Installing Meteor

Install Meteor on your system and set up your development environment. Support for Linux, macOS, and Windows.

System Requirements

Meteor supports the following platforms:

Linux

64-bit and ARM64 architectures

macOS

Intel (x86_64) and Apple Silicon (ARM64)

Windows

Via Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

Meteor currently supports 64-bit and ARM64 processors. 32-bit systems are not supported.

Quick Installation

The easiest way to install and run Meteor is using npx:

npx meteor

This command will automatically download and run the latest version of Meteor without requiring a global installation.

Installation Methods

macOS/Linux

1. Install Meteor

   Open your terminal and run:

   npx meteor
   

   The first time you run this command, it will download and install Meteor. Subsequent runs will use the cached version.

2. Verify Installation

   Check that Meteor is installed correctly:

   meteor --version
   

   You should see output similar to:

   Meteor 3.2.2
   
3. Check Node.js Version

   Meteor includes a specific Node.js version. Verify it:

   meteor node --version
   

   Meteor 3.x uses Node.js 20.x. You don’t need to install Node.js separately for Meteor development.

Windows (WSL)

1. Set Up WSL

   Windows users should use Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Install WSL 2:

   wsl --install
   

   This will install Ubuntu by default. Restart your computer when prompted.

2. Open WSL Terminal

   Launch your WSL distribution (e.g., Ubuntu) from the Start menu or by running:

   wsl
   
3. Install Meteor in WSL

   Inside the WSL terminal, run:

   npx meteor
   

   Meteor will download and install within your WSL environment.

4. Verify Installation

   Confirm Meteor is working:

   meteor --version
   

Do not install Meteor directly on Windows. Always use WSL for the best development experience.

Development from Source

1. Clone the Repository

   If you want to run Meteor from source or contribute to development:

   git clone --recursive https://github.com/meteor/meteor.git
   cd meteor
   

   The --recursive flag is important as Meteor uses Git submodules.

2. Update Submodules (if needed)

   If you cloned without --recursive or need to update submodules:

   git submodule update --init --recursive
   
3. Run Meteor from Checkout

   Download dependencies and run Meteor:

   ./meteor --help
   

   The first run will download the dev bundle automatically.

4. Create an Alias (Optional)

   For easier access, create an alias:

   echo 'alias mymeteor="/path/to/meteor-checkout/meteor"' >> ~/.bashrc
   source ~/.bashrc
   

   Now you can use mymeteor instead of the full path.

When running Meteor from a checkout, you cannot pin apps to specific releases using --release.

Prerequisites

Meteor bundles everything you need to get started:

Node.js

Included: Meteor ships with Node.js 20.x. No separate installation needed.

npm

Included: npm package manager is bundled with Meteor’s Node.js.

MongoDB

Included: Embedded MongoDB for local development. No manual setup required.

Build Tools

Included: Rspack bundler, Babel, TypeScript compiler all work out of the box.

Meteor is a complete development platform. Once installed, you can immediately start building applications without configuring additional tools.

Optional Dependencies

While Meteor includes everything you need, some features benefit from additional packages:

bcrypt (Recommended)

If you’re using password authentication, install bcrypt for better security:

meteor npm install --save bcrypt

Without bcrypt, Meteor uses a pure-JavaScript implementation which is slower and less secure.

Development Tools

For debugging the Meteor tool itself:

TOOL_NODE_FLAGS="--inspect-brk" meteor

Then open chrome://inspect in Chrome to debug.

Troubleshooting

Architecture Detection

Meteor automatically detects your system architecture:

# Check your architecture
uname -m

Supported architectures:

• x86_64 - Intel/AMD 64-bit
• arm64 - ARM 64-bit (Apple Silicon, ARM servers)

On multi-arch systems, you can manually set the architecture:

ARCH=arm64 meteor create my-app

Dev Bundle Cache

Meteor caches the dev bundle to speed up subsequent runs. To enable caching:

SAVE_DEV_BUNDLE_TARBALL=1 meteor

Cached bundles are stored in the Meteor installation directory.

Submodule Issues

If you see “Depending on unknown package” errors when running from source:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Windows-Specific Issues

For Windows users experiencing issues with WSL:

1. Ensure WSL 2 is installed (not WSL 1)
2. Keep your project files inside the WSL filesystem (not /mnt/c/)
3. Use the WSL terminal, not Windows Command Prompt

Version Management

Check Current Version

meteor --version

Update Meteor

To update to the latest version:

meteor update

Update a Specific Project

Inside a Meteor project:

meteor update --release 3.2.2

Meteor uses a .meteor/release file in each project to track the version. This ensures consistent builds across team members.

Next Steps

Now that Meteor is installed, you’re ready to create your first application:

Quick Start Guide

Create and run your first Meteor app in minutes.

Complete Tutorial

Build a full-featured To-Do application step by step.

Additional Resources

Development Guide

Contributing to Meteor core and running from source.

System Requirements

Minimum: 64-bit or ARM64 processor, 2GB RAM, 1GB disk space