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Wirebench

Install and first run

Download the file for your system from the latest release. Every file name carries the version, the system and the processor, for example Wirebench-1.1.0-mac-universal.dmg.

Download. …-mac-universal.dmg runs on every Mac. The …-mac-arm64.dmg (Apple silicon) and …-mac-x64.dmg (Intel) builds are about half the size, if you know which Mac you have.

Install. Open the .dmg and drag Wirebench into Applications.

First launch. Open Wirebench from Applications. It is signed and notarised, so macOS opens it after asking once whether you want to open an app downloaded from the internet.

Releases before 2.2.0 were not signed. If you run one of those, macOS says it cannot verify the app: choose Done, then open System Settings → Privacy & Security and choose Open Anyway beside the message about Wirebench.

Deploy to a fleet

Section titled “Deploy to a fleet”

For Intune, Configuration Manager, Group Policy or a script, Windows releases come in two forms:

Installer Installs Silent install Updates
…-windows-x64.msi, …-windows-arm64.msi For every user on the machine, in Program Files. Needs administrator rights msiexec /i Wirebench-5.0.0-windows-x64.msi /qn Not by itself: deploy the new version’s MSI, which replaces the old one
…-windows-x64-setup.exe, …-windows-arm64-setup.exe For the current user by default Wirebench-5.0.0-windows-x64-setup.exe /S Check for Updates… in the app

The setup .exe takes these flags too:

  • /allusers installs for every user, and needs administrator rights;
  • /currentuser installs for the current user;
  • /D=C:\Tools\Wirebench sets the install folder. It must come last, and the path is not quoted.

To remove the app silently, run msiexec /x Wirebench-5.0.0-windows-x64.msi /qn for the MSI, or "Uninstall Wirebench.exe" /S from the install folder for the setup .exe.

Portable copy

Section titled “Portable copy”

The portable zip runs without being installed: no administrator rights, no Start menu entry, and nothing written outside its own folder. Unpacked, it is a folder holding Wirebench.exe and a data folder. While data is there, Wirebench keeps everything in it (workspaces, preferences, history, saved secrets and caches) instead of in %APPDATA%\Wirebench.

  • Keep the folder somewhere writable. A read-only share or a write-protected stick cannot hold a portable copy.
  • Saved secrets stay with the Windows user. They are encrypted with your Windows account’s key, so on another machine or as another user they need entering again. Everything else travels with the folder.
  • Updating is by hand. Check for Updates… tells you when there is a new version and opens its release page. Unpack the new zip, then move your old copy’s data folder into it, replacing the one the zip came with.
  • To stop being portable, delete or rename the data folder: that copy then uses %APPDATA%\Wirebench like an installed one.

On macOS, deploy the .dmg’s app bundle or the .zip with your management tool. On Linux, use the .deb or .rpm with your package tooling.

Verify a download

Section titled “Verify a download”

Each release comes with a CycloneDX SBOM, wirebench-<version>.cdx.json, listing the app’s dependencies. Releases built after this page was written also carry build attestations: signed records of the commit and workflow that produced each file. Check a file with the GitHub CLI:

Terminal window
gh attestation verify Wirebench-5.0.0-windows-x64.msi --repo wirebench/wirebench

A file that anyone other than the release workflow built or changed fails the check.

See the code-signing policy for how releases are signed and approved.

First run

Section titled “First run”

Wirebench opens on the workspace picker. Type a name and choose Create workspace, then carry on with the ten-minute walkthrough.

To share workspaces with a team you also need git. If it is installed somewhere Wirebench does not look, point to it under Preferences → Git. Everything else works without git.

Where your data lives

Section titled “Where your data lives”

Workspaces, projects, preferences and saved secrets are stored in Wirebench’s data folder:

System Folder
macOS ~/Library/Application Support/Wirebench
Windows %APPDATA%\Wirebench, or the data folder beside Wirebench.exe for the portable copy
Linux ~/.config/Wirebench

A snap install keeps it under ~/snap/wirebench/current/.config/Wirebench instead.

Secrets are encrypted with your operating system’s keychain before they are written there. Back up the folder to back up everything; to move a single project, use Export project… instead.

Updates

Section titled “Updates”

Wirebench never checks for updates on its own. Run Check for Updates… from the command palette, or turn on Preferences → Updates → Check for updates on launch. No usage data is sent, ever.