Installation

SSM Dojo ships as a desktop app for macOS, Linux, and Windows. Download it from the releases page.

Prerequisites

These are required at runtime — SSM Dojo uses the official AWS tooling:

Requirement	Why	Install
AWS CLI v2	Starts and manages SSM sessions	AWS CLI v2 install guide
AWS Session Manager Plugin	Runs port-forwarding and terminal sessions	Session Manager Plugin install guide
AWS credentials	Resolves your profiles, regions, and permissions	Configure ~/.aws/config + ~/.aws/credentials (named profiles, SSO, or assume-role)

SSM Dojo checks for the AWS CLI and Session Manager Plugin on startup and warns you if either is missing — tunnels can't start without them. The app also looks in common install locations and honors your login shell's PATH, so tools installed in non-default places are usually found.

IAM permissions

Your AWS credentials need permission to call Systems Manager and EC2 — for example ssm:StartSession, ssm:DescribeInstanceInformation, and ec2:DescribeInstances — and to use the SSM port-forwarding documents. Target instances must have the SSM Agent running and an instance profile that allows Session Manager.

macOS

1. Download the .dmg from the releases page.
2. Open the DMG and drag SSM Dojo to Applications.
3. Launch it.

Signed & notarized builds open with no extra steps, and the app keeps itself up to date automatically.

Unsigned pre-release builds only

If you receive an unsigned pre-release DMG (over Slack/AirDrop/direct download), macOS quarantines it and Apple Silicon may show "SSM Dojo is damaged and can't be opened." The app is not damaged — it's an unsigned build, and macOS offers no "Open Anyway" button for this case. Drag the app to /Applications, then run once:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/SSM Dojo.app"

Signed/notarized releases don't need this step.

Linux

Download the AppImage (portable) or the .deb package from the releases page. For the AppImage, mark it executable and run it:

chmod +x SSM-Dojo-*.AppImage
./SSM-Dojo-*.AppImage

Windows

Download and run the installer (.exe) from the releases page.

Automatic updates

The desktop app checks for new releases and updates itself in the background — just restart when prompted. You can always grab the latest build manually from the releases page.

Next: Quickstart.