Downloading and running test builds

Summary

• Downloading Nightly Builds
• Downloading Builds from Pull Requests
• Running test builds

Downloading Nightly Builds

Every night, a test build is created from the very latest development version of MuseScore. You can download these test builds from the following server: https://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/musescore-nightlies/.

Under "4.x (master)", click the "Nightly" link for your OS. (Important: don't use the "beta" link; currently, that only leads to a very outdated version.)

This should bring you to a page like this:

The builds are sorted by date; the newest one is at the top. You can also simply use the build called "Latest", which always points to the latest build.

Downloading Builds from Pull Requests

New fixes and changes are offered through Pull Requests. This allows us to review and test the changes before they are promoted to the master branch.

When a developer opens or amends a Pull Request, a test build is created. This enables you to run their code without having to compile it yourself. But don't forget, their code hasn't been approved yet, so only do this if you trust the developer in question.

In order to download the test build:

1. Sign in to your GitHub account (it's free to create one if you need to).

2. Navigate to the web page of the Pull Request. Here, we will use PR #13774 as an example.

3. Switch to the "Checks" tab at the top of the page:
   

4. In the side bar, you should see among others:

   • Build: macOS
   • Build: Linux
   • Build: Windows

   You may need to scroll a bit to see them.

   Click the one corresponding to your OS. (Click on the name itself; not on the little '>' icon in front of it, nor the build_mu4 line below it.)

   Example for Windows:
   

5. This should bring you to a page like this:

   

6. At the bottom of this page, in the "Artifacts" section, you should find a download link to download the test build:

   

   If you can't click the artifact link then either the artifact has expired (they are deleted after 90 days) or you are not signed in to GitHub.

Running Test Builds

Remember, test builds contain code that has not yet been checked and approved by our internal team. Only run test builds if you trust the developer in question. Always keep an external backup of important files.

macOS

0. For Pull Request builds only: if the downloaded file is a .zip file, unpack it (for example using macOS's built-in Archive Utility). Otherwise, your browser has already unpacked it for you. Open the resulting folder.
1. Open the .dmg file. You should see something like this:
   
2. To keep your applications folder clean, it is recommended that you don't drag the MuseScore icon to your Applications folder.
3. Double-click the MuseScore icon to run the test build.

For Pull Request builds, some additional effort is required. To save resources, these builds are namely not "notarized" by Apple, even though they are just as safe as other builds. This causes an error message like this:

(Sorry for the Dutch screenshot)

Click "Cancel". Then, right-click or Control+click the MuseScore icon, and chose "Open".

Linux

On Linux, the (unzipped) download is an AppImage. You can use it like any other AppImage.

Windows

1. Extract the downloaded .zip file.
2. This should result in a .7z file. Use the 7-Zip tool to extract this file.
3. In the resulting folder, go to the bin subfolder, and double-click MuseScore4.exe to run it.

Note: Nightly builds and builds from Pull Requests are not "installed", but you can simply run them. This helps to keep your computer clean, and to ensure that test builds don't interfere with stable builds.