OpenText Analytics Database 26.2.x – Install Vertica using the command line

Setup: Download and install the Vertica server package

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

To download and install the Vertica server package:

Use a Web browser to go to the Vertica website.
Click the Support tab and select Customer Downloads.
Log into the portal to download the install package.
Be sure the package you download matches the operating system and the machine architecture on which you intend to install it.
Transfer the installation package to the Administration host.
If you installed a previous version of Vertica on any of the hosts in the cluster, use the Administration tools to shut down any running database.

The database must stop normally; you cannot upgrade a database that requires recovery.
If you are using sudo, skip to the next step. If you are root, log in to the Administration Host as root (or log in as another user and switch to root).
```
$ su - root
password: root-password
#
```
Caution
When installing Vertica using an existing user as the dba, you must exit all UNIX terminal sessions for that user after setup completes and log in again to ensure that group privileges are applied correctly.

After Vertica is installed, you no longer need root privileges. To verify sudo, see Platform and hardware requirements and recommendations.
Use one of the following commands to run the RPM package installer:
- If you are root and installing an RPM:
```
# rpm -Uvh pathname
```
  Note
  
  When installing a Vertica RPM, you might see an unexpected warning about a SHA256 signature. This warning indicates that you need to import a GPG key. Only necessary for versions after 10.0, keys can be downloaded under the Security section of your chosen release from the Vertica Client Drivers page. After downloading the key, you can import it with the following command:
  
  # rpm --import RPM-GPG-KEY-VERTICA
- If you are using sudo and installing an RPM:
```
$ sudo rpm -Uvh pathname
```
- If you are using Debian:
```
$ sudo dpkg -i pathname
```
where pathname is the Vertica package file you downloaded.

Note
If the package installer reports multiple dependency problems, or you receive the error "ERROR: You're attempting to install the wrong RPM for this operating system", then you are trying to install the wrong Vertica server package.

After you install the Vertica RPM, you can use several Validation scripts to help determine if your hosts and network can properly handle the processing and network traffic required by Vertica.

Setup: Linux users created by Vertica

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

This topic describes the Linux accounts that the installer creates and configures so Vertica can run. When you install Vertica, the installation script optionally creates the following Linux user and group:

dbadmin—Administrative user
verticadba—Group for DBA users

dbadmin and verticadba are the default names. If you want to change what these Linux accounts are called, you can do so using the installation script. See Install Vertica with the installation script for details.

Dbadmin privileges

The Linux dbadmin user owns the database catalog and data storage on disk. When you run the install script, Vertica creates this user on each node in the database cluster. It also adds dbadmin to the Linux dbadmin and verticadba groups, and configures the account as follows:

Configures and authorizes dbadmin for passwordless SSH between all cluster nodes. SSH must be installed and configured to allow passwordless logins. See Enable secure shell (SSH) logins.
Sets the dbadmin user's BASH shell to /bin/bash, required to run scripts, such as install_vertica and the Administration tools.
Provides read-write-execute permissions on the following directories:
- /opt/vertica/*
- /home/dbadmin—the default directory for database data and catalog files (configurable through the install script)

Note

The Vertica installation script also creates a Vertica database superuser named dbadmin. They share the same name, but they are not the same; one is a Linux user and the other is a Vertica user. See Database administration user for information about the database superuser.

After you install Vertica

Root or sudo privileges are not required to start or run Vertica after the installation process completes.

The dbadmin user can log in and perform Vertica tasks, such as creating a database, installing/changing the license key, or installing drivers. If dbadmin wants database directories in a location that differs from the default, the root user (or a user with sudo privileges) must create the requested directories and change ownership to the dbadmin user.

Vertica prevents administration from users other than the dbadmin user (or the user name you specified during the installation process if not dbadmin). Only this user can run Administration Tools.

Setup: Validation scripts

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Vertica provides several validation utilities that can be used prior to deploying Vertica to help determine if your hosts and network can properly handle the processing and network traffic required by Vertica. These utilities can also be used if you are encountering performance issues and need to troubleshoot the issue.

After you install the Vertica RPM, you have access to the following scripts in /opt/vertica/bin:

Vcpuperf - a CPU performance test used to verify your CPU performance.
Vioperf - an Input/Output test used to verify the speed and consistency of your hard drives.
Vnetperf - a Network test used to test the latency and throughput of your network between hosts.

