A. Prerequisites

Before you can run the submission pipeline your machine needs six tools: Docker + Compose v2, Git, the GitHub CLI (gh), make, OpenSSL, and Python 3.12+. Each section below gives the install command for your OS and a verify step to confirm it worked.

Important

You also need to have been granted access to the private BigPicture repos and images first — see the overview and GitHub access.

Linux: Ubuntu/Debian assumed

All Linux commands on this page use apt. On other distributions substitute your package manager — dnf (Fedora/RHEL), pacman (Arch), apk (Alpine), or zypper (openSUSE) — and adjust package names as needed.

Docker + Compose v2

Install Docker Desktop (includes Compose v2) with the package manager:

winget install --id Docker.DockerDesktop -e

Then launch Docker Desktop once so the engine starts.

Install Docker Desktop (includes Compose v2) with Homebrew:

brew install --cask docker

Then launch Docker Desktop once so the engine starts.

Install Docker Engine and the Compose v2 plugin using these commands:

apt update
apt install -y curl
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
apt install -y docker-compose-plugin

Add your user to the docker group so you can run Docker without sudo:

usermod -aG docker $USER

Log out and back in for the group change to take effect.

Verify 
docker --version
docker compose version

Git

winget install --id Git.Git -e

Restart any open terminals after installing.

brew install git
apt install -y git
Verify 
git --version

GitHub CLI (gh)

winget install --id GitHub.cli -e
brew install gh
apt install gh
Verify 
gh --version

make

On Windows, make is bundled with Git for Windows — no separate install. You only need to add Git’s tool folder to your system PATH once.

Git for Windows ships make in C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin. Add that folder to your system PATH:

  1. Press the Windows key, type environment variables, and open “Edit the system environment variables”.

  2. Click Environment Variables…

  3. Under System variables, select Path and click Edit…

  4. Click New and paste:

    C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin

  5. Click OK three times, then restart any open terminals.

Note

If you installed Git to a custom location, replace C:\Program Files\Git with your actual install path. The openssl command in the next section lives in the same folder, so this one PATH change covers both.

Install GNU make via Homebrew and make it the default make:

brew install make
echo 'export PATH="$(brew --prefix)/opt/make/libexec/gnubin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

If you use Bash instead of Zsh, replace ~/.zshrc with ~/.bash_profile.

apt install -y make
Verify 
make --version

OpenSSL

On Windows, OpenSSL ships in the same Git folder you already added to PATH in the make step — no extra install needed.

On macOS, the system openssl command is actually LibreSSL. The pipeline needs real OpenSSL, so we install it via Homebrew.

No additional install needed. Open a new terminal and confirm it is available:

openssl version
brew install openssl
echo 'export PATH="$(brew --prefix)/opt/openssl@3/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

If you use Bash instead of Zsh, replace ~/.zshrc with ~/.bash_profile.

apt install -y openssl
Verify 
openssl version

Python

The pipeline requires Python 3.12 or later.

winget install --id Python.Python.3.12 -e

Restart any open terminals after installing.

brew install python@3.12

On Ubuntu 24.04 and later, Python 3.12 is in the default repositories:

apt install -y python3.12

On Ubuntu 22.04, install it via the deadsnakes PPA:

add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa
apt update
apt install -y python3.12
Verify 
python3.12 --version

On Windows, use python --version instead.

Once every tool reports a version, continue to B. GitHub access.