--- title: Install InfluxDB Enterprise v1 meta nodes description: InfluxDB Enterprise offers highly scalable clusters on your infrastructure and a management UI (via Chronograf) for working with clusters. The installation process is designed for users looking to deploy InfluxDB Enterprise in a production environment. The following steps will get you up and running with the first essential component of your InfluxDB Enterprise cluster–meta nodes. Meta node setup and requirements At least three meta nodes License key or file Networking User account Set up meta n url: https://docs.influxdata.com/enterprise_influxdb/v1/introduction/installation/meta_node_installation/ estimated_tokens: 4976 product: InfluxDB Enterprise v1 version: v1 --- # Install InfluxDB Enterprise v1 meta nodes InfluxDB Enterprise offers highly scalable clusters on your infrastructure and a management UI ([via Chronograf](/chronograf/v1)) for working with clusters. The installation process is designed for users looking to deploy InfluxDB Enterprise in a production environment. The following steps will get you up and running with the first essential component of your InfluxDB Enterprise cluster–meta nodes. - [Meta node setup and requirements](#meta-node-setup-and-requirements) - [At least three meta nodes](#at-least-three-meta-nodes) - [License key or file](#license-key-or-file) - [Networking](#networking) - [User account](#user-account) - [Set up meta nodes](#set-up-meta-nodes): 1. [Add DNS entries](#add-dns-entries) 2. [Set up, configure, and start the meta services](#set-up-configure-and-start-the-meta-services) 1. [Download and install the meta service](#download-and-install-the-meta-service) 2. [Edit the configuration file](#edit-the-configuration-file) 3. [Start the meta service](#start-the-meta-service) 3. [Join meta nodes to the cluster](#join-meta-nodes-to-the-cluster) ## Meta node setup and requirements - [At least three meta nodes](#at-least-three-meta-nodes) - [License key or file](#license-key-or-file) - [Networking](#networking) - [User account](#user-account) ### At least three meta nodes The installation process sets up three [meta nodes](/enterprise_influxdb/v1/concepts/glossary/#meta-node), with each meta node running on its own server. InfluxDB Enterprise clusters require an *odd number* of *at least three* meta nodes for high availability and redundancy. We typically recommend three meta nodes. If your servers have chronic communication or reliability issues, you can try adding nodes. #### Run meta nodes on separate servers Avoid deploying multiple meta nodes on the same server. Doing so increases the risk of failure if the server becomes unresponsive. InfluxData recommends deploying meta nodes on separate, low-resource servers to minimize risks and optimize performance. #### Using a single meta node for non-production environments Installing and running InfluxDB Enterprise on a single server, or node, is an alternative to using [InfluxDB OSS 1.x](/influxdb/v1). To start a InfluxDB Enterprise v1 cluster with a single meta node, pass the `-single-server flag` when starting the node. *A cluster with only one meta node is **not** recommended for production environments.* For more information, see how to [install InfluxDB Enterprise on a single server](/enterprise_influxdb/v1/introduction/installation/single-server/). *See [Clustering in InfluxDB Enterprise](/enterprise_influxdb/v1/concepts/clustering/) for more information about cluster architecture.