General

Isabelle supports the three main platform families: Linux, Windows, macOS. The platform-specific application bundles include sources, documentation, and add-on components. A few extra dependencies are explained below.

The full collection of Isabelle distribution archives is available for reference. Past releases are available from the archive. Further technical background information may be found in the Isabelle System Manual.

Linux

Requirements

Installation

The bundled archive contains everything required for Isabelle on Linux. It can be unpacked into an arbitrary directory like this:

The Isabelle/jEdit Prover IDE can be invoked like this:

Other Isabelle command-line tools can be invoked from the terminal like this:

Windows (7, 8, 8.1, 10)

Requirements

Installation

The self-extracting archive contains everything required for Isabelle on Windows PCs. It can be unpacked into an arbitrary directory. The installer starts the Isabelle/jEdit Prover IDE automatically for the first time. It also creates a desktop alias to the main executable for later use.

Isabelle2019\Cygwin-Terminal allows to run Isabelle command-line tools, as known from Unix.

Isabelle2019\Cygwin-Setup allows to modify the Cygwin installation of Isabelle, e.g. to add further packages manually.

Note: The Isabelle application lacks developer signatures and certificates, so Microsoft rejects it by default. Running it for the first time requires some careful clicks in the proper spots.

Note: The Windows 10 Defender may prevent external provers from working properly (e.g. for sledgehammer or the smt proof method). In that case the whole Isabelle application directory should be excluded from Virus & threat protection.

macOS (10.10, 10.11, 10.12, 10.13, 10.14)

Requirements

Installation

The bundled archive contains everything required for Isabelle on Macintosh computers. The Isabelle application can be placed into the /Applications folder and started as usual.

The main Isabelle distribution is hidden inside the Isabelle2019.app folder. This is relevant when invoking Isabelle command-line tools, e.g. like this in the Terminal application:

Note: The Isabelle application lacks developer signatures and certificates, so Apple rejects it by default. See also the document Safely open apps on your Mac, notably the last section "How to open an app that hasn’t been notarized or is from an unidentified developer". In short, it should work with the default security settings as follows:

  1. Open Isabelle2019.app and Cancel the subsequent security dialog.
  2. Open Security & Privacy in system preferences: section "Allow apps ..." at the bottom should list the blocked application (see screenshot).
  3. Click Open Anyway and provide further confirmations as required.

Docker: Headless Ubuntu Linux

Requirements

Installation

The Docker image contains Ubuntu Linux 18.04 with Isabelle2019. It can be used, e.g. on another Linux host like this:

That provides command-line access to the regular isabelle tool wrapper, with indirection through the Docker container infrastructure.