Install Rudder server on RHEL or CentOS

If you are working on a test system, you can use the quick install script:

curl https://repository.rudder.io/tools/rudder-setup | bash -s setup-server 8.1

That will automatically execute the installation, and you can go directly to the Initial configuration section below.

Before installation

Before all, you need to set up a server according to the server specifications. You should also configure the network.

As Rudder data can grow really fast depending on your number of managed nodes and number of rules, it is advised to separate partitions to prevent /var getting full and break your system.

Installation

Each official package is signed with our GPG signature. To ensure the packages you will install are official builds and have not been altered, import our key into rpm using the following command:

rpm --import https://repository.rudder.io/rpm/rudder_rpm_key.pub

Our key fingerprint is:

pub  1024R/6F07D355 2012-11-09 Rudder Project (RPM release key) <security@rudder-project.org>
      Key fingerprint = 1141 A947 CDA0 4E83 82C1  B9C4 ADAB 3BD3 6F07 D355

Rudder 8.0 requires PostgreSQL 13 or newer, but on RHEL 8 (and derivatives), the version present by default in the system repositories is PostgreSQL 10.

Before installing or upgrading to 8.0, you need to install a compatible PostgreSQL version on your server. You can do so it two ways:

By enabling the AppStream module:

yum module enable postgresql:13

By installing PostgreSQL from the upstream official repository, following these instructions.

Add a yum repository for Rudder (replace VERSION with RHEL version):

echo '[Rudder_8.1]
name=Rudder 8.1
baseurl=http://repository.rudder.io/rpm/8.1/RHEL_<VERSION>/
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://repository.rudder.io/rpm/rudder_rpm_key.pub' > /etc/yum.repos.d/rudder.repo

If you have an active subscription, use the following to get access to long term support (you need to replace the VERSION, username and the password by your Rudder account):

echo '[Rudder_8.1]
name=Rudder 8.1
username=LOGIN
password=PASSWORD
baseurl=http://download.rudder.io/rpm/8.1/RHEL_<VERSION>/
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://download.rudder.io/rpm/rudder_rpm_key.pub' > /etc/yum.repos.d/rudder.repo

Or for RHEL/CentOS < 7 (replace VERSION with RHEL version):

echo '[Rudder_8.1]
name=Rudder 8.1
baseurl=https://LOGIN:PASSWORD@download.rudder.io/rpm/8.1/RHEL_<VERSION>/
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://LOGIN:PASSWORD@download.rudder.io/rpm/rudder_rpm_key.pub' > /etc/yum.repos.d/rudder.repo

To begin the installation, you should simply install the rudder-server metapackage, which will install the required components:

yum install rudder-server

On Red Hat-like systems, a firewall setup is enabled by default, and would need to be adjusted for Rudder to operate properly. You have to allow all the flows described in the network section.

On EL7, the default firewall is firewalld, and you can enable HTTPS access by running

firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-port=443/tcp

Initial configuration

User account

Now the installation is complete you need to create a first user account. The easiest way is to use the dedicated command to create a local admin user:

# Replace USERNAME by the user you want to create
rudder server create-user -u USERNAME

It will ask you a password twice and will create the user.

Read more about user account options in the dedicated section.

First connection

Once all these steps have been completed, use your web browser to go to the server URL. Use your first user credentials to connect.

Now you should go to Settings → General → Allowed Networks and check that the networks listed there properly include all your nodes network addresses. By default, this will contain your server’s attached networks.

The setup of the Rudder server is now over. If you plan to manage hundreds or thousands of nodes, please note that some performance tuning can be necessary on the system.

← on Debian/Ubuntu on Amazon Linux →