* ### License key or file InfluxDB Enterprise requires a license key *or* a license file to run. Your license key is available at [InfluxPortal](https://portal.influxdata.com/licenses). Contact support at the email we provided at signup to receive a license file. License files are required only if the nodes in your cluster cannot reach `portal.influxdata.com` on port `80` or `443`. ### Networking Meta nodes communicate over ports `8088`, `8089`, and `8091`. For licensing purposes, meta nodes must also be able to reach `portal.influxdata.com` on port `80` or `443`. If the meta nodes cannot reach `portal.influxdata.com` on port `80` or `443`, you’ll need to set the `license-path` setting instead of the `license-key` setting in the meta node configuration file. ### User account The installation package creates an `influxdb` user on the operating system. The `influxdb` user runs the InfluxDB meta service. The `influxdb` user also owns certain files needed to start the service. In some cases, local policies may prevent the local user account from being created and the service fails to start. Contact your systems administrator for assistance with this requirement. ## Set up meta nodes 1. [Add DNS entries](#add-dns-entries) 2. [Set up, configure, and start the meta services](#set-up-configure-and-start-the-meta-services) 1. [Download and install the meta service](#download-and-install-the-meta-service) 2. [Edit the configuration file](#edit-the-configuration-file) 3. [Start the meta service](#start-the-meta-service) 3. [Join meta nodes to the cluster](#join-meta-nodes-to-the-cluster) ### Add DNS entries Ensure that your servers’ hostnames and IP addresses are added to your network’s DNS environment. The addition of DNS entries and IP assignment is usually site and policy specific. Contact your DNS administrator for assistance as necessary. Ultimately, use entries similar to the following (hostnames and domain IP addresses are representative). | Record Type | Hostname | IP | | --- | --- | --- | | A | enterprise-meta-01.mydomain.com | | | A | enterprise-meta-02.mydomain.com | | | A | enterprise-meta-03.mydomain.com | | #### Verify DNS resolution Before proceeding with the installation, verify on each server that the other servers are resolvable. Here is an example set of shell commands using `ping`: ``` ping -qc 1 enterprise-meta-01 ping -qc 1 enterprise-meta-02 ping -qc 1 enterprise-meta-03 ``` We highly recommend that each server be able to resolve the IP from the hostname alone as shown here. Resolve any connectivity issues before proceeding with the installation. A healthy cluster requires that every meta node can communicate with every other meta node. ### Set up, configure, and start the meta services Perform the following steps *on each meta server*: 1. [Download and install the meta service](#download-and-install-the-meta-service) 2. [Edit the configuration file](#edit-the-configuration-file) 3. [Start the meta service](#start-the-meta-service) #### Download and install the meta service InfluxDB Enterprise 1.11+ provides a standard build and a [Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS)-compliant build](/enterprise_influxdb/v1/introduction/installation/fips-compliant/). Instructions for both are provided below. ##### Ubuntu & Debian (64-bit) **Standard:** ```sh wget https://dl.influxdata.com/enterprise/releases/influxdb-meta_1.12.4-c1.12.4_amd64.deb sudo dpkg -i influxdb-meta_1.12.4-c1.12.4_amd64.deb ``` **FIPS-compliant:** ```sh wget https://dl.influxdata.com/enterprise/releases/fips/influxdb-meta_1.12.4-c1.12.4_amd64.deb sudo dpkg -i influxdb-meta_1.12.4-c1.12.4_amd64.deb ``` ##### RedHat & CentOS (64-bit) **Standard:** ```sh wget https://dl.influxdata.com/enterprise/releases/influxdb-meta-1.12.4-c1.12.4.x86_64.rpm sudo yum localinstall influxdb-meta-1.12.4-c1.12.4.x86_64.rpm ``` **FIPS-compliant:** ```sh wget https://dl.influxdata.com/enterprise/releases/fips/influxdb-meta-1.12.4-c1.12.4.x86_64.rpm sudo yum localinstall influxdb-meta-1.12.4-c1.12.4.x86_64.rpm ``` [](#recommended-verify-the-authenticity-of-the-release-download) Recommended: Verify the authenticity of the release download For added security, follow these steps to verify the signature of your InfluxDB download with `gpg`. 