> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.sonarsource.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/2026.2/server-installation/from-zip-file/starting-stopping-server/from-zip-file.md).

# From the ZIP file

## Starting SonarQube <a href="#starting-sonarqube" id="starting-sonarqube"></a>

* **Linux**: Execute `<sonarqubeHome>/bin/linux-x86-64/sonar.sh start`
* **macOS**: Execute `<sonarqubeHome>/bin/macosx-universal-64/sonar.sh start`
* **Windows**: Execute `<sonarqubeHome>\bin\windows-x86-64\StartSonar.bat`

The "SonarQube is operational" message is displayed once the startup has successfully completed.

## Stopping SonarQube gracefully <a href="#stopping-gracefully" id="stopping-gracefully"></a>

* **Linux:** Execute `<sonarqubeHome>/bin/linux-x86-64/sonar.sh stop`
* **macOS:** Execute `<sonarqubeHome>/bin/macosx-universal-64/sonar.sh stop`
* **Windows:** There’s a similar `stop` functionality in the Windows script, but it might be a bit less explicit. You can often stop it by running `sonar.sh stop` from the command line.

Stop does a graceful shutdown where no new analysis report processing can start, but the tasks in progress are allowed to finish. The time a stop will take depends on the processing time of the tasks in progress.

## Hard-stopping SonarQube <a href="#hard-stopping" id="hard-stopping"></a>

* **Linux:** Execute `<sonarqubeHome>/bin/linux-x86-64/sonar.sh force-stop`
* **macOS:** Execute `<sonarqubeHome>/bin/macosx-universal-64/sonar.sh force-stop`
* **Windows:** A "force-stop" might not be directly available. Stopping the process via Windows Task Manager or similar tools could be considered a hard stop.

## Related pages <a href="#related-pages" id="related-pages"></a>

* [Running as a service](/sonarqube-server/2026.2/server-installation/from-zip-file/starting-stopping-server/running-as-a-service.md)


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