> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cockroachlabs.mintlify.site/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Deploy a Local Cluster from Binary (Insecure) export const InternalLink = ({version, path = "", children, ...props}) => { let detectedVersion = version || "stable"; if (typeof window !== 'undefined' && !version) { const match = window.location.pathname.match(/\/docs\/([^/]+)/); if (match) { detectedVersion = match[1]; } } const normalizedPath = path.startsWith("/") ? path.slice(1) : path; return {children} ; }; Once you've installed CockroachDB, it's simple to run an insecure multi-node cluster locally. To try CockroachDB Cloud instead of running CockroachDB yourself, refer to the Cloud Quickstart. ## Before you begin * Make sure you have already installed CockroachDB. * For quick SQL testing or app development, consider running a single-node cluster instead. * Running multiple nodes on a single host is useful for testing CockroachDB, but it's not suitable for production. To run a physically distributed cluster, refer to Manual Deployment or Orchestrated Deployment, and review the Production Checklist. Reusing a previously initialized store when starting a new cluster is not recommended. If the store is incompatible with either the new CockroachDB binary or the new cluster configuration, this can lead to panics or other problems when starting a cluster. Instead, either move or delete the previous store directory before starting the `cockroach` process. An example of an incompatible configuration is if the new cluster is started with the `--start-single-node` flag, which disables replication, when the cluster configuration in the store has replication enabled. The store directory is `cockroach-data/` in the same directory as the `cockroach` command by default, or the location passed to the `--store` flag otherwise. For details about configuring the store location, refer to cockroach start. ## Step 1. Start the cluster This section shows how to start a cluster interactively. In production, operators usually use a process manager like `systemd` to start and manage the `cockroach` process on each node. Refer to Deploy CockroachDB On-Premises. 1. Use the `cockroach start` command to start the `node1` in the foreground: ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} $ cockroach start \ --insecure \ --store=node1 \ --listen-addr=localhost:26257 \ --http-addr=localhost:8080 \ --join=localhost:26257,localhost:26258,localhost:26259 ``` The `--background` flag is not recommended. If you decide to start nodes in the background, you must also pass the `--pid-file` argument. To stop a `cockroach` process running in the background, extract the process ID from the PID file and pass it to the command to [stop the node](#step-7-stop-the-cluster). In production, operators usually use a process manager like `systemd` to start and manage the `cockroach` process on each node. Refer to Deploy CockroachDB On-Premises. You'll see a message like the following: ``` * * WARNING: RUNNING IN INSECURE MODE! * * - Your cluster is open for any client that can access localhost. * - Any user, even root, can log in without providing a password. * - Any user, connecting as root, can read or write any data in your cluster. * - There is no network encryption nor authentication, and thus no confidentiality. * * Check out how to secure your cluster: https://www.cockroachlabs.com/docs/v26.2/secure-a-cluster.html * * * INFO: initial startup completed. * Node will now attempt to join a running cluster, or wait for `cockroach init`. * Client connections will be accepted after this completes successfully. * Check the log file(s) for progress. * ``` 1. Take a moment to understand the flags you used: * The `--insecure` flag makes communication unencrypted. * Since this is a purely local cluster, `--listen-addr=localhost:26257` and `--http-addr=localhost:8080` tell the node to listen only on `localhost`, with port `26257` used for internal and client traffic and port `8080` used for HTTP requests from the DB Console. * The `--store` flag indicates the location where the node's data and logs are stored. * The `--join` flag specifies the addresses and ports of the nodes that will initially comprise your cluster. You'll use this exact `--join` flag when starting other nodes as well. For a cluster in a single region, set 3-5 `--join` addresses. Each starting node will attempt to contact one of the join hosts. In case a join host cannot be reached, the node will try another address on the list until it can join the gossip network. 