Installation problems
Install fails, hash checks stop it, or the nala command is missing. Symptom-first recovery.
nala is not recognised after installing
Symptom: the installer completed, but nala --version reports that the
command is not found.
Likely causes
- The terminal was already open when
PATHchanged. - The installer did not complete despite appearing to.
Safe diagnostic
Get-Command nala -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Expected evidence: a resolved path to the shim. Nothing means the shell cannot see it.
Repair: open a new terminal. PATH changes never reach processes that were
already running. If a fresh terminal still cannot find it, reinstall.
When not to retry: do not add directories to PATH by hand to work around
this. If the shim is not where the installer put it, the install did not
succeed and hand-patching hides that.
SmartScreen blocks the installer
Symptom: Windows shows "Windows protected your PC" and the installer does not run.
Likely cause: the preview build is not Authenticode signed, so SmartScreen has no publisher reputation to check.
Safe diagnostic: verify the file you downloaded matches the published digest:
Get-FileHash .\NALA-*.Setup.exe -Algorithm SHA256
Expected evidence: a SHA-256 identical to the one shown on the download page.
Repair: once the hash matches, use More info → Run anyway for that file.
SECURITY
Do not disable SmartScreen globally. Turning off a machine-wide protection to install one program is a bad trade, and it stays off afterwards. Approve the single file instead.
When not to retry: if the hash does not match, stop. Do not run the file. Re-download and check again; if it still differs, report it.
The installer reports a hash or size mismatch
Symptom: the install script refuses to run the downloaded file.
Likely causes
- The download was interrupted or truncated.
- A new release was published between the manifest read and the download.
Expected evidence: the script names which check failed — byte size or SHA-256.
Repair: re-run the installer. It re-reads the manifest, so a release published mid-download resolves on the second attempt.
When not to retry: if the mismatch repeats across several clean attempts on a good connection, do not bypass the check. That is the check working.
The install script will not run at all
Symptom: PowerShell refuses to execute the downloaded script.
Likely cause: execution policy.
Safe diagnostic
Get-ExecutionPolicy -List
Repair: use the piped form, which does not write a script file:
irm https://nalaos.dev/install.ps1 | iex
Or run the saved script in a single scoped process rather than changing the machine's policy:
powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\install-nala.ps1
NOTE
Scoping the bypass to one invocation is deliberate. Changing the machine-wide execution policy to install one application leaves the machine weaker afterwards.
No download is offered for my platform
Symptom: the download page offers nothing for macOS or Linux.
Cause: this is correct behaviour, not a bug. Only windows-x64 has a
published artifact. The release manifest omits platforms with no verified
build, and the site will not advertise a download it cannot serve.
Repair: none available. See platform support for what has to happen first.
Collecting a support bundle
If none of the above matches, collect diagnostics before asking for help:
nala doctor --json
WARNING
Review any diagnostic output before sharing it. It can contain file paths, repository names, and environment details from your machine.