How to Install ThinkorSwim in Linux

Here are the quick an easy steps on how to install TOS in Linux (Debian Distro).

First you will need to setup Java on your computer so lets go ahead and do that. Open up the console and login as super user.

su

Now that we have full privileges, lets edit the sources.list file so that we can fetch the much needed java packages.

pico /etc/apt/sources.list

This will bring up your sources.list file in the editor. You should see something that looks like this:

deb http://debian.lcs.mit.edu/debian etch main
deb-src http://debian.lcs.mit.edu/debian etch main

Add the words “contrib non-free” at the end of both lines so it looks like the following:

deb http://debian.lcs.mit.edu/debian etch main contrib non-free
deb-src http://debian.lcs.mit.edu/debian etch main contrib non-free

Now hit “Ctrl + O” to write the changes to the file. Then hit enter to accept the changes. Now hit “Ctrl + X” to exit the editor. That was the hard part . Lets update our package listing and download the java packages by running the following commands:

apt-get update
apt-get install sun-java5-jre sun-java5-jdk

Follow the onscreeen instructions to complete the installation of the java packages. Its pretty much gonna ask you to agree to the licenses. After you are done you can close the console window.

Now log in to your TOS account and download their software for Linux. Save it to your desktop. Once the download is complete you should have a shell script file sitting on your desktop. The extension of the file should be .sh. Go ahead and open your console again.

Type in the following command to change your current working directory to your desktop directory:

cd Desktop

Now lets make the installation script executable.

chmod +x thinkorswim_installer.sh

We are ready to install the software now. Just type in the following command.

./thinkorswim_installer.sh

If you get an xserver error just run the command again with the “-c” argument like this:

./thinkorswim_installer.sh -c

Now just follow the on screen instructions. Let it install in the default directory “/usr/local/thinkorswim”. Once that is done installing we need to change the permissions on the installation folder so that it doesn’t stall on the update page. To do this we need super user privileges.

su

Now lets change the permissions on the entire thinkorswim folder recursively.

chmod 777 /usr/local/thinkorswim -R

Thats it, you are all set now. You can run the program by navigating to /usr/local/thinkorswim and clicking on the thinkorswim executable file.

You can also create a shortcut in your start menu. In KDE just right click on the kmenu and go to edit. Add a new menu item and enter the following in the path field:

/usr/local/thinkorswim/thinkorswim.sh

Thats it!

2 Responses to “ How to Install ThinkorSwim in Linux ”

1. Gary says:

   January 22, 2010 at 5:33 pm

   You can simplify many of these steps by opening the package manager and installing “jedit”. This will install all the needed java stuff and set the environment variables. Then the installer will run from the shell script. Jedit isn’t a bad editor either (I still prefer vim)
2. BACS says:

   March 12, 2010 at 4:16 am

   It’s good, it’s useful (as usual), actionable and concise. Love it.