Documentation

InfluxDB 3 Core

influxdb3 serve

The influxdb3 serve command starts the InfluxDB 3 Core server.

Usage

influxdb3 serve [OPTIONS]

Required Parameters

  • node-id: A unique identifier for your server instance. Must be unique for any hosts sharing the same object store.
  • object-store: Determines where time series data is stored.
  • Other object store parameters depending on the selected object-store type.

--node-id supports alphanumeric strings with optional hyphens.

Global configuration options

Some configuration options (like --num-io-threads) are global and must be specified before the serve command:

influxdb3 --num-io-threads=8 serve --node-id=node0 --object-store=file --verbose

See Global configuration options for the complete list.

Options

OptionDescription
*--node-idSee configuration options
*--object-storeSee configuration options
--admin-token-recovery-http-bindSee configuration options
--admin-token-recovery-tcp-listener-file-pathSee configuration options
--admin-token-fileSee configuration options
--aws-access-key-idSee configuration options
--aws-allow-httpSee configuration options
--aws-credentials-fileSee configuration options
--aws-default-regionSee configuration options
--aws-endpointSee configuration options
--aws-secret-access-keySee configuration options
--aws-session-tokenSee configuration options
--aws-skip-signatureSee configuration options
--azure-allow-httpSee configuration options
--azure-endpointSee configuration options
--azure-storage-access-keySee configuration options
--azure-storage-accountSee configuration options
--bucketSee configuration options
--data-dirSee configuration options
--datafusion-configSee configuration options
--datafusion-max-parquet-fanoutSee configuration options
--datafusion-num-threadsSee configuration options
--datafusion-runtime-disable-lifo-slotDevelopment-only Tokio runtime configuration
--datafusion-runtime-event-intervalDevelopment-only Tokio runtime configuration
--datafusion-runtime-global-queue-intervalDevelopment-only Tokio runtime configuration
--datafusion-runtime-max-blocking-threadsDevelopment-only Tokio runtime configuration
--datafusion-runtime-max-io-events-per-tickDevelopment-only Tokio runtime configuration
--datafusion-runtime-thread-keep-aliveDevelopment-only Tokio runtime configuration
--datafusion-runtime-thread-priorityDevelopment-only Tokio runtime configuration
--datafusion-runtime-typeDevelopment-only Tokio runtime configuration
--datafusion-use-cached-parquet-loaderSee configuration options
--delete-grace-periodSee configuration options
--disable-authzSee configuration options
--disable-parquet-mem-cacheSee configuration options
--distinct-cache-eviction-intervalSee configuration options
--exec-mem-pool-bytesSee configuration options
--force-snapshot-mem-thresholdSee configuration options
--gen1-durationSee configuration options
--gen1-lookback-durationSee configuration options
--google-service-accountSee configuration options
--hard-delete-default-durationSee configuration options
-h--helpPrint help information
--help-allPrint detailed help information
--http-bindSee configuration options
--last-cache-eviction-intervalSee configuration options
--log-destinationSee configuration options
--log-filterSee configuration options
--log-formatSee configuration options
--max-http-request-sizeSee configuration options
--object-store-cache-endpointSee configuration options
--object-store-connection-limitSee configuration options
--object-store-http2-max-frame-sizeSee configuration options
--object-store-http2-onlySee configuration options
--object-store-max-retriesSee configuration options
--object-store-retry-timeoutSee configuration options
--package-managerSee configuration options
--parquet-mem-cache-prune-intervalSee configuration options
--parquet-mem-cache-prune-percentageSee configuration options
--parquet-mem-cache-query-path-durationSee configuration options
--parquet-mem-cache-sizeSee configuration options
--plugin-dirSee configuration options
--preemptive-cache-ageSee configuration options
--query-file-limitSee configuration options
--query-log-sizeSee configuration options
--retention-check-intervalSee configuration options
--snapshotted-wal-files-to-keepSee configuration options
--table-index-cache-concurrency-limitSee configuration options
--table-index-cache-max-entriesSee configuration options
--tcp-listener-file-pathSee configuration options
--telemetry-disable-uploadSee configuration options
--telemetry-endpointSee configuration options
--tls-certSee configuration options
--tls-keySee configuration options
--tls-minimum-versionSee configuration options
--traces-exporterSee configuration options
--traces-exporter-jaeger-agent-hostSee configuration options
--traces-exporter-jaeger-agent-portSee configuration options
--traces-exporter-jaeger-service-nameSee configuration options
--traces-exporter-jaeger-trace-context-header-nameSee configuration options
--traces-jaeger-debug-nameSee configuration options
--traces-jaeger-max-msgs-per-secondSee configuration options
--traces-jaeger-tagsSee configuration options
--virtual-env-locationSee configuration options
--wal-flush-intervalSee configuration options
--wal-max-write-buffer-sizeSee configuration options
--wal-replay-concurrency-limitSee configuration options
--wal-replay-fail-on-errorSee configuration options
--wal-snapshot-sizeSee configuration options
--without-authSee configuration options

Option environment variables

You can use environment variables to define most influxdb3 serve options. For more information, see Configuration options.

Quick-Start Mode

For development, testing, and home use, you can start InfluxDB 3 Core by running influxdb3 without the serve subcommand or any configuration parameters. The system automatically generates required values:

  • node-id: {hostname}-node (fallback: primary-node)
  • object-store: file
  • data-dir: ~/.influxdb

The system displays warning messages showing the auto-generated identifiers:

Using auto-generated node id: mylaptop-node. For production deployments, explicitly set --node-id

Quick-start examples

# Zero-config startup
influxdb3

# Override specific defaults
influxdb3 --object-store memory

# Use environment variables to override defaults
INFLUXDB3_NODE_IDENTIFIER_PREFIX=my-node influxdb3

Production deployments

Quick-start mode is designed for development and testing environments. For production deployments, use explicit configuration with the serve subcommand and specify all required parameters as shown in the Examples below.

Configuration precedence: CLI flags > environment variables > auto-generated defaults

For more information about quick-start mode, see Get started.

Examples

In the examples below, replace my-host-01: with a unique string that identifies your InfluxDB 3 Core server.

Run the InfluxDB 3 server

influxdb3 serve \
  --object-store file \
  --data-dir ~/.influxdb3 \
  --node-id 
my-host-01

Run the InfluxDB 3 server with extra verbose logging

influxdb3 serve \
  --object-store file \
  --data-dir ~/.influxdb3 \
  --node-id 
my-host-01

  --verbose

Run InfluxDB 3 with debug logging using LOG_FILTER

LOG_FILTER=debug influxdb3 serve \
  --object-store file \
  --data-dir ~/.influxdb3 \
  --node-id 
my-host-01

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

  • Error: “Failed to connect to object store”
    Verify your --object-store setting and ensure all required parameters for that storage type are provided.

  • Permission errors when using S3, Google Cloud, or Azure storage
    Check that your authentication credentials are correct and have sufficient permissions.

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