Getting Started - eXist: A NoSQL Database and Application Development Platform - page 24

After starting the database, open your browser and visit http://localhost:8080/exist . If
a nicely tiled screen appears (like in “The Dashboard” on page 24 ), you've succeeded!
Starting and Stopping eXist from the Command Line
If you don't want to or can't work with the GUI niceties, you can also start eXist from
the command line. For this, open up a command-line window and navigate to
$EXIST_HOME/bin . There you'll find several command files in both the Windows
( *.bat versions) and Unix/Linux/Mac ( *.sh versions) variants. For starting and stop‐
ping, do the following:
startup
This will fire up eXist.
shutdown -p adminpassword
This will stop the running eXist instance. It needs the administrator password.
A First Tour Around Town
This section will give you a quick tour of eXist's highlights and attractions, including
the user interface and what's on your disk.
The Dashboard
The home screen of eXist since 2.1, http://localhost:8080/exist , is called the dashboard ;
it is a set of tiles linking to various applications and utilities. The initial set shows the
default tiles provided with eXist. You may install additional ones via the Package
Manager, or if you start developing applications of your own with the Packaging Sys‐
tem (see “Packaging” on page 227 ), those can appear here too.
Now, most of the functionality provided through the dashboard—stuff like eXide and
the function documentation—is important, and you will probably use it often. It is
therefore well worth your time to familiarize yourself with the smorgasbord offered
(see Figure 2-3 ).