2. In new terminal windows, start `node2` and `node3`: ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} $ cockroach start \ --insecure \ --store=node2 \ --listen-addr=localhost:26258 \ --http-addr=localhost:8081 \ --join=localhost:26257,localhost:26258,localhost:26259 ``` ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} $ cockroach start \ --insecure \ --store=node3 \ --listen-addr=localhost:26259 \ --http-addr=localhost:8082 \ --join=localhost:26257,localhost:26258,localhost:26259 ``` These commands are the same as before but with unique `--store`, `--listen-addr`, and `--http-addr` flags. 3. Use the `cockroach init` command to perform a one-time initialization of the cluster, sending the request to any node on the `--join` list: ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} $ cockroach init --insecure --host=localhost:26257 ``` You'll see the following message: ``` Cluster successfully initialized ``` At this point, each node also prints helpful startup details to its log, and to `STDOUT` in the terminal window where the node was started. For example, the following command retrieves `node1`'s startup details: ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} $ grep 'node starting' node1/logs/cockroach.log -A 11 ``` The output will look something like this: ``` CockroachDB node starting at build: CCL @ (go1.12.6) webui: http://localhost:8080 sql: postgresql://root@localhost:26257?sslmode=disable RPC client flags: cockroach --host=localhost:26257 --insecure logs: /Users/cockroach sql command and connect to `node1`: ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} $ cockroach sql --insecure --host=localhost:26257 ``` To exit the SQL shell at any time, you can use the `\q` command: ```sql theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} > \q ``` 2. Run some basic CockroachDB SQL statements: ```sql theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} > CREATE DATABASE bank; ``` ```sql theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} > CREATE TABLE bank.accounts (id INT PRIMARY KEY, balance DECIMAL); ``` ```sql theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} > INSERT INTO bank.accounts VALUES (1, 1000.50); ``` ```sql theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} > SELECT * FROM bank.accounts; ``` ``` id | balance +----+---------+ 1 | 1000.50 (1 row) ``` 3. In a new terminal window, open a new SQL shell and connect to `node2`: ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} $ cockroach sql --insecure --host=localhost:26258 ``` In a real deployment, all nodes would likely use the default port `26257`, and so you wouldn't need to set the port portion of `--host`. 1. Run the same `SELECT` query as before: ```sql theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} > SELECT * FROM bank.accounts; ``` ``` id | balance +----+---------+ 1 | 1000.50 (1 row) ``` As you can see, node 1 and node 2 behaved identically as SQL gateways. 2. Exit all SQL shell sessions by issuing the `\q` command in the terminals where they are running: ```sql theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} > \q ``` ## Step 3. Run a sample workload CockroachDB also comes with a number of built-in workloads for simulating client traffic. Let's run the workload based on CockroachDB's sample vehicle-sharing application, MovR. 1. Load the initial dataset: ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} $ cockroach workload init movr \ 'postgresql://root@localhost:26257?sslmode=disable' ``` ``` I190926 16:50:35.663708 1 workload/workloadsql/dataload.go:135 imported users (0s, 50 rows) I190926 16:50:35.682583 1 workload/workloadsql/dataload.go:135 imported vehicles (0s, 15 rows) I190926 16:50:35.769572 1 workload/workloadsql/dataload.go:135 imported rides (0s, 500 rows) I190926 16:50:35.836619 1 workload/workloadsql/dataload.go:135 imported vehicle_location_histories (0s, 1000 rows) I190926 16:50:35.915498 1 workload/workloadsql/dataload.go:135 imported promo_codes (0s, 1000 rows) ``` 2. Run the workload for 5 minutes: ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} $ cockroach workload run movr \ --duration=5m \ 'postgresql://root@localhost:26257?sslmode=disable' ``` ## Step 4. Access the DB Console The CockroachDB DB Console gives you insight into the overall health of your cluster as well as the performance of the client workload. 1. Go to [http://localhost:8080](http://localhost:8080). 2. On the **Cluster Overview**, notice that three nodes are live, with an identical replica count on each node: DB Console This demonstrates CockroachDB's automated replication of data via the Raft consensus protocol. Capacity metrics can be incorrect when running multiple nodes on a single machine. For more details, refer to Capacity metrics. 