setup-environment

name: setup-environment description: Install and start Camunda 8 Run locally for development. Downloads the latest version, verifies Java, and starts the engine.

Set up a local Camunda 8 development environment using C8 Run.

Steps

1. Check if C8 Run is already running

curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" http://localhost:8080/v2/topology

If HTTP 200: C8 Run is already running. Skip to step 6 (install c8ctl if needed), then print the summary.

2. Check Java

Camunda 8 Run requires OpenJDK 21-23. Check with java -version. If missing or wrong version, tell the user to install JDK 21+ and set JAVA_HOME.

3. Find the latest C8 Run version

Each minor version directory (e.g. 8.9/) is a shortcut to the latest sub-release in that line (alpha, patch, etc.). Pick the highest minor version:

curl -s https://downloads.camunda.cloud/release/camunda/c8run/ | grep -o '"[0-9]\.[0-9][0-9]*/"' | tr -d '"' | sort -t. -k1,1n -k2,2n | tail -1 | tr -d '/'

This returns e.g. 8.9. Use this as the version in the download URL.

4. Download for the current platform

Base URL: https://downloads.camunda.cloud/release/camunda/c8run/{version}/

File naming: camunda8-run-{version}-{os}-{arch}.{ext}

Detect platform with uname -s and uname -m (map arm64 → aarch64, x86_64 stays).

Download to a temp location, extract to ~/camunda/c8run (or ask user for preferred location). The zip may extract to a versioned directory name (e.g. c8run-8.9.0-alpha4/) — rename it to c8run. Do NOT search the user's filesystem for existing installations.

5. Start C8 Run

cd ~/camunda/c8run && ./start.sh

Wait for startup (can take 30-60 seconds), then verify:

curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" http://localhost:8080/v2/topology

6. Install c8ctl

Check if already installed with c8 --version. If not:

npm install @camunda8/cli -g

7. Summary

Print the URLs:

• REST API: http://localhost:8080/v2/
• Operate: http://localhost:8080/operate
• Tasklist: http://localhost:8080/tasklist
• Zeebe gRPC: localhost:26500

No authentication required. Default credentials for web UIs: demo/demo.