Installing and first run

System requirements

STIGreviewer is a desktop application. The primary supported platforms are Windows and macOS.

Note

Some features that arrange items side-by-side, such as the resizable panels in the Edit Checklist view, are designed for a desktop-sized window. STIGreviewer can run on iOS and Android tablets, but the desktop experience is the primary target.

First launch

The splash screen

When you start STIGreviewer for the first time, a splash window appears with the STIGreviewer logo and a spinning loading indicator. While you wait, the application loads your saved STIG Library, your saved STIG Revisions file, and the built-in lookup tables it uses to identify controls and assessment procedures.

The status text underneath the logo tells you what is happening, for example “Loading STIG library…” or “Initializing…”

Accepting the End User License Agreement

The first time you open the application (and any time the license agreement is updated) you will see the End User License Agreement page. Read the agreement in the scrollable box, then choose one of:

• I Accept — saves your acceptance and continues into the application.

• Decline — closes STIGreviewer. You cannot use the application without accepting the agreement.

A tour of the main window

Once the splash screen finishes and you accept the license agreement, the main window opens with the Checklists page active. All of the application’s top-level pages are reached through the flyout menu on the left.

The flyout menu

Click the hamburger icon (three horizontal lines) in the top-left corner to open the flyout menu. The menu shows the application name (STIGreviewer BETA) at the top and the following pages:

• Checklists — the inventory of all the CKL/CKLB files you have loaded, and the workspace where you open individual checklists for editing.

• STIG Library — the local library of DISA STIG XML files you have downloaded. Used to create new checklists and to detect outdated checklists.

• STIG Revisions — loads a STIG Revisions JSON file so the application can flag checks that have been revised.

• Reference Files — loads an eMASS POA&M Excel file so checklists can show which findings have a matching POA&M entry.

• Business Rules — the validation rules and shared settings that drive things like host information warnings and severity override checks.

• AI Settings — connect STIGreviewer to an AI provider and manage the prompts that drive the AI Fill buttons across the app. See chapter 16.

• Theme Settings — choose between the available light and dark themes and pick a swatch.

At the bottom of the flyout there is a Theme drop-down for quickly switching themes from anywhere in the application, and a small label showing the application version.

Choosing a theme

STIGreviewer ships with several light and dark themes designed for long viewing sessions. You can switch themes in two ways:

• Quick switch — open the flyout and pick a theme from the Theme drop-down at the bottom. The active theme is marked with a star.

• Theme Settings page — open the flyout and pick Theme Settings to choose between Light Theme and Dark Theme and then select a specific swatch for that mode.

On first launch, STIGreviewer follows your operating system’s light/dark setting: the default light theme is Harbor and the default dark theme is Pulsar. Once you choose a theme manually, that choice is remembered.