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Set up your OS

Tegata runs on Windows 10+, macOS 12+, and Linux (amd64) without any runtime dependencies. This page covers operating-system-specific configuration that goes beyond the Quickstart guide—USB drive formatting, permission issues, auto-start behavior, and known OS quirks.

Set up your operating system​

Follow the instructions for your operating system to set up Tegata. If you use multiple operating systems, follow the instructions for each one.

Windows users need to configure USB drive format, handle PowerShell execution policies, and manage Gatekeeper and SmartScreen security features that may block the Tegata binary.

Format your USB drive or microSD card

Format your USB drive or microSD card as exFAT for maximum cross-platform compatibility. FAT32 works but has a 4 GB file-size limit and does not support true atomic renames; Tegata handles this gracefully, but exFAT is preferable.

To format in File Explorer: right-click the USB drive or microSD card → Format → set File system to exFAT → Start.

Run the binary

PowerShell does not search the current directory for executables. Prefix the command with .\ or add the drive root to your PATH, replacing <USB_DRIVE_LETTER> with the actual letter of your drive.

# Run directly
.\tegata.exe version

# Or add the USB drive to the session PATH
$env:PATH += ";<USB_DRIVE_LETTER>:\"
tegata version

To make the PATH change permanent across sessions, add the drive letter via System Properties → Environment Variables.

Allow the app through Microsoft Defender SmartScreen

Windows may block the downloaded binary with a SmartScreen prompt. If you see "Windows protected your PC":

  1. Select More info.
  2. Select Run anyway.

SmartScreen flags executables that are not yet well-known to Microsoft's cloud reputation service. This is expected for a new open-source tool.

Adjust the execution policy

If PowerShell blocks script execution, you may need to adjust the execution policy:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

This allows locally created scripts and signed remote scripts to run. Tegata itself is a binary, not a script, so the execution policy should not block it.

Install the desktop GUI

Run tegata-gui-windows-amd64-setup.exe and follow the NSIS installer. The GUI is installed to %ProgramFiles%\Tegata\ and a Start Menu entry is created. The GUI binary remains on your host machine; only the CLI binary travels on the USB drive.

Docker for audit logging

The audit logging feature requires Docker Desktop for Windows. Install it from the Docker website.

After installation, Tegata can start Docker automatically when you unlock your vault—you do not need to open Docker Desktop manually.

Set up the clipboard behavior on WSL2

If you use Tegata inside WSL2, the clipboard integration writes to the Windows clipboard via /mnt/c/Windows/System32/clip.exe. If clip.exe is not available or WSL2 interop is disabled, clipboard copy will fail silently and a warning is printed to stderr.

To verify interop is enabled:

cat /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/WSLInterop

If the output is enabled, interop is active. If not, enable it in /etc/wsl.conf:

[interop]
enabled=true

Environment variables reference​

These environment variables affect Tegata behavior on all platforms.

VariableDescription
TEGATA_VAULTDefault vault path when --vault is not provided
TEGATA_PASSPHRASEVault passphrase for non-interactive use (warning printed to stderr)
TEGATA_BACKUP_PASSPHRASEBackup passphrase for scripted tegata import
NO_COLORDisable ANSI color output (any value, including empty, activates this)