Archi

Open Source ArchiMate Modelling

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Archi cost?

Archi® is open source software. If you value Archi and the work that has gone into its development, and feel that it’s a tool that you use regularly and offers you value, you might consider donating to help with ongoing maintenance, development, and user support.

Can I use Archi for commercial purposes?

Yes, you can use the Archi® software in a company, at school, for study, for training, in fact anywhere. However, the ArchiMate® language is licensed by The Open Group and your use of the ArchiMate language is governed by their licenses. For more information see this.

Please note that Archi® is a registered trade mark of Phillip Beauvoir and ArchiMate® is a registered trademark of The Open Group.

How is Archi licensed?

Archi® is licensed under an MIT type license. This is what it says:

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Please note that the above license applies to the Archi® software, not the ArchiMate® language. For licensing related to the ArchiMate® language please contact The Open Group. More information can be found here.

Does Archi work on Mac/Windows/Linux?

Yes. It works on macOS (11+), Windows 10/11, and most versions of Linux. Archi is written in Java, so it’s cross-platform.

Is Archi® an “ArchiMate® Certified” tool?

No. Archi® is not “certified” on the ArchiMate® Tool Certification Register. However, Archi® fulfils all conformance requirements, is downloaded several thousand times a month, and is the de facto ArchiMate® tool as used by professional Enterprise Architects, students, trainers and major organizations.

The Windows app and installer shows a “Windows protected your PC” warning. What do I do?

While installing or running Archi for the first time on Windows, you might receive the following warning: “Windows protected your PC: Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk.”

This is due to Microsoft SmartScreen determining that an application has not built up enough “reputation” even though the application is digitally signed. Over time an application will gain “reputation” and this warning will no longer be displayed. If you are concerned about the authenticity of the Archi downloads the Windows executables are digitally signed and a SHA1 checksum is available.

To bypass this bogus warning, you can either click on “More Info” in the warning dialog and select “Run anyway” or you can right-click on the executable file in Explorer, select “Properties” and tick “Unblock”.

I’m running Archi on Linux Wayland and some features are not working. Is there a fix?

Some Linux distributions default to using Wayland. There are a few things that don’t work properly in Archi under Wayland such as drag and drop and some mouse operations. For now, we recommend running Archi in Linux with X Windows (X11 or X Org).

Does Archi have multi-user and model repository support?

Archi uses local file-based models and these can be shared and versioned using a Git-type workflow with the Collaboration plug-in. This can be found on the Archi Plug-ins section.

Can Archi do the thing that it was not designed to do?

Variants of this question include “Does Archi support UML?”, “Does Archi support BPMN?”, “Can Archi export/import Visio diagrams?”, “Does Archi work on iPad?”, and “Is there a FAQ?”

No.

Can you add additional functionality to Archi for our company?

We often get asked if Archi can import or export to other formats, whether it can run from the command line or whether we can add extra functionality to support a specific workflow. Take a look at the support page and contact us to see how we can help you.

I want to contribute to the development of Archi, how can I do that?

You can contribute in many ways! You could file a bug report, help with documentation, suggest a feature, or develop a whole model repository. Take a look at the developer resources.

I think I found a bug. What can I do?

Please provide as much information as possible. Take a look at the Configuration and Error Log and copy their contents. The Configuration and Error Log can be accessed in Archi by selecting the “About Archi” menu item. In the dialog box press the “Installation Details” button, then select the “Configuration” tab and press the “View Error Log” button. Please report this by raising an issue on the Archi GitHub Issue Tracker.

What is the governance of the project?

Please see our Governance and Management of the Archi Project statement.

How do you pronounce “Archi”?

In the UK we pronounce it with a soft “ch”, as in “cheese”. That’s because the original name for the application was “Archie”, like the boy’s name. In fact, in the early days of Archi’s development, an American company built an in-house repository utility called Veronica to go with Archi(e). Having said that, it’s entirely up to you how you pronounce it and a pronunciation like “Arki” is fine.

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