These utilities can be run at any time, but are well suited to use before running the install_vertica script.

Setup: Install Vertica with the installation script

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

You can run the installation script after you install the Vertica package. The installation script runs on a single node, using a Bash shell. The script copies the Vertica package to all other hosts (identified by the --hosts argument) in your planned cluster.

Tip

To speed up the installation, you can provide a local copy of the RPM to each node in the cluster before running the install script. This allows the installer to bypass the time-consuming process of copying the RPM to the nodes. For details, see --no-rpm-copy.

The installation script runs several tests on each of the target hosts to verify that the hosts meet system and performance requirements for a Vertica node. The installation script modifies some operating system configuration settings to meet these requirements. Other settings cannot be modified by the installation script and must be manually reconfigured. For details on operating system configuration settings, see Manually configured operating system settings and Automatically configured operating system settings.

Note

The installation script sets up passwordless ssh for the admin user across all hosts. If passwordless ssh is already set up, the installation script verifies that it functions correctly.

Setup: Install Vertica silently

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

This section describes how to create a properties file that lets you install and deploy Vertica-based applications quickly and without much manual intervention.

Note

The procedure assumes that you have already performed the tasks in Before you install Vertica.

Install the properties file:

Download and install the Vertica install package, as described in Download and install the Vertica server package.

Create the properties file that enables non-interactive setup by supplying the parameters you want Vertica to use. For example:

The following command assumes a multi-node setup:

# /opt/vertica/sbin/install_vertica --record-config file_name --license /tmp/license.txt --accept-eula \
# --dba-user-password password --ssh-password password --hosts host_list --rpm package_name

The following command assumes a single-node setup:

# /opt/vertica/sbin/install_vertica --record-config file_name --license /tmp/license.txt --accept-eula \
# --dba-user-password password

Option	Description
`--record-file file_name`	[Required] Accepts a file name, which when used in conjunction with command line options, creates a properties file that can be used with the `--config-file` option during setup. This flag creates the properties file and exits; it has no impact on installation.
`--license {` `license_file``}`	Silently and automatically deploys the license key to /opt/vertica/config/share. On multi-node installations, the `–-license` option also applies the license to all nodes declared in the `--hosts` `host_list`.
`--accept-eula`	Silently accepts the EULA agreement during setup.
`--dba-user-password` `password`	The password for the Database Superuser account; if not supplied, the script prompts for the password and does not echo the input.
`--ssh-password` `password`	The root password to use by default for each cluster host; if not supplied, the script prompts for the password if and when necessary and does not echo the input.
`--hosts` `host_list`	A comma-separated list of hostnames or IP addresses to include in the cluster; do not include space characters in the list. Examples: `--hosts host01,host02,host03 --hosts 192.168.233.101,192.168.233.102,192.168.233.103`
`--rpm` `package_name` `--deb` `package_name`	The name of the RPM or Debian package that contained this script. For example: `--rpm vertica-<span class="code-variable">version</span>.RHEL8.x86_64.rpm` This parameter is required on multi-node installations if the RPM or DEB package is not already installed on the other hosts.

See install_vertica options for the complete set of installation parameters.

Tip

Supply the parameters to the properties file once only. You can then install Vertica using just the --config-file parameter, as described below.

Use one of the following commands to run the installation script.
- If you are root:
```
/opt/vertica/sbin/install_vertica --config-file file_name
```
- If you are using sudo:
```
$ sudo /opt/vertica/sbin/install_vertica --config-file file_name
```
--config-file file_name accepts an existing properties file created by --record-config file_name. This properties file contains key/value parameters that map to values in the install_vertica script, many with boolean arguments that default to false

The command for a single-node install might look like this:
```
# /opt/vertica/sbin/install_vertica --config-file /tmp/vertica-inst.prp
```
If you did not supply a --ssh-password password parameter to the properties file, you are prompted to provide the requested password to allow installation of the RPM/DEB and system configuration of the other cluster nodes. If you are root, this is the root password. If you are using sudo, this is the sudo user password. The password does not echo on the command line.

