2.2. Installing VoltDB

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2.2. Installing VoltDB

VoltDB is distributed as a compressed tar archive. The file name identifies the edition (community or enterprise) and the version number. The best way to install VoltDB is to unpack the distribution kit as a folder in the home directory of your personal account, like so:

$ tar -zxvf voltdb-ent-7.0.tar.gz -C $HOME/

Installing into your personal directory gives you full access to the software and is most useful for development.

If you are installing VoltDB on a production server where the database will be run, you may want to install the software into a standard system location so that the database cluster can be started with the same commands on all nodes. The following shell commands install the VoltDB software in the folder /opt/voltdb:

$ sudo tar -zxvf voltdb-ent-7.0.tar.gz -C /opt
$ cd /opt
$ sudo mv voltdb-ent-7.0 voltdb

Note that installing as root using the sudo command makes the installation folders read-only for non-privileged accounts. Which is why installing in $HOME is recommended for running the sample applications and other development activities.

2.2.1. Upgrading From Older Versions

When upgrading an existing database from a recent version of VoltDB, the easiest way to upgrade is as follows:

  1. Perform an orderly shutdown of the database, saving a final snapshot (voltadmin shutdown --save)

  2. Upgrade the VoltDB software

  3. Restart the database (voltdb start)

Using this process VoltDB automatically restores the final snapshot taken before the upgrade. To upgrade VoltDB on clusters running database replication (DR), see the instructions specific to DR in the VoltDB Administrator's Guide.

If you are upgrading from a version before V6.8, you need to save and restore the snapshot manually. In which case, the recommended steps for upgrading an existing database are:

  1. Place the database in admin mode (voltadmin pause --wait).

  2. Perform a manual snapshot of the database (voltadmin save --blocking).

  3. Shutdown the database (voltadmin shutdown).

  4. Upgrade VoltDB.

  5. Initialize a new database root directory (voltdb init)

  6. Start the new database in admin mode (voltdb start --pause).

  7. Restore the snapshot created in Step #2 (voltadmin restore).

  8. Return the database to normal operations (voltadmin resume).

2.2.2. Building a New VoltDB Distribution Kit

If you want to build the open source VoltDB software from source (for example, if you want to test recent development changes), you must first fetch the VoltDB source files. The VoltDB sources are stored in a GitHub repository.

The VoltDB sources are designed to build and run on 64-bit Linux-based or 64-bit Macintosh platforms. However, the build process has not been tested on all possible configurations. Attempts to build the sources on other operating systems may require changes to the build files and possibly to the sources as well.

Once you obtain the sources, use Ant 1.7 or later to build a new distribution kit for the current platform:

$ ant dist

The resulting distribution kit is created as obj/release/volt-n.n.nn.tar.gz where n.n.nn identifies the current version and build numbers. Use this file to install VoltDB according to the instructions in Section 2.2, “Installing VoltDB”.

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