Get Fess Up and Running in Under 5 Minutes
Welcome! This guide will help you get Fess running as quickly as possible. Choose the method that best suits your environment.
Tip
Fastest Way: Docker (Recommended)
If you have Docker installed, you can have Fess running in about 3 minutes with just a few commands—no other dependencies required.
Method 1: Docker (Recommended)
Docker provides the fastest and most reliable way to run Fess. All dependencies are bundled, so there’s nothing else to install.
Requirements:
Docker 20.10 or later
Docker Compose 2.0 or later
Step 1: Download the configuration files
mkdir fess-docker && cd fess-docker
curl -OL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/codelibs/docker-fess/master/compose/compose.yaml
curl -OL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/codelibs/docker-fess/master/compose/compose-opensearch3.yaml
Step 2: Start the containers
docker compose -f compose.yaml -f compose-opensearch3.yaml up -d
Step 3: Access Fess
Wait a couple of minutes for the services to initialize, then open your browser:
Search Interface: http://localhost:8080/
Admin Panel: http://localhost:8080/admin
Default credentials: admin / admin
Warning
Security Notice: Change the default admin password immediately after your first login.
Stopping Fess:
docker compose -f compose.yaml -f compose-opensearch3.yaml down
For advanced Docker configuration (custom settings, external OpenSearch, Kubernetes), see the Docker Installation Guide.
Method 2: ZIP Package
If you prefer not to use Docker, you can run Fess directly from the ZIP package.
Note
This method is intended for evaluation purposes. For production deployments, we recommend using Docker or installing with RPM/DEB packages.
Prerequisites
Java 21 is required. We recommend Eclipse Temurin.
Verify your Java installation:
java -version
Download and Install
Download the latest ZIP package from GitHub Releases
Extract and enter the directory:
unzip fess-15.5.0.zip
cd fess-15.5.0
Start Fess
# Linux/Mac
./bin/fess
# Windows
bin\fess.bat
Wait about 30 seconds for Fess to start, then access:
http://localhost:8080/ (Search)
http://localhost:8080/admin (Admin - login: admin/admin)
Stop Fess
Press Ctrl+C in the terminal, or use kill to stop the fess process.
Your First Search: A Quick Tutorial
Now that Fess is running, let’s set up your first web crawl.
Step 1: Create a Web Crawl Configuration
Log in to the Admin Panel (http://localhost:8080/admin)
Navigate to Crawler → Web in the left menu
Click New to create a new configuration
Fill in the required fields:
Name: My First Crawl
URL: https://fess.codelibs.org/ (or any website you want to index)
Max Access Count: 100 (limits pages to crawl)
Interval: 1000 (milliseconds between requests)
Click Create to save
Step 2: Run the Crawler
Go to System → Scheduler
Find Default Crawler in the list
Click Start Now
Monitor progress in System → Crawling Info
Step 3: Search Your Content
Once crawling completes (check for WebIndexSize in session info):
Visit http://localhost:8080/
Enter a search term related to the pages you crawled
View your search results!
What’s Next?
Ready to dive deeper?
Full Documentation - Complete reference guide
Installation Guide - Production deployment options
Admin Guide - Configuration and management
API Reference - Integrate search into your applications
Need Help?
Discussion Forum - Ask questions, share tips
GitHub Issues - Report bugs, request features
Commercial Support - Professional assistance
Explore More Features:
File system crawling (local files, network shares)
Database integration
LDAP/Active Directory authentication
Custom search result ranking
Multi-language support