Install CockroachDB on Linux

Download the binary

The CockroachDB binary for Linux requires glibc, libncurses, and tzdata, which are found by default on nearly all Linux distributions, with Alpine as the notable exception.

1. Download the CockroachDB archive for Linux and the supporting libraries that are used to provide spatial features, and extract the binary:

   $ curl https://binaries.cockroachdb.com/cockroach-v20.2.19.linux-amd64.tgz | tar -xz

2. Copy the binary into your PATH so you can execute cockroach commands from any shell:

   cp -i cockroach-v20.2.19.linux-amd64/cockroach /usr/local/bin/

   If you get a permissions error, prefix the command with sudo.

Note:

If you plan to use CockroachDB's spatial features, you must complete the following steps. Otherwise, your installation is now complete.

3. CockroachDB uses custom-built versions of the GEOS libraries. Copy these libraries to one of the locations where CockroachDB expects to find them.

   By default, CockroachDB looks for external libraries in /usr/local/lib/cockroach or a lib subdirectory of the CockroachDB binary's current directory. If you place these libraries in another location, you must pass the location in the --spatial-libs flag to cockroach start. The instructions below assume the /usr/local/lib/cockroach location.

   1. Create the directory where the external libraries will be stored:

      mkdir -p /usr/local/lib/cockroach

   2. Copy the library files to the directory:

      cp -i cockroach-v20.2.19.linux-amd64/lib/libgeos.so /usr/local/lib/cockroach/

      cp -i cockroach-v20.2.19.linux-amd64/lib/libgeos_c.so /usr/local/lib/cockroach/

      If you get a permissions error, prefix the command with sudo.

4. Verify that CockroachDB can execute spatial queries.

   1. Make sure the cockroach binary you just installed is the one that runs when you type cockroach in your shell:

      which cockroach

      /usr/local/bin/cockroach

   2. Start a temporary, in-memory cluster using cockroach demo:

      cockroach demo

   3. In the demo cluster's interactive SQL shell, run the following command to test that the spatial libraries have loaded properly:

      > SELECT ST_IsValid(ST_MakePoint(1,2));

      You should see the following output:

        st_isvalid

      true (1 row)