Installing ArangoDB on Windows ============================== Introduction ------------ There are two possible methods to install ArangoDB on Windows: 1. Automated, using an _NSIS_ Installer. 1. Manual, using a ZIP archive (XCopy installation). Both installation methods have their own pros and cons. {% hint 'info' %} Please note that ArangoDB will only work on 64bit systems. {% endhint %} Installing using the Installer ------------------------------ The default installation directory is *C:\Program Files\ArangoDB-3.x.x*. During the installation process you may change this. In the following description we will assume that ArangoDB has been installed in the location *<ROOTDIR>*. You have to be careful when choosing an installation directory. You need either write permission to this directory or you need to modify the configuration file for the server process. In the latter case the database directory and the Foxx directory have to be writable by the user. ### Single- and Multiuser Installation There are two main modes for the installer of ArangoDB. The installer lets you select: - multi user installation (default; admin privileges required) Will install ArangoDB as service. - single user installation Allow to install Arangodb as normal user. Requires manual starting of the database server. ### Installation Options The checkboxes allow you to chose weather you want to: - chose custom install paths - do an automatic upgrade - keep an backup of your data - add executables to path - create a desktop icon or not. #### Custom Install Paths This checkbox controls if you will be able to override the default paths for the installation in subsequent steps. The default installation paths are: Multi User Default: - Installation: *C:\Program Files\ArangoDB-3.x.x* - DataBase: *C:\ProgramData\ArangoDB* - Foxx Service: *C:\ProgramData\ArangoDB-apps* Single User Default: - Installation: *C:\Users\\\\AppData\Local\ArangoDB-3.x.x* - DataBase: *C:\Users\\\\AppData\Local\ArangoDB* - Foxx Service: *C:\Users\\\\AppData\Local\ArangoDB-apps* We are not using the roaming part of the user's profile, because doing so avoids the data being synced to the windows domain controller. #### Automatic Upgrade If this checkbox is selected the installer will attempt to perform an automatic update. For more information please see [Upgrading from Previous Version](#upgrading-from-previous-version). #### Keep Backup Select this to create a backup of your database directory during automatic upgrade. The backup will be created next to your current database directory suffixed by a time stamp. #### Add to Path Select this to add the binary directory to your system's path (multi user installation) or user's path (single user installation). #### Desktop Icon Select if you want the installer to create Desktop Icons that let you: - access the web inteface - start the commandline client (arangosh) - start the database server (single user installation only) ### Upgrading from Previous Version If you are upgrading ArangoDB from an earlier version you need to copy your old database directory [to the new default paths](#custom-install-paths). Upgrading will keep your old data, password and choice of storage engine as it is. Switching to the RocksDB storage engine requires an [export](../Programs/Arangoexport/README.md) and [reimport](../Programs/Arangoimport/README.md) of your data. ### Starting If you installed ArangoDB for multiple users (as a service) it is automatically started. Otherwise you need to use the link that was created on you Desktop if you chose to let the installer create desktop icons or the executable *arangod.exe* located in *<ROOTDIR>\bin*. This will use the configuration file *arangod.conf* located in *<ROOTDIR>\etc\arangodb*, which you can adjust to your needs and use the data directory *<ROOTDIR>\var\lib\arangodb*. This is the place where all your data (databases and collections) will be stored by default. Please check the output of the *arangod.exe* executable before going on. If the server started successfully, you should see a line `ArangoDB is ready for business. Have fun!` at the end of its output. We now wish to check that the installation is working correctly and to do this we will be using the administration web interface. Execute *arangod.exe* if you have not already done so, then open up your web browser and point it to the page: ``` http://127.0.0.1:8529/ ``` ### Advanced Starting If you want to provide our own start scripts, you can set the environment variable *ARANGODB_CONFIG_PATH*. This variable should point to a directory containing the configuration files. ### Using the Client To connect to an already running ArangoDB server instance, there is a shell *arangosh.exe* located in *<ROOTDIR>\bin*. This starts a shell which can be used – amongst other things – to administer and query a local or remote ArangoDB server. Note that *arangosh.exe* does NOT start a separate server, it only starts the shell. To use it you must have a server running somewhere, e.g. by using the *arangod.exe* executable. *arangosh.exe* uses configuration from the file *arangosh.conf* located in *<ROOTDIR>\etc\arangodb\*. Please adjust this to your needs if you want to use different connection settings etc. ### Uninstalling To uninstall the Arango server application you can use the windows control panel (as you would normally uninstall an application). Note however, that any data files created by the Arango server will remain as well as the *<ROOTDIR>* directory. To complete the uninstallation process, remove the data files and the *<ROOTDIR>* directory manually. Installing using the ZIP archive (XCopy installation) ----------------------------------------------------- Not all users prefer the guided _Installer_ to install ArangoDB. In order to have a [portable application](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_application), or easily start different ArangoDB versions on the same machine, and/or for the maximum flexibility, you might want to install using the _ZIP_ archive ([XCOPY deployment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XCOPY_deployment)). ### Unzip the archive Open an explorer, choose a place where you would like ArangoDB to be, and extract the archive there. It will create its own top-level directory with the version number in the name. ### Edit the configuration *This step is optional.* If the default configuration of ArangoDB does not suite your needs, you can edit `etc\arangodb3\arangod.conf` to change or add configuration options. ### Start the Server After installation, you may start ArangoDB in several ways. The exact start-up command depends on the type of ArangoDB deployment you are interested in (_Single Instance_, _Master-Slave_, _Active Failover_ or _Cluster_). Please refer to the [_Deployment_](../Deployment/README.md) chapter for details.