(section-install)=
# Download and Installation

## Prerequisites

Download and install VABS 4.0 (with valid license).
In the instructions below, `VABS_DIR` refers to the path to the VABS executable.
VABS manual can be found and downloaded here {cite}`vabs`.

Download and install Gmsh (http://gmsh.info/) following the official instructions.
In the instructions below, `GMSH_DIR` refers to the path to the Gmsh executable.

## Install binary

Download PreVABS binary from [cdmHUB](https://cdmhub.org/resources/1597/supportingdocs).
Unpack the package to any location.
In the instructions below, `PREVABS_DIR` refers to the path to the PreVABS executable;

Add those paths to executables to the system environment variable `PATH`;

### On Windows:

Open Environment Variables editor.
Edit user variables for your account or edit system variables if you have the administrator access.
Add `VABS_DIR`, `GMSH_DIR`, and `PREVABS_DIR` to the variable `PATH`.

### On Linux:

In the shell, type:

```bash
export PATH=$VABS_DIR:$GMSH_DIR:$PREVABS_DIR:$PATH
```

To make this effective each time starting the bash, you can add this command to the bash startup file, which may be `~/.bashrc`, `~/.bash_profile`, `~/.profile`, or `~/bash_login`;