path: root/INSTALL.Unix

Apache CouchDB README.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
    
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)      (http://erlang.org/)
 * ICU                        (http://icu-project.org/)
 * OpenSSL                    (http://www.openssl.org/)
 * Mozilla SpiderMonkey (1.7) (http://www.mozilla.org/js/spidermonkey/)
 * GNU Make                   (http://www.gnu.org/software/make/)
 * GNU Compiler Collection    (http://gcc.gnu.org/)
 * libcurl                    (http://curl.haxx.se/libcurl/)
 * help2man                   (http://www.gnu.org/s/help2man/)
 * Python (>= 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

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.

Mac OS X
~~~~~~~~

You can install the build tools by running:

    open /Applications/Installers/Xcode\ Tools/XcodeTools.mpkg

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

You may want to link ICU so that CouchDB can find the header files automatically:

    brew link icu4c

The same is true for recent versions of Erlang:

    brew link erlang

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 customise 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

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.