Note
If you are root on a single-node installation, you are not prompted for a password.
If you did not supply a --dba-user-password password parameter to the properties file, you are prompted to provide the database administrator account password.

The installation script creates a new Linux user account (dbadmin by default) with the password that you provide.
Carefully examine any warnings produced by install_vertica and correct the problems if possible. For example, insufficient RAM, insufficient Network throughput and too high readahead settings on file system could cause performance problems later on.

Note
You can redirect any warning outputs to a separate file, instead of having them display on the system. Use your platforms standard redirected mechanisms. For example: install_vertica [options] > /tmp/file 1>&2.
Optionally perform the following steps:
- Install the ODBC and JDBC driver.
- Install vsql Client Application on Non-Cluster Hosts.
Disconnect from the Administration Host as instructed by the script. This is required to:
- Set certain system parameters correctly.
- Function as the Vertica database administrator.

At this point, Linux root privileges are no longer needed. The database administrator can perform the remaining steps.

Note

When creating a new database, the database administrator might want to use different data or catalog locations than those created by the installation script. In that case, a Linux administrator might need to create those directories and change their ownership to the database administrator.

If you supplied the --license and --accept-eula parameters to the properties file, then proceed to Getting started and then see Configuring the database.

Otherwise:

Log in to the Database Superuser account on the administration host.
Accept the End User License Agreement and install the license key you downloaded previously as described in Install the License Key.
Proceed to Getting started and then see Configuring the database.

Notes

Downgrade installations are not supported.
The following is an example of the contents of the configuration properties file:

accept_eula = True
license_file = /tmp/license.txt
record_to = file_name
root_password = password
vertica_dba_group = verticadba
vertica_dba_user = dbadmin
vertica_dba_user_password = password

Setup: Enable secure shell (SSH) logins

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The administrative account must be able to use Secure Shell (SSH) to log in (ssh) to all hosts without specifying a password. The shell script install_vertica does this automatically. This section describes how to do it manually if necessary.

If you do not already have SSH installed on all hosts, log in as root on each host and install it now. You can download a free version of the SSH connectivity tools from OpenSSH.
Log in to the Vertica administrator account (dbadmin in this example).

Make your home directory (~) writable only by yourself. Choose one of:

$ chmod 700 ~

$ chmod 755 ~

where:

700 includes	755 includes
400 read by owner 200 write by owner 100 execute by owner	400 read by owner 200 write by owner 100 execute by owner 040 read by group 010 execute by group 004 read by anybody (other) 001 execute by anybody

700 includes

755 includes

400 read by owner

200 write by owner

100 execute by owner

400 read by owner

200 write by owner

100 execute by owner

040 read by group

010 execute by group

004 read by anybody (other)

001 execute by anybody

Change to your home directory:
```
$ cd ~
```

Generate a private key/ public key pair:

$ ssh-keygen -t rsa
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/home/dbadmin/.ssh/id_rsa):
Created directory '/home/dbadmin/.ssh'.
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in /home/dbadmin/.ssh/id_rsa.
Your public key has been saved in /home/dbadmin/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.

Make your .ssh directory readable and writable only by yourself:
```
$ chmod 700 ~/.ssh
```
Change to the .ssh directory:
```
$ cd ~/.ssh
```
Copy the file id_rsa.pub onto the file authorized_keys2.
```
$ cp id_rsa.pub authorized_keys2
```
Make the files in your .ssh directory readable and writable only by yourself:
```
$ chmod 600 ~/.ssh/*
```
For each cluster host:
```
$ scp -r ~/.ssh <host>:.
```
Connect to each cluster host. The first time you ssh to a new remote machine, you could get a message similar to the following:
```
$ ssh dev0 Warning: Permanently added 'dev0,192.168.1.92' (RSA) to the list of known hosts.
```
This message appears only the first time you ssh to a particular remote host.

OpenText Analytics Database 26.2.x – Install Vertica using the command line

Setup: Download and install the Vertica server package

Caution

Note

Note

Setup: Linux users created by Vertica

Dbadmin privileges

Note

After you install Vertica

See also

Setup: Validation scripts

Setup: Install Vertica with the installation script

Tip

Note

Setup: Install Vertica silently

Note

Tip

Note

Note

Note

Notes

Setup: Enable secure shell (SSH) logins

See also