Install CockroachDB on Windows

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See Release Notes for what's new in the latest release, v21.1.21. To upgrade to this release from an older version, see Cluster Upgrade.

Tip:

To deploy a free CockroachDB Cloud cluster instead of running CockroachDB yourself, see the Quickstart.

Install options

Use one of the options below to install CockroachDB.

Download the executable

Warning:

CockroachDB executable for Windows is experimental and not suitable for production deployments. Windows 8 or higher is required.

Use PowerShell to download the CockroachDB v21.1.21 archive for Windows and copy the binary into your PATH:

PS $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"; [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12;$ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'; $null = New-Item -Type Directory -Force $env:appdata/cockroach; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://binaries.cockroachdb.com/cockroach-v21.1.21.windows-6.2-amd64.zip -OutFile cockroach.zip; Expand-Archive -Force -Path cockroach.zip; Copy-Item -Force "cockroach/cockroach-v21.1.21.windows-6.2-amd64/cockroach.exe" -Destination $env:appdata/cockroach; $Env:PATH += ";$env:appdata/cockroach"

We recommend adding ;$env:appdata/cockroach to the PATH variable for your system environment so you can execute cockroach commands from any shell. See Microsoft's environment variable documentation for more information.

Run the following command to make sure the installation succeeded:
```
PS cockroach version
```
Keep up-to-date with CockroachDB releases and best practices:

Thanks!

Use Kubernetes

To orchestrate CockroachDB locally using Kubernetes, either with configuration files or the Helm package manager, see Orchestrate CockroachDB Locally with Minikube.

Use Docker

Warning:

Running a stateful application like CockroachDB in Docker is more complex and error-prone than most uses of Docker. Unless you are very experienced with Docker, we recommend starting with a different installation and deployment method.

Install Docker for Windows.

Docker for Windows requires 64bit Windows 10 Pro and Microsoft Hyper-V. Please see the official documentation for more details. Note that if your system does not satisfy the stated requirements, you can try using Docker Toolbox.
Open PowerShell and confirm that the Docker daemon is running in the background:
```
PS C:\Users\username> docker version
```
If you do not see the server listed, start Docker for Windows.
Share your local drives. This makes it possible to mount local directories as data volumes to persist node data after containers are stopped or deleted.
Pull the image for the v21.1.21 release of CockroachDB from Docker Hub:
```
PS C:\Users\username> docker pull cockroachdb/cockroach:v21.1.21
```
Keep up-to-date with CockroachDB releases and best practices:

Thanks!

What's next?

If you're just getting started with CockroachDB:
- Start a cluster locally and talk to it via the built-in SQL client
- Learn more about CockroachDB SQL
- Build a simple application with CockroachDB using Postgres-compatible client drivers and ORMs
- Explore core CockroachDB features like automatic replication, rebalancing, and fault tolerance
If you're ready to run CockroachDB in production:
- Review the Production Checklist
- Deploy CockroachDB manually or use an orchestration system like Kubernetes

Note:

By default, each node of a CockroachDB cluster periodically shares anonymous usage details with Cockroach Labs. For an explanation of the details that get shared and how to opt-out of reporting, see Diagnostics Reporting.

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