HelmOS Installation

NORTHSTARSHOW SYSTEMS

HelmOS Installation

Installing HelmOS on a venue NUC

Distribution File

HelmOS is distributed as a single self-elevating installer: INSTALL_HELM_OS.exe, approximately 293 MB. The installer bundles the HelmOS runtime, the Cuemaster web assets, and the arduino-cli toolchain for server-side compile.

Procedure

• Copy INSTALL_HELM_OS.exe to the venue NUC.
• Right-click → Run as administrator (or double-click; the installer will UAC-prompt automatically).
• Approve the SmartScreen prompt.
• The installer prints a branded console showing each step. Wait for "Install complete" (~60 seconds).
• Open a browser to http://localhost:3000/. The Cuemaster activation overlay appears.
• Activate the license (see NSSS-DOC-0032).

What the Installer Does

• Stops any previously-running HELM_OS.exe via Scheduled Task /end + taskkill
• Extracts the payload (HELM_OS.exe, web/, arduino-cli/) to C:\Program Files\Northstar\HelmOS\
• Pre-creates data/ and data/projects/ directories
• Registers a Scheduled Task that runs HELM_OS.exe at every boot as SYSTEM with highest privileges
• Immediately starts the service so operators can use HelmOS without rebooting

Verification

After install, verify HelmOS is running:

curl http://localhost:3000/api/health
# Should return JSON with "ok": true, "product": "HelmOS"

Reinstalling Over an Existing Install

Running INSTALL_HELM_OS.exe a second time is supported. The installer stops the running instance, replaces files, and restarts. The data/ directory is preserved — your license, projects, and firmware cache survive the upgrade.

Uninstalling

From an elevated command prompt:

schtasks /delete /tn "Northstar HelmOS" /f
taskkill /F /IM HELM_OS.exe
rmdir /S /Q "C:\Program Files\Northstar\HelmOS"

Customer data lives under data/ — back it up before deleting if required.

Related Documents

• NSSS-DOC-0001Quick Start Guide
• NSSS-DOC-0030HelmOS Server Guide
• NSSS-DOC-0032HelmOS Activation

Revision History