If you don't have an application server or servlet container, download and install one. For example, download JBoss AS.

Download the Guvnor distribution from the download site. In the download zip, there's 1 war file per app server version, for example guvnor-5.2.0-jboss-as-5.1.war for JBoss AS 5.1. Use the war file best suited for your app server. Essentially there's little difference between those war files: mostly it's a matter of excluded jars which are already available on the app server.

If no war specifically for your app server exists yet, take the latest Tomcat war. It might require minor configuration tweaks. Consult our wiki for specific tips. The community has been able to make it run on various platforms. Patches (pull requests) to expand our war assemblies for another app server or version are welcome.

Optionally rename that war file to guvnor.war to have a nicer URL. For the rest of the manual we'll presume you've done this.

Optionally customize the configuration. First explode (unzip) the war file, and change any configuration and then unexplode (zip) it again.

Deploy the war file by copying it into the deployment directory of the app server. For JBoss AS 5 and 6, that directory is server/default/deploy. Alternatively you can first explode (unzip) the war file and copy that exploded directory. Note: in JBoss AS, the exploded directory name must end with the suffix .war.

Start the app server. For JBoss AS 5 and 6, run $JBOSS_AS_HOME/bin/run.sh (or run.bat).

Surf to the Guvnor webapp. This will probably be at localhost on port 8080, for example at http//localhost:8080/guvnor/ or (if you haven't rename the war file) at something like http//localhost:8080/guvnor-5.2.0-jboss-as-5.1/.