate your account).
    • A unique username for the ActiveState Platform.
    • A password with at least 8 characters.
  3. Click Create Account to finish.

To create an account using your GitHub account:

  1. Go to the “Create an Account” page.
  2. Click Sign in with GitHub. You will be redirected to the GitHub site to authorize your account.
  3. If you are prompted to sign in to GitHub, enter your username and password.
  4. Click Authorize ActiveState to allow ActiveState to authenticate your account. Once your account is authenticated by GitHub, you will be redirected to the ActiveState Platform as a signed-in user.

2. Setting up a project

Your Activestate project acts as a home for your created runtimes. Projects can be created by one user and shared with others in an organization. Each project can contain multiple runtimes, including:

  • your original custom runtime
  • all branches of that original runtime, and
  • other versions of that runtime (and its associated branches) that are available on different operating systems (Windows, macOS, and Linux)

Your ActiveState project contains the language version and all packages and dependencies needed for your runtime. Your project does not include any first-party code. Sharing your runtime with contributors or others in your organization will not share any code you have produced.

3. Building a runtime

  1. Sign in to your ActiveState Platform account.
  2. Click the Projects tab to create a personal project, or select an organization from the drop-down to create a project in that organization.
  3. Click the +New Project button.
  4. Select a language and version and an operating system for your project.
  5. The project is set to Public by default, if you plan to restrict access to your project select Private.
  6. A default project name will be given to your project, you can choose to select a unique name for your project.
  7. To finish building your project, click the Finish Creating Project button to move straight to downloading your project. This will show a link to paste into your command terminal to download and install your runtime. Or, for Windows users, the option to run an executable file to install your new runtime.
  8. Or you can add packages to your project before downloading by clicking Search Package Catalog to search for and add the packages and versions required for your project (just click the Add button next to the package to include it in your runtime). Or you can choose to add packages by importing them from a file.
  9. Clicking Next will bring you back to your project’s page with a notice to save your changes.
  10. Clicking Save Changes will commit your selection(s) to your project and begin the build process. Where applicable, try to resolve any dependency errors before continuing.
  11. Once the build has been completed, go to the Download Builds tab of your project page and copy the text under the “First Time Download & Installation” window and paste it into your command line (Windows, Linux and macOS). Or click the Download CLI Installer button (Windows only) to download and install the State Tool (CLI) and install your runtime.

4. Installing the State Tool

Typically, installing your first runtime will include the installation of ActiveState’s CLI the State Tool. To install the State Tool separately, open a command terminal and follow these directions to install the State Tool.

5. Using the State Tool to run your code

Your project has been created, your runtime has been downloaded and installed to your working environment, now you need to work on your project.

If you plan to work on a private project, you will need to authenticate your account using the state auth command and following the prompts provided.

To activate your runtime type state activate <orgname>/<projectname> into your command line to begin your working session. You can now run your code from wherever your Python, Perl, TCL, or Ruby files are stored (either locally or in your network) with the assurance that your packages have been securely built from source and your code is running in a safe, isolated environment.