Installing KNIME Analytics Platform

  1. Go to the download page on the KNIME.com website to start installing KNIME Analytics Platform.

  2. The download page shows three tabs which can be opened individually:

    • Register for Help and Updates: here you can optionally provide some personal information and sign up to our mailing list to receive the latest KNIME news

    • Download KNIME: this is where you can download the software

    • Getting Started: this tab gives you information and links about what you can do after you have installed KNIME Analytics Platform

  3. Now open the Download KNIME tab and click the installation option that fits your operating system. KNIME Analytics Platform can be installed on Windows, Linux, or macOS.

    Notes on the different options for Windows:

    • The Windows installer extracts the compressed installation folder, adds an icon to your desktop, and suggests suitable memory settings.

    • The self-extracting archive simply creates a folder containing the KNIME installation files. You don’t need any software to manage archiving.

    • The zip archive can be downloaded, saved, and extracted in your preferred location on a system to which you have full access rights.

      010 install files
      Figure 1. KNIME Analytics Platform available installers

  4. Read and accept the privacy policy and terms and conditions. Then click Download.

  5. Once downloaded, proceed with installing KNIME Analytics Platform:

    • Windows: Run the downloaded installer or self-extracting archive. If you have chosen to download the zip archive instead, unpack it to a location of your choice. Run knime.exe to start KNIME Analytics Platform.

      With KNIME Analytics Platform version 5.3 you have the possibility to start KNIME Analytics Platform in high-resolution mode. To do so, go to the installation folder and run knime-hidpi.bat. Please notice that the batch file to start the KNIME Analytics Platform in the high-resolution mode is an experimental feature designed exclusively for Modern UI. This feature aims to enhance visual fidelity but is not yet fully supported across the classic user interface and the Modern UI. So, users should be aware of potential limitations and compatibility issues when switching between Modern UI and Classic UI contexts.

    • Linux: Extract the downloaded tarball to a location of your choice. Run the knime executable to start KNIME Analytics Platform.

    • Mac: Double click the downloaded dmg file and wait for the verification to finish. Then move the KNIME icon to Applications. Double click the KNIME icon in the list of applications to launch KNIME Analytics Platform.

The following operating systems versions are supported:

  • Windows

    • Windows 10, 11

    • Windows Server - 2016, 2019, 2022,

  • Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and 22.04 LTS and derivatives

  • RHEL/CentOS/Rocky Linux 8, 9

  • macOS (12 and above - macOS x86_64 Intel) and M1 (macOS arm64 - Apple silicon) (only the last two major versions are supported)

    • macOS 12: Monterey

    • macOS 13: Ventura

Also check the KNIME Getting Started Guide and the KNIME Analytics Platform User Guide.

Configuration settings and knime.ini file

When installing KNIME Analytics Platform, configuration settings are set to their defaults, and they can later be changed in the knime.ini file. The configuration settings, i.e. options used by the Java Virtual Machine when KNIME Analytics Platform is launched, range from memory settings to system properties required by some extensions.

You can find knime.ini in the installation folder of KNIME Analytics Platform.

On macOS: To locate knime.ini on macOS, open Finder and navigate to your installed Applications. Next, right click the KNIME application, select Show Package Contents in the menu, and navigate to Contents → Eclipse.

The knime.ini file can be edited with any plaintext editor, such as Notepad (Windows), TextEdit (macOS) or gedit (Linux).

Allocating memory in knime.ini file

The entry -Xmx1024m in the knime.ini file specifies how much memory KNIME Analytics Platform is allowed to use. The setting for this value will depend on how much memory is available in your machine. KNIME recommends setting it to approximately one half of your available memory, but you can modify the value based on your needs. For example, if your computer has 16 GB of memory, you might set the entry to -Xmx8192m.

Installing Extensions and Integrations

If you want to add capabilities to KNIME Analytics Platform, you can install extensions and integrations. The available extensions range from free open source extensions and integrations provided by KNIME to free extensions contributed by the community and commercial extensions including novel technology nodes provided by our partners.

The KNIME extensions and integrations developed and maintained by KNIME contain deep learning algorithms provided by Keras, high performance machine learning provided by H2O, big data processing provided by Apache Spark, and scripting provided by Python and R, just to mention a few.

Install extensions from:

  • KNIME Hub:

    • Search for the Extension or Integration you want to install in the search bar

    • Click Extensions on the results page

    • Click the extension you want to install, and from the extension page and drag and drop the squared yellow icon, shown in Figure 2, to the KNIME Analytics Platform. A window will open asking if you want to search and install the extension or integration. Click Yes and follow the instructions.

      02 hub extension page
      Figure 2. Install the KNIME Integrated Deployment Extension from KNIME Hub

    • Restart KNIME Analytics Platform.

  • KNIME Analytics Platform:

    • Go to the Menu in the top right corner of the KNIME Analytics Platform.

    • Select Install Extensions. The dialog shown in Figure 3 opens.

      040 install extensions
      Figure 3. Installing Extensions and Integrations from KNIME Analytics Platform

    • Select the extensions you want to install

    • Click Next and follow the instructions

    • Restart KNIME Analytics Platform.

The Install Extensions menu provides the extensions that are available via the update sites you have enabled.

If you encounter issues during the installation of Python based extensions, these might be related to challenges specific to this type of extensions. Find here information about how to troubleshoot these issues.

To uninstall an extension, go to the Help menu in the top right corner of the user interface and select the About KNIME Analytics Platform. In the window that opens click Installation Details. A dialog shown in Figure 4 opens. Now, select the extension that you want to uninstall, and click Uninstall…​.

050 uninstall extensions
Figure 4. Uninstalling Extensions and Integrations

Updating KNIME Analytics Platform and Extensions

It is good to make sure that you always use the latest version of KNIME Analytics Platform and its extensions.