1. Download and import InfluxData’s public key: ```sh curl -s https://repos.influxdata.com/influxdata-archive.key | gpg --import ``` 2. Download the signature file for the release by adding `.asc` to the download URL. For example: **Standard:** ```sh wget https://dl.influxdata.com/enterprise/releases/influxdb-meta-1.12.4-c1.12.4.x86_64.rpm.asc ``` **FIPS-compliant:** ```sh wget https://dl.influxdata.com/enterprise/releases/fips/influxdb-meta-1.12.4-c1.12.4.x86_64.rpm.asc ``` 3. Verify the signature with `gpg --verify`: ```sh gpg --verify influxdb-meta-1.12.4-c1.12.4.x86_64.rpm.asc influxdb-meta-1.12.4-c1.12.4.x86_64.rpm ``` The output from this command should include the following: ```sh gpg: Good signature from "InfluxData Package Signing Key " [unknown] ``` #### Edit the configuration file In `/etc/influxdb/influxdb-meta.conf`: - Uncomment `hostname` and set to the full hostname of the meta node. - Uncomment `internal-shared-secret` in the `[meta]` section and set it to a long pass phrase to be used in JWT authentication for intra-node communication. This value must the same for all of your meta nodes and match the `[meta] meta-internal-shared-secret` settings in the configuration files of your data nodes. - Set `license-key` in the `[enterprise]` section to the license key you received on InfluxPortal **OR** `license-path` in the `[enterprise]` section to the local path to the JSON license file you received from InfluxData. The `license-key` and `license-path` settings are mutually exclusive and one must remain set to the empty string. **If using a FIPS-compliant InfluxDB Enterprise build, also do the following**: - Set `[enterprise].license-path` to the local path to the JSON license file you received from InfluxData. - Set `[meta].password-hash` to `pbkdf2-sha256` or `pbkdf2-sha512`. ```toml # Hostname advertised by this host for remote addresses. This must be resolvable by all # other nodes in the cluster hostname="" [enterprise] # license-key and license-path are mutually exclusive, use only one and leave the other blank license-key = "" # Mutually exclusive with license-path # license-key and license-path are mutually exclusive, use only one and leave the other blank license-path = "/path/to/readable/JSON.license.file" # Mutually exclusive with license-key [meta] # FIPS-compliant builds do not support bcrypt for password hashing password-hash = "pbkdf2-sha512" ``` #### Start the meta service **sysvinit:** ```sh service influxdb-meta start ``` **systemd:** ```sh sudo systemctl start influxdb-meta ``` [](#optional-verify-the-influxdb-meta-service-is-running) Optional: Verify the `influxdb-meta` service is running Run the following command to search for a running `influxdb-meta` process: ``` ps aux | grep -v grep | grep influxdb-meta ``` The output is similar to the following: ``` influxdb 3207 0.8 4.4 483000 22168 ? Ssl 17:05 0:08 /usr/bin/influxd-meta -config /etc/influxdb/influxdb-meta.conf ``` ### Join meta nodes to the cluster From one and only one meta node, join all meta nodes including itself. For example, from `enterprise-meta-01`, run: ``` influxd-ctl add-meta enterprise-meta-01:8091 influxd-ctl add-meta enterprise-meta-02:8091 influxd-ctl add-meta enterprise-meta-03:8091 ``` Make sure that you specify the fully qualified host name of the meta node during the join process. Please do not specify `localhost` as this can cause cluster connection issues. [](#optional-verify-the-meta-nodes-are-added-to-the-cluster) Optional: Verify the meta nodes are added to the cluster To verify the meta nodes are added to the cluster, run the following command on any meta node: ``` influxd-ctl show ``` The expected output is: ``` Data Nodes ========== ID TCP Address Version Meta Nodes ========== TCP Address Version enterprise-meta-01:8091 1.12.4-c1.12.4 enterprise-meta-02:8091 1.12.4-c1.12.4 enterprise-meta-03:8091 1.12.4-c1.12.4 ``` *Your cluster must have at least three meta nodes. If you do not see your meta nodes in the output, retry adding them to the cluster.* ## Docker installation For Docker-based installations, see [Install and run InfluxDB v1 Enterprise with Docker](/enterprise_influxdb/v1/introduction/installation/docker/) for complete instructions on setting up meta nodes using Docker images. After your meta nodes are part of your cluster, [install data nodes](/enterprise_influxdb/v1/introduction/installation/data_node_installation/). [Install data nodes](/enterprise_influxdb/v1/introduction/installation/data_node_installation/)