Installation

Arius can be installed in three ways. Docker is the recommended method as it requires no runtime dependencies and works identically across platforms.

Docker (Recommended)
Native Binary
Arius Explorer (Windows)

Docker

The official Arius image is published to Docker Hub as woutervanranst/arius. It is built on the .NET runtime and requires no additional dependencies on the host.

Pull the image

docker pull woutervanranst/arius

To pin to a specific version:

docker pull woutervanranst/arius:5.0.42

Image versions follow the format 5.0.{run_number} (e.g., 5.0.42). Use latest for the most recent stable release, or pin a version in production pipelines for reproducibility.

Verify the installation

docker run --rm woutervanranst/arius --version

Volume mounts

The Docker image exposes two named volumes:

Mount point	Purpose
`/archive`	The local directory to archive or restore. Mount your data directory here.
`/logs`	Log output. Mount a host path here to persist logs across runs.

Example: archive command

docker run --rm \
  -v /path/to/your/data:/archive \
  -v /path/to/logs:/logs \
  -e ARIUS_ACCOUNT_NAME \
  -e ARIUS_ACCOUNT_KEY \
  woutervanranst/arius \
  archive \
    --accountname "$ARIUS_ACCOUNT_NAME" \
    --accountkey  "$ARIUS_ACCOUNT_KEY" \
    --passphrase  "your-encryption-passphrase" \
    --container   "arius"

Example: restore command

docker run --rm \
  -v /path/to/your/data:/archive \
  -v /path/to/logs:/logs \
  -e ARIUS_ACCOUNT_NAME \
  -e ARIUS_ACCOUNT_KEY \
  woutervanranst/arius \
  restore \
    --accountname "$ARIUS_ACCOUNT_NAME" \
    --accountkey  "$ARIUS_ACCOUNT_KEY" \
    --passphrase  "your-encryption-passphrase" \
    --container   "arius" \
    --download

Environment variables

Passing credentials via environment variables avoids embedding them in shell history. Set them once in your shell or CI environment:

export ARIUS_ACCOUNT_NAME="your-storage-account-name"
export ARIUS_ACCOUNT_KEY="your-storage-account-key"

Then forward them into the container with -e ARIUS_ACCOUNT_NAME -e ARIUS_ACCOUNT_KEY (no value assignment needed — Docker inherits from the host environment).

Never pass your account key directly in shell commands that are logged or visible in process listings. Use environment variables or Docker secrets instead.

Native Binary

Pre-built binaries are available from the GitHub Releases page for users who prefer to run Arius directly on the host without Docker.

Download

Navigate to the Releases page and download the binary for your platform.

# Download the latest release (replace with your target version)
curl -LO https://github.com/woutervanranst/Arius/releases/latest/download/arius-linux-x64.tar.gz
tar -xzf arius-linux-x64.tar.gz
chmod +x arius
sudo mv arius /usr/local/bin/arius

Verify the installation

arius --version

Set credentials

Set the required environment variables before running any command:

export ARIUS_ACCOUNT_NAME="your-storage-account-name"
export ARIUS_ACCOUNT_KEY="your-storage-account-key"

Example: archive command

arius archive /path/to/your/data \
  --accountname "$ARIUS_ACCOUNT_NAME" \
  --accountkey  "$ARIUS_ACCOUNT_KEY" \
  --passphrase  "your-encryption-passphrase" \
  --container   "arius"

Example: restore command

arius restore /path/to/your/data \
  --accountname "$ARIUS_ACCOUNT_NAME" \
  --accountkey  "$ARIUS_ACCOUNT_KEY" \
  --passphrase  "your-encryption-passphrase" \
  --container   "arius" \
  --download

Logs

When running natively, logs are written to:

Linux / macOS: ~/.local/share/Arius/logs/
Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Arius\logs\

Each run produces a timestamped log file in the format arius-YYYYMMDD_HHmmss.log.

Arius Explorer

Arius Explorer is a Windows desktop application that provides a graphical interface for browsing and managing your Arius repository. It is distributed via ClickOnce, which handles automatic updates.

Install

Click the link below to install Arius Explorer via ClickOnce:Install Arius ExplorerYour browser may prompt you to trust the publisher. Accept the prompt to proceed with installation. ClickOnce will handle future updates automatically when you launch the application.

Requirements

Windows 10 or later
.NET desktop runtime (installed automatically by ClickOnce if not present)

File status icons

Arius Explorer displays a status icon for each file that combines the local filesystem state (left half-moon) and the Azure repository state (right half-moon):

State	Local filesystem	Azure repository
Not present locally, archived remotely	Not present	Pointer and binary
Pointer only locally	Pointer file only	Pointer and binary
Fully present locally and remotely	Pointer and binary	Pointer and binary

Arius Explorer is a read/browse interface. To archive or restore files, use the Arius CLI (via Docker or native binary).

Environment variable reference

Both the archive and restore commands support reading credentials from environment variables, which avoids passing secrets on the command line:

Environment variable	CLI flag equivalent	Description
`ARIUS_ACCOUNT_NAME`	`--accountname` / `-n`	Azure Storage Account name
`ARIUS_ACCOUNT_KEY`	`--accountkey` / `-k`	Azure Storage Account key

All other options (passphrase, container, tier, etc.) must be provided as CLI flags — they do not have corresponding environment variables.

Version format

Arius versions follow the format 5.0.{run_number}, where run_number is the CI pipeline build number. For example, 5.0.42 is the 42nd release build. You can verify the installed version at any time:

# Docker
docker run --rm woutervanranst/arius --version

# Native binary
arius --version

Get Started

CLI Reference

Guides

Architecture

Reference

Installation

Docker

Pull the image

Verify the installation

Volume mounts

Example: archive command

Example: restore command

Environment variables

Native Binary

Download

Verify the installation

Set credentials

Example: archive command

Example: restore command

Logs

Arius Explorer

Install

Requirements

File status icons

Environment variable reference

Version format

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

CLI Reference

Guides

Architecture

Reference

​Docker

​Pull the image

​Verify the installation

​Volume mounts

​Example: archive command

​Example: restore command

​Environment variables

​Native Binary

​Download

​Verify the installation

​Set credentials

​Example: archive command

​Example: restore command

​Logs

​Arius Explorer

​Install

​Requirements

​File status icons

​Environment variable reference

​Version format

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Docker

Pull the image

Verify the installation

Volume mounts

Example: archive command

Example: restore command

Environment variables

Native Binary

Download

Verify the installation

Set credentials

Example: archive command

Example: restore command

Logs

Arius Explorer

Install

Requirements

File status icons

Environment variable reference

Version format