Manual installation

Use this path when Docker is not available or when you need to run Fractum from a Python environment. Fractum 1.4.2 requires Python 3.12.11 exactly; the supplied bootstrap scripts create a local .venv with that version.

1. Get the source

git clone https://github.com/katvio/fractum.git
cd fractum
git checkout v1.4.2

2. Run the bootstrap for your system

Linux

chmod +x bootstrap-linux.sh
./bootstrap-linux.sh
source .venv/bin/activate

macOS

chmod +x bootstrap-macos.sh
./bootstrap-macos.sh
source .venv/bin/activate

Windows PowerShell

Run PowerShell as Administrator for the bootstrap, then activate the resulting environment:

.\bootstrap-windows.ps1
.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

The scripts can install system tooling or Python when it is missing. Run them before an air-gapped operation. When the repository includes the offline package bundle, the Linux and macOS scripts check its SHA-256 checksums and, if packages/CHECKSUMS.sha256.asc is present, verify its GPG signature before installing anything. They import the signing key from fractum-signing-key.asc in the source tree, the same key published in the verification guide. When gpg is not installed, they print a warning and rely on the SHA-256 check alone. Before moving offline, use the verification guide to compare the bundled Python wheels against the SHA-256 digests published by PyPI. The Windows script checks the SHA-256 of the Chocolatey installer it downloads, but does not perform this package-bundle GPG verification.

3. Confirm the CLI and rehearse the workflow

fractum --help

Then follow encrypting files with a disposable file. Keep the encrypted output and generated archives until you have completed a successful recovery test.