Apache CouchDB INSTALL.Unix ========================== A high-level guide to Unix-like systems, inc. Mac OS X and Ubuntu. Community installation guides are available on the wiki: http://wiki.apache.org/couchdb/Installation If you are trying to build CouchDB from a git checkout rather than a .tar.gz, see the `DEVELOPERS` file. This document is the canonical source of installation information. However, many systems have gotchas that you need to be aware of. In addition, dependencies frequently change as distributions update their archives. If you're running into trouble, be sure to check out the wiki. If you have any tips to share, please also update the wiki so that others can benefit from your experience. Troubleshooting --------------- There is a troubleshooting guide: http://wiki.apache.org/couchdb/Troubleshooting There is a wiki for general documentation: http://wiki.apache.org/couchdb/ There are collection of friendly mailing lists: http://couchdb.apache.org/community/lists.html Please work through these in order if you experience any problems. Dependencies ------------ You should have the following installed: * Erlang OTP (>=R13B04, =2.7) for docs (http://python.org/) * Python Sphinx (>=1.1.3) (http://pypi.python.org/pypi/Sphinx) It is recommended that you install Erlang OTP R13B-4 or above where possible. You will only need libcurl if you plan to run the JavaScript test suite. And help2man is only need if you plan on installing the CouchDB man pages. Python and Sphinx are only required for building the online documentation. Debian-based Systems ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can install the dependencies by running: sudo apt-get install build-essential sudo apt-get install erlang-base-hipe sudo apt-get install erlang-dev sudo apt-get install erlang-manpages sudo apt-get install erlang-eunit sudo apt-get install erlang-nox sudo apt-get install libicu-dev sudo apt-get install libmozjs-dev sudo apt-get install libcurl4-openssl-dev sudo apt-get install pkg-config There are lots of Erlang packages. If there is a problem with your install, try a different mix. There is more information on the wiki. Additionally, you might want to install some of the optional Erlang tools which may also be useful. Be sure to update the version numbers to match your system's available packages. For up to date instructions, please see: http://wiki.apache.org/couchdb/Installing_on_Debian http://wiki.apache.org/couchdb/Installing_on_Ubuntu Unfortunately, it seems that installing dependencies on Ubuntu is troublesome. RedHat-based (Fedora, Centos, RHEL) Systems ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can install the dependencies by running: sudo yum groupinstall "Development Tools" sudo yum install autoconf sudo yum install autoconf-archive sudo yum install automake sudo yum install libtool sudo yum install perl-Test-Harness sudo yum install erlang-etap sudo yum install erlang-erts sudo yum install erlang-os_mon sudo yum install erlang-eunit sudo yum install libicu-devel sudo yum install js-devel sudo yum install curl-devel sudo yum install pkg-config While CouchDB builds against the default js-devel-1.7.0 included in some distributions, it's recommended to use a more recent js-devel-1.8.5. Mac OS X ~~~~~~~~ To build CouchDB from source on Mac OS X, you will need to install Xcode. You can install the other dependencies by running: brew install autoconf brew install autoconf-archive brew install automake brew install libtool brew install erlang brew install icu4c brew install spidermonkey brew install curl brew install pkg-config You will need Homebrew installed to use the `brew` command. Learn more about Homebrew at: http://mxcl.github.com/homebrew/ Some versions of Mac OS X ship a problematic OpenSSL library. If you're experiencing troubles with CouchDB crashing intermittently with a segmentation fault or a bus error, you will need to install your own version of OpenSSL. See the troubleshooting guide, mentioned above, for more information. Installing ---------- Once you have satisfied the dependencies you should run: ./configure This script will configure CouchDB to be installed into `/usr/local` by default. If you wish to customize the installation, pass `--help` to this script. If everything was successful you should see the following message: You have configured Apache CouchDB, time to relax. Relax. To install CouchDB you should run: make && sudo make install You only need to use `sudo` if you're installing into a system directory. Try `gmake` if `make` is giving you any problems. If everything was successful you should see the following message: You have installed Apache CouchDB, time to relax. Relax. First Run --------- You can start the CouchDB server by running: sudo -i -u couchdb couchdb This uses the `sudo` command to run the `couchdb` command as the `couchdb` user. When CouchDB starts it should eventually display the following message: Apache CouchDB has started, time to relax. Relax. To check that everything has worked, point your web browser to: http://127.0.0.1:5984/_utils/index.html From here you should run the test suite in Firefox. Security Considerations ----------------------- You should create a special `couchdb` user for CouchDB. On many Unix-like systems you can run: adduser --system \ --home /usr/local/var/lib/couchdb \ --no-create-home \ --shell /bin/bash \ --group --gecos \ "CouchDB Administrator" couchdb On Mac OS X you can use the Workgroup Manager to create users: http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/serveradmintools1047.html You must make sure that: * The user has a working POSIX shell * The user's home directory is `/usr/local/var/lib/couchdb` You can test this by: * Trying to log in as the `couchdb` user * Running `pwd` and checking the present working directory Change the ownership of the CouchDB directories by running: chown -R couchdb:couchdb /usr/local/etc/couchdb chown -R couchdb:couchdb /usr/local/var/lib/couchdb chown -R couchdb:couchdb /usr/local/var/log/couchdb chown -R couchdb:couchdb /usr/local/var/run/couchdb Change the permission of the CouchDB directories by running: chmod 0770 /usr/local/etc/couchdb chmod 0770 /usr/local/var/lib/couchdb chmod 0770 /usr/local/var/log/couchdb chmod 0770 /usr/local/var/run/couchdb Update the permissions for your `default.ini` file: chmod 0644 /usr/local/etc/couchdb/default.ini Running as a Daemon ------------------- SysV/BSD-style Systems ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can use the `couchdb` init script to control the CouchDB daemon. On SysV-style systems, the init script will be installed into: /usr/local/etc/init.d On BSD-style systems, the init script will be installed into: /usr/local/etc/rc.d We use the `[init.d|rc.d]` notation to refer to both of these directories. You can control the CouchDB daemon by running: /usr/local/etc/[init.d|rc.d]/couchdb [start|stop|restart|status] If you wish to configure how the init script works, you can edit: /usr/local/etc/default/couchdb Comment out the `COUCHDB_USER` setting if you're running as a non-superuser. To start the daemon on boot, copy the init script to: /etc/[init.d|rc.d] You should then configure your system to run the init script automatically. You may be able to run: sudo update-rc.d couchdb defaults If this fails, consult your system documentation for more information. A `logrotate` configuration is installed into: /usr/local/etc/logrotate.d/couchdb Consult your `logrotate` documentation for more information. It is critical that the CouchDB logs are rotated so as not to fill your disk. Mac OS X ~~~~~~~~ You can use the `launchctl` command to control the CouchDB daemon. You can load the configuration by running: sudo launchctl load \ /usr/local/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.couchdb.plist You can stop the CouchDB daemon by running: sudo launchctl unload \ /usr/local/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.couchdb.plist You can start CouchDB by running: sudo launchctl start org.apache.couchdb You can restart CouchDB by running: sudo launchctl stop org.apache.couchdb You can edit the launchd configuration by running: open /usr/local/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.couchdb.plist To start the daemon on boot, copy the configuration file to: /Library/LaunchDaemons Consult your system documentation for more information.