1. Click **Metrics** to access a variety of time series dashboards, including graphs of SQL queries and service latency over time: DB Console 2. Use the **Databases**, **Statements**, and **Jobs** pages to view details about your databases and tables, to assess the performance of specific queries, and to monitor the status of long-running operations like schema changes, respectively. ## Step 5. Simulate node maintenance 1. In a new terminal, gracefully shut down a node. This is normally done prior to node maintenance: Get the process IDs of the nodes: ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} ps -ef | grep cockroach | grep -v grep ``` ``` 501 4482 1 0 2:41PM ttys000 0:09.78 cockroach start --insecure --store=node1 --listen-addr=localhost:26257 --http-addr=localhost:8080 --join=localhost:26257,localhost:26258,localhost:26259 501 4497 1 0 2:41PM ttys000 0:08.54 cockroach start --insecure --store=node2 --listen-addr=localhost:26258 --http-addr=localhost:8081 --join=localhost:26257,localhost:26258,localhost:26259 501 4503 1 0 2:41PM ttys000 0:08.54 cockroach start --insecure --store=node3 --listen-addr=localhost:26259 --http-addr=localhost:8082 --join=localhost:26257,localhost:26258,localhost:26259 ``` Gracefully shut down `node3`, specifying its process ID: ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} kill -TERM 4503 ``` 2. In the DB Console, despite one node being "suspect", notice the continued SQL traffic: DB Console 3. Go to the terminal window for `node3` and restart it: ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} $ cockroach start \ --insecure \ --store=node3 \ --listen-addr=localhost:26259 \ --http-addr=localhost:8082 \ --join=localhost:26257,localhost:26258,localhost:26259 ``` ## Step 6. Scale the cluster Adding capacity is as simple as starting more nodes with `cockroach start`. 1. In new terminal windows, start two more nodes: ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} $ cockroach start \ --insecure \ --store=node4 \ --listen-addr=localhost:26260 \ --http-addr=localhost:8083 \ --join=localhost:26257,localhost:26258,localhost:26259 ``` ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} $ cockroach start \ --insecure \ --store=node5 \ --listen-addr=localhost:26261 \ --http-addr=localhost:8084 \ --join=localhost:26257,localhost:26258,localhost:26259 ``` Again, these commands are the same as before but with unique `--store`, `--listen-addr`, and `--http-addr` flags. 2. In the DB Console **Cluster Overview** page, confirm that the cluster now has five nodes. DB Console At first, the replica count will be lower for `node4` and `node5`. Very soon, however, you'll see those numbers even out across all nodes, indicating that data is being automatically rebalanced to utilize the additional capacity of the new nodes. ## Step 7. Stop the cluster 1. When you're done with your test cluster, stop the nodes. Get the process IDs of the nodes: ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} ps -ef | grep cockroach | grep -v grep ``` ``` 501 4482 1 0 2:41PM ttys000 0:09.78 cockroach start --insecure --store=node1 --listen-addr=localhost:26257 --http-addr=localhost:8080 --join=localhost:26257,localhost:26258,localhost:26259 501 4497 1 0 2:41PM ttys000 0:08.54 cockroach start --insecure --store=node2 --listen-addr=localhost:26258 --http-addr=localhost:8081 --join=localhost:26257,localhost:26258,localhost:26259 501 4503 1 0 2:41PM ttys000 0:08.54 cockroach start --insecure --store=node3 --listen-addr=localhost:26259 --http-addr=localhost:8082 --join=localhost:26257,localhost:26258,localhost:26259 501 4510 1 0 2:42PM ttys000 0:08.46 cockroach start --insecure --store=node4 --listen-addr=localhost:26260 --http-addr=localhost:8083 --join=localhost:26257,localhost:26258,localhost:26259 501 4622 1 0 2:43PM ttys000 0:02.51 cockroach start --insecure --store=node5 --listen-addr=localhost:26261 --http-addr=localhost:8084 --join=localhost:26257,localhost:26258,localhost:26259 ``` Gracefully shut down each node by sending the `SIGTERM` signal to the `cockroach` process: ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} kill -TERM 4482 ``` Repeat this command for each node. For `node4` and `node5`, the shutdown process will take longer (about a minute each) and will eventually force the nodes to stop. Because only two of the five nodes are now running, the cluster has lost quorum and is no longer operational. 1. To restart the cluster at a later time, run the same `cockroach start` commands as earlier from the directory containing the nodes' data stores. 2. If you do not plan to restart the cluster, you may want to remove the nodes' data stores: ```shell theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}} $ rm -rf node1 node2 node3 node4 node5 ``` ## What's next? * [Create a CockroachDB Cloud account](https://cockroachlabs.cloud/signup?experience=enterprise) where you can generate and manage licenses for CockroachDB installations * Install the client driver for your preferred language * Learn more about CockroachDB SQL and the built-in SQL client * Further explore CockroachDB capabilities like fault tolerance and automated repair, multi-region performance, serializable transactions, and JSON support