Chapter 7. Using the Bottle Manager
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## Chapter 7. Using the Bottle Manager

The Bottle Manager is the main tool for configuring CrossOver. It can be run by selecting Manage Bottles from the Configure menu.

## Managing Bottles

A bottle is a virtual windows environment. Each bottle contains a unique C drive and all its standard sub directories: Windows, Program Files, etc. A bottle also contains a complete Windows registry, a full set of most CrossOver settings, and one or more Windows applications.

CrossOver allows you to maintain multiple bottles in one CrossOver installation. This is like having several different Windows machines operating together on your single Linux computer. This is useful anytime you want to install multiple applications yet prevent them from interacting or damaging one another. For example: Typically the Internet Explorer 6.0 installer upgrades any existing Internet Explorer 5.0 installation. Using bottles it is possible to install Internet Explorer 6.0 into a new, empty bottle, while leaving an existing install of Internet Explorer 5.0 intact and untouched.

Multiple bottles are also useful anytime a particular application requires special system settings that are otherwise undesirable. It is also possible to maintain bottles that emulate different Windows versions. For example, Microsoft Office 2003 only works on Windows versions 2000 or later, whereas Microsoft Office 97 runs best in a bottle that emulates Windows 98.

The Bottle Manager allows you to create, delete, and modify the bottles in your CrossOver install. For the most part, the CrossOver Software Installer will take care of creating appropriate bottles, but this dialog provides more direct control.

+. This button creates a new bottle. You will have an opportunity to choose which Windows mode the bottle will emulate.

-. This button will delete the selected bottle. This will remove all applications, settings, and documents that are inside this bottle's directory.

Add Duplicate…. This button allows you to create a duplicate of an existing bottle. The duplicate will contain the same applications and settings as the original.

Add From Archive…. This button will allow you to choose and restore a bottle archive created with the Archive button. The restored bottle will be replaced in your bottle list, and the files copied into your bottle directory.

### Bottle Windows versions

Most bottle settings can be adjusted once a bottle is created. The Windows version of a bottle, however, must be chosen when the bottle is created.

The CrossOver Software Installer will set the Windows version appropriately when creating a new bottle. If you are creating a bottle by hand you must specify a Windows version.

Most supported applications will run best in a bottle of type 'winxp'. When installing unsupported applications, it may be worthwhile to test them in both a win98 and a winxp bottle to determine which works the best. For purposes of compatibility, winxp and win2000 are generally equivalent.

### Bottle modes

CrossOver supports bottles of two types: private and published. A given installation of CrossOver may make use of both bottle types at once.

Private bottles. A private bottle is used by a single user, and is generally placed in that user's home account. Applications installed in a private bottle are unavailable for use by other users on a system. New bottles are always created in private mode.

Published bottles. Published bottles are created within the CrossOver subdirectory, and can be used by all the users on a system. Applications in a published bottle can be run by any user, and each user is able to configure and customize existing applications.

Published bottles save space and time by requiring only a single installation of each Windows application. However, some applications (those not properly designed for multi-user use) may perform erratically.

When a user accesses a published bottle, a 'stub bottle' will be created in their home account. Stub bottles contain a user's custom alterations to the bottle, and contain symbolic links that refer to most large files and directories in the published bottle. A stub bottles have the same name as the published bottle to which it refers.

Published bottles are created using the Publish button.

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