manual/include/starting-ardour.html

<p>
  There are several ways of <dfn>starting Ardour</dfn>, which may vary
  depending on which platform it is being used on:
</p>

<ul>
  <li>by double-clicking the Ardour icon in the platform's file manager (e.g.
  Nautilus on Linux, Finder on OS X)</li>
  <li>by double-clicking on an Ardour session file in the platform's file
  manager
  </li>
  <li>on Linux, Ardour can also be started via the command line (see below)
  </li>
</ul>

<p>
  When Ardour is run for the very first time, a special dialog is displayed
  that will ask several questions about the system's setup. The questions will
  not be asked again, but the choices thus made can always be modified via the
  <kbd class="menu">Edit &gt; Preferences</kbd> dialog.
</p>

<p>
  If JACK is needed, in general, it is sensible to start it <em>before</em>
  Ardour is run. Though this is not strictly necessary, it will provide more
  control and options over JACK's operation. JACK can be started through the
  <abbr title="Command Line Interface">CLI</abbr> of a terminal, or by using a
  <abbr title="Graphical User Interface">GUI</abbr> program, like <a
  href="https://qjackctl.sourceforge.io/">QjackCtl</a> or <a
  href="http://kxstudio.linuxaudio.org/Applications:Cadence">Cadence</a>.
</p>

<p class="note">
  If Ardour is opened without specifying an existing session, it will display
  the <kbd class="menu">Session &gt; New&hellip;</kbd> dialog and the <kbd
  class="menu">Audio/MIDI Setup</kbd> dialog. See <a
  href="@@newopen-session-dialog">New/Open Session Dialog</a> for a description
  of those dialogs.
</p>

<h2>Starting Ardour From the Command Line (Linux)</h2>

<p>
  Like (almost) any other program on Linux, Ardour can be started on the
  command line. Type the following command in a terminal window:
</p>

<kbd class="cmd lin">Ardour6</kbd>

<p>
  To start Ardour with an existing session, use:
</p>

<kbd class="cmd lin">Ardour6 <em>/path/to/session</em></kbd>

<p>
  Replace /path/to/session with the actual path of the session. Either the
  session folder or any session file inside the folder can be specified,
  including snapshots.
</p>

<p>
  To start Ardour with a new, named session, use:
</p>

<kbd class="cmd lin">Ardour6 -N <em>/path/to/session</em></kbd>