To do so:

  1. Go to the Menu in the top right corner of the KNIME Analytics Platform.

  2. Select Check for updates. In the dialog that opens, select the available updates you want to install and then click Next.

  3. Proceed by following the instructions. KNIME Analytics Platform has to be restarted in order to apply the updates.

Update Sites

The Update Sites are where KNIME retrieves additional software in the form of extensions as well as updates. To see or edit the available update sites, click Preferences in the top right corner of the user interface. This opens the Preferences dialog. Select Install/Update → Available Software Sites.

Default Update Sites

These four updates sites are provided by KNIME and are always available:

030 update site
Figure 5. Available Update Sites

KNIME Analytics Platform 5.6 Update Site: Provides all extensions and integrations maintained by KNIME: R, Python, H2O Machine Learning, Apache Spark for big data, and many more. Contains KNIME Labs Extensions, which are extensions that are not yet part of the set of stable KNIME extensions because their functionality may not yet be finalized.

KNIME Community Extensions (Experimental): Provides additional extensions created by the KNIME community. Note: this update site is not enabled by default.

KNIME Community Extensions (Trusted): Provides trusted community extensions, i.e. extensions created by the KNIME community, which have been tested for backward compatibility and compliance with KNIME quality standards.

KNIME Partner Update Site 5.6: Provides extensions created by KNIME partners.

KNIME Analytics Platform 5.6 Update Site, KNIME Community Extensions (Trusted), and KNIME Partner Update Site 5.6 are enabled by default.

Adding External Update Sites

To install extensions that are not part of the above update sites, click Add to manually add the relevant update site, inserting the Name and Location as shown in Figure 6.

030 add update site
Figure 6. Add Update Sites

After adding a new update site you will see it listed in the Available Software Sites. You must now enable it by selecting it from the list.

Adding Local Update Sites

If your working environment has limited internet access or you receive an error message “Proxy Authentication Required” when connecting to a remote update site (provided by a URL), you can install extensions from a local zip file.

  1. Download KNIME update sites as zip files at the following links:

  2. Save the zip file containing the extensions to your local system

  3. Click Preferences in the top right corner of the user interface. This opens the Preferences dialog. Select Install/Update → Available Software Sites and enter the path to the zip file by clicking Add → Archive…​ as shown in Figure 7.

    040 add zip archive
    Figure 7. Adding Update Sites from Zip Archive
    If the same extensions are provided by a URL, you will first have to disable the update site by disabling it in the list.

  4. Now click Apply and Close

    If the same extensions are also provided by a remote update site, you will first have to disable that update site by deselecting its entry in the Available Software Sites dialog and confirming via Apply and Close.

Working with the Nightly Builds

Once a night, a new version of KNIME Analytics Platform is created directly from our development branch. The Nightly Build versions available here provide insight into what’s coming up in the next regular release. However, for real work, always use a version of a standard KNIME release. Also read the following disclaimer before proceeding:

Really, really, really important disclaimer

This is most definitely not production quality code. These nightly builds are what we use internally to validate and test recent developments, so they are not tested as thoroughly as standard KNIME releases. Furthermore new nodes or functionality may change substantially (or disappear entirely) from one build to the next. It’s even possible that workflows you edit or create with nightly builds stop being readable by future (or past) versions…​

These nightlies are a great way to get a sneak peek at what may be coming in the next version of KNIME and provide feedback and suggestions. They are not a particularly safe way to do real work.

Changelog (KNIME Analytics Platform 5.6)

Release date: August 12, 2025

New nodes

  • AP-19581: Microsoft Exchange Online Connector (Basic Auth deprecated in March '26) (kudos to @Sajith, @ThomasChen, @taylorpeter55 for reporting 1, 2, 3)

Enhancements

  • AP-24036: Add "now" and "today" Expression functions that returns the current zoned date time (kudos to @HansS for reporting 1)

  • AP-24704: Add conversion function for chemistry type to RDKit for python extensions

  • AP-24675: Support OAuth2 Credentials in Email Connector node

  • AP-24543: Agent Chat View with tool node views (desktop AP)

  • AP-24524: Make Tool Message Output node aware of message cells

  • NXT-3551: Minimap

  • UIEXT-2798: (Extension Development) New API to define KNIME nodes, retiring swing-based dialogs and views

  • UIEXT-2474: WebUI for DB Table Partitioner (aka DB Partitioning)

  • UIEXT-2457: WebUI for DB Type Mapper

  • UIEXT-2447: WebUI for DB Row Sampler (aka DB Row Sampling)

  • UIEXT-2441: WebUI for SQLite Connector

  • UIEXT-2440: WebUI for Microsoft Access Connector

  • UIEXT-2602: DB Joiner - Polishing

  • AP-24670: Updated Jakarta Mail Library (in Email Extension) to latest version, 2.0.3

  • AP-24655: Create example for the experimental Python to Java PortObject conversion

  • AP-24338: Update Google SDK to latest version

  • AP-24273: Workflow Reader to output flag if workflow was reset during load

  • AP-23580: Deprecate legacy file handling nodes

  • NXT-3775: Nodelabel editing exits on pointer-up on empty canvas

Bug Fixes

  • AP-24726: Loops with "missing nodes " cause bad exceptions to be thrown when loaded (partially executed) (kudos to @mwiegand for reporting 1)

  • NXT-3849: Execution progress percentage shown in white (kudos to @trj for reporting 1)

  • AP-24741: Workflow becomes unloadable if variable name in Credential Configuration is empty

  • AP-24615: (Internals) Workflow lock is held indefinitely in case holder has OutOfMemory error in lock/unlock

  • AP-24614: Instrumentation: replaced nodes are not tracked in MUI

  • AP-24568: Component update check never discards loaded components