Your one-stop CLI for setting up Appium 2.0
Install the server, drivers, plugins, configure environments, manage devices — all from a single interactive menu.

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Table of Contents

• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Quick Start
• Features
  • Quick Setup Profiles
  • Install Appium Server
  • Install Appium Drivers
  • Install Appium Plugins
  • Setup Android Environment
  • Setup iOS Environment
  • Run Appium Doctor
  • Environment Status Dashboard
  • Check for Updates
  • Launch Emulators / Simulators
  • Device Manager
• Platform Support
• Local Development
• Contributing
• License

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Prerequisites

• Node.js 16 or later

Installation

npm install -g appium-installer

Quick Start

Run the installer:

appium-installer

An interactive menu appears with everything you need:

    ╔═╗ ╔═╗ ╔═╗ ╦ ╦ ╔╦╗
    ╠═╣ ╠═╝ ╠═╝ ║ ║ ║║║
    ╩ ╩ ╩   ╩   ╩ ╚═╝╩ ╩
    ╦ ╔╗╔ ╔═╗ ╔╦╗ ╔═╗ ╦  ╦  ╔═╗ ╦═╗
    ║ ║║║ ╚═╗  ║  ╠═╣ ║  ║  ║╣  ╠╦╝
    ╩ ╝╚╝ ╚═╝  ╩  ╩ ╩ ╩═╝╩═╝╚═╝ ╩╚═

  What would you like to do?
  ❯ Setup Android Environment
    Setup iOS Environment
    Quick Setup Profiles
    ────── Install & Configure ──────
    Install Appium Server
    Install Appium Drivers
    Install Appium Plugins
    ────── Diagnostics & Tools ──────
    Run Appium Doctor
    Show Environment Status
    Check for Updates
    ────── Devices ─────────────────
    Launch Emulators/Simulators
    Device Manager
    Exit

Navigate with arrow keys, press Enter to select. The menu loops until you choose Exit, so you can perform multiple tasks in a single session.

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Features

Quick Setup Profiles

Get a fully working Appium environment in one step. Pick a profile and the installer handles the rest — server, drivers, environment setup, and diagnostics.

Profile	What it installs
Android Testing	Appium Server (latest) + UiAutomator2 driver + Android environment + Appium Doctor
iOS Testing	Appium Server (latest) + XCUITest driver + iOS environment + Appium Doctor (macOS only)
Full Mobile Testing	Everything above — Android + iOS combined (adapts to your OS)
Web on Mobile	Appium Server (latest) + Chromium driver + Gecko driver

Each profile runs step-by-step with progress indicators and a summary at the end showing which steps passed or failed.

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Install Appium Server

Install the Appium 2.0 server globally via npm. You get two options:

• Latest version — installs the most recent stable release
• Custom version — enter a specific version number (validated against the npm registry)

? Choose your version:
  ❯ Select latest Server version
    Select custom Server version

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Install Appium Drivers

Install one or more official Appium 2.0 drivers. The tool fetches the list of available drivers from your Appium installation and presents them as checkboxes.

Supported drivers include:

• uiautomator2 — Android UIAutomator2
• xcuitest — iOS XCUITest
• espresso — Android Espresso
• safari — Safari (iOS)
• gecko — Firefox / Gecko
• chromium — Chrome / Chromium
• mac2 — macOS

For each selected driver you choose between latest or a custom version (validated against the driver's npm package).

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Install Appium Plugins

Select from 13 community and official plugins:

• appium-device-farm
• appium-wait-plugin
• appium-dashboard
• appium-gestures-plugin
• appium-reporter-plugin
• @appium/images-plugin
• @appium/relaxed-caps-plugin
• @appium/execute-driver-plugin
• appium-element-flash
• appium-ocr-plugin
• appium-altunity-plugin
• appium-ddlog-plugin
• appium-otel-plugin

Installation sources:

Source	Description
npm	Install from npm registry (default)
github	Install from a GitHub repository
git	Install from any git URL
local	Install from a local file path

If a selected plugin is already installed, the tool checks for updates and applies them automatically.

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Setup Android Environment

Uses @nightwatch/mobile-helper to walk you through configuring:

• Android SDK
• Java / JDK
• Environment variables (ANDROID_HOME, JAVA_HOME)
• Android emulators

Works on macOS, Windows, and Linux.

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Setup iOS Environment

(macOS only)

Configures everything needed for iOS testing:

• Xcode and Xcode Command Line Tools
• iOS Simulators
• Real device dependencies

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Run Appium Doctor

Runs the built-in appium-doctor diagnostics for your chosen platform:

? Select platform:
  ❯ android
    ios
    dev

• android — checks Android SDK, Java, ANDROID_HOME, ADB, etc.
• ios — checks Xcode, simulators, WebDriverAgent, Carthage, etc.
• dev — general developer environment checks

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Environment Status Dashboard

A single-screen health check that shows everything at a glance:

• System — Appium Server, Node.js, Java, and Xcode versions
• Environment Variables — ANDROID_HOME and JAVA_HOME status
• Installed Drivers — names and versions
• Installed Plugins — names and versions
• Connected Devices — Android devices via ADB and booted iOS simulators
• Health bar — overall pass/fail count (e.g. 6/7 checks passing)

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Check for Updates

Scans your installed Appium components and tells you what's outdated:

• Appium Server
• All installed drivers
• All installed plugins

You can interactively confirm which updates to apply.

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Launch Emulators / Simulators

Quickly boot an emulator or simulator without leaving the terminal:

• Lists all available Android AVDs and iOS simulators
• Select one and it launches in the background
• Platform-aware: on macOS you see both Android and iOS options; on Windows/Linux, Android only

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Device Manager

A full device control panel with a persistent loop:

  📱  Device Manager
  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

  ● 2 running   ○ 3 available   |   Android 3   iOS 2

  #   Name                Platform   OS     Status     ID
  ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  1   Pixel_7             Android    -      ● Online    emulator-5554
  2   iPhone 15 Pro       iOS        17.2   ● Booted    A1B2C3D4...
  3   Pixel_6a            Android    -      ○ Ready     -
  ...

Actions:

• Launch a device — boot a stopped emulator or simulator
• Shutdown a device — stop a running emulator or simulator
• Launch multiple devices — select several devices to boot at once
• Refresh — rescan for device changes
• Back — return to the main menu

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Platform Support

Feature	macOS	Windows	Linux
Install Appium Server	Yes	Yes	Yes
Install Drivers & Plugins	Yes	Yes	Yes
Setup Android Environment	Yes	Yes	Yes
Setup iOS Environment	Yes	--	--
Android Emulators	Yes	Yes	Yes
iOS Simulators	Yes	--	--
Device Manager	Yes	Yes*	Yes*
Quick Setup — Android	Yes	Yes	Yes
Quick Setup — iOS	Yes	--	--
Quick Setup — Full Mobile	Yes (Android + iOS)	Android only	Android only

* Android devices only on Windows/Linux

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Local Development

# Clone and install dependencies
git clone https://github.com/AppiumTestDistribution/appium-installer.git
cd appium-installer
npm install

# Build and link
npm run build
npm link

# Now you can run
appium-installer

Available scripts:

Script	Description
npm run compile	Compile src/ to dist/ via Babel
npm run clean	Remove dist/, coverage/, and .tmp/
npm run prettier	Format source files with Prettier

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request on the GitHub repository.

License

ISC