No technical experience needed. Follow these steps and you'll have QuizBuilder running in about 10 minutes.
QuizBuilder needs two things installed on your computer: Docker (runs the server) and Python 3 (runs the setup helper). Both are free.
Go to docker.com/products/docker-desktop and click Download for Windows.
Run the installer (Docker Desktop Installer.exe). Accept the default settings.
When prompted to enable WSL 2, click OK — Docker needs this to run on Windows.
After installation, restart your computer if asked. Then open Docker Desktop from the Start menu and wait for the whale icon in the taskbar to stop animating.
Go to python.org/downloads and download the latest Python 3 installer.
Run the installer. On the first screen, make sure to check "Add Python to PATH" before clicking Install. This is important.
Verify it worked by opening a new Command Prompt and running:
python --version
You should see something like Python 3.12.x.
Press Windows + R, type cmd, and press Enter.
Or search for PowerShell in the Start menu.
You'll use this terminal for the next steps.
Go to docker.com/products/docker-desktop and click Download for Mac.
Choose Mac with Apple chip for M1/M2/M3/M4 Macs, or Mac with Intel chip for older ones. Check under Apple menu → About This Mac if unsure.
Open the .dmg, drag Docker to Applications, and launch it.
Wait for the whale icon in the menu bar to stop animating.
Python 3 comes pre-installed on modern macOS. Open Terminal (press Command + Space, type Terminal) and run:
python3 --version
If you see Python 3.x.x you're all set.
If not, download it from python.org/downloads.
Open a terminal and run the official one-line installer:
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
Then add your user to the docker group so you can run Docker without sudo:
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
Log out and log back in for the group change to take effect.
Python 3 is pre-installed on most Linux distributions. Verify with:
python3 --version
If it's missing, install it:
# Ubuntu / Debian sudo apt install python3 # Fedora / RHEL sudo dnf install python3
You need to download the QuizBuilder files to your computer. There are two ways: with Git (recommended) or by downloading a ZIP.
In your terminal, navigate to the folder where you want to install QuizBuilder. For example, to put it in your Documents folder:
# Windows (Command Prompt) cd %USERPROFILE%\Documents # Mac / Linux cd ~/Documents
Then download QuizBuilder:
git clone https://github.com/mnavas/quizbuilder.git cd quizbuilder
git --version and follow the prompt.
On Linux: sudo apt install git (Ubuntu/Debian) or sudo dnf install git (Fedora).
Go to github.com/mnavas/QuizBuilder, click the green Code button, then click Download ZIP.
Extract the ZIP to your Documents folder (or wherever you prefer).
You'll have a folder called QuizBuilder-main — open a terminal inside that folder.
QuizBuilder comes with a setup helper that configures everything for you — passwords, security keys, and the database. Just run one command.
In your terminal, inside the QuizBuilder folder, run:
# Windows quizbuilder install # Mac / Linux ./quizbuilder install
The installer will ask for two things:
• Admin email — the email address you'll use to log in
• Admin password — your administrator password (min. 8 characters)
Everything else — the database password and the security key — is generated
automatically and saved to a .env file. The installer shows you
the values so you can keep a note of them.
After the prompts, the installer pulls and builds the Docker images and starts the server. The first run takes 3–10 minutes depending on your internet speed — Docker is downloading all the components. Subsequent starts are instant.
When it's done, the installer prints the URL where QuizBuilder is running.
.env file private. It contains your passwords.
Never share it or commit it to Git — it's already listed in .gitignore so
Git will ignore it automatically.
The installer already started the server. Open your browser and go to the URL it printed — or simply use:
http://localhost:3000
Log in with the admin email and password you entered during setup.
To find all the URLs others on your Wi-Fi can use, run:
# Windows quizbuilder hostname # Mac / Linux ./quizbuilder hostname
This prints every address on your network, for example http://192.168.1.42:3000.
Students open that URL in their browser — no installation needed on their side.
QuizBuilder stops when you shut down your computer. To start it again:
# Windows quizbuilder start # Mac / Linux ./quizbuilder start
Make sure Docker Desktop is running first.
Run these from your terminal inside the quizbuilder folder.
On Mac / Linux use ./quizbuilder; on Windows use quizbuilder.