Getting Started

Download Zenithal from our download page. The app comes as a DMG file.

1. Open the downloaded DMG file
2. Drag Zenithal to your Applications folder
3. Launch Zenithal from Applications or Spotlight
4. If prompted, allow Zenithal in System Settings > Privacy & Security

On first launch, Zenithal will check for required dependencies and guide you through setup:

1. macOS version check — Verifies you're running macOS 13.0+
2. Homebrew — If not installed, Zenithal will help you install the macOS package manager. Click "Open Terminal" to launch Terminal with the install command copied to your clipboard.
3. Lima — Required for running the Docker engine. Click "Run" to install automatically via Homebrew, or copy the command (brew install lima) manually.

Once dependencies are installed:

1. Zenithal will initialize the Lima VM (this may take a few minutes on first run)
2. The engine status indicator in the top-right corner will show a green dot when ready
3. You're now ready to manage containers!

The Free tier works without signing in. To unlock Pro features:

1. Purchase a subscription on the website
2. Open Zenithal and go to Settings (Cmd+,) > Account
3. Sign in with the same account you used to purchase
4. Your subscription is applied automatically

Let's start your first container:

1. Navigate to Containers in the sidebar
2. If no containers are running, you'll see the Quick Start panel
3. Choose a quick-launch option:
   • Nginx — Web server on port 8080
   • Redis — In-memory cache
   • Alpine — Lightweight Linux OS
4. Or click Import Dockerfile to build from a Dockerfile