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Overview

A BAR file (extension: .bar) is an archive containing all the files required to install a BlackBerry 10 application. BAR files can be installed directly on a device without going through BlackBerry World or BES deployment through a procedure known as "sideloading". This article explains how to sideload an application on any BlackBerry 10 device.

Sideloading an application requires the following:

• a Windows PC or a Mac
• the application's BAR file, saved on the PC/Mac
• a BlackBerry 10 device
• a USB cable compatible with the device (usually, a Micro-B USB cable)

Installing the required software on your PC/Mac

The procedure requires the following software to be installed on your PC/Mac:

• Oracle Java; this is required for running the installation tool
• BlackBerry Link; this is required for connecting to your BlackBerry 10 device from your PC/Mac via USB cable

Downloading the BlackBerry Native SDK tools for your PC/Mac

Windows PC

• Download http://downloads.blackberry.com/upr/developers/update/bbndk/ndktarget_10.3.0.698/ndktargetrepo_10.3.0.698/packages/bbndk.win32.tools.10.3.0.2702.zip
• When the file is fully downloaded, right-click it and select "Extract all..."
• ...

Mac

• Download http://downloads.blackberry.com/upr/developers/update/bbndk/ndktarget_10.3.0.698/ndktargetrepo_10.3.0.698/packages/bbndk.macosx.tools.10.3.0.2702.tar.gz
• We'll assume the file was downloaded to your Downloads directory with the name bbndk.macosx.tools.10.3.0.2702.tar.gz
• Open the Terminal application (it's under Applications → Utilities)
• In Terminal:
  • type the command cd ~/Downloads and press Enter⏎
  • type the command tar xf bbndk.macosx.tools.10.3.0.2702.tar.gz and press Enter⏎. This could take a while
• When the last command terminates, you should have a directory called host_10_3_0_2702 in your Downloads directory

Preparing your BlackBerry 10 device

...

• Connect the device to your PC with the USB cable
• On the device, open the Settings application
• In the Settings application, navigate back to the main screen if necessary, and then to Security and Privacy
• From Security and Privacy, navigate to Developer Mode
• Enable Developer Mode; enter the device password for confirmation
• Note down the IP address of the device: it should be in the form of 169.254.x.y (usually, 169.256.0.1)

Installing the application

...

• (on Windows) Press Windows+R; type cmd and press Enter⏎. This should open a command window
• (on Mac) Open Applications → Utilities → Terminal. This should open a command window

• enter the command cd <full path to the host_10_3_0_2702 directory> and press Enter⏎. To easily enter the full path to the host_10_3_0_2702 directory, you can drag and drop it on the command window

• (on Windows) enter the command cd win32\x86\usr\bin and press Enter⏎
• (on Mac) enter the command cd darwin/x86/usr/bin and press Enter⏎
• enter the command blackberry-deploy -installApp -device 169.254.x.y -password <device password> <full path to the BAR file> (where 169.254.x.y is the IP address of the device), and press Enter⏎. To easily enter the full path of the BAR file, you can drag and drop it on the command window
• ...