Installing the Server

RadixDB can run inside an application or as the separate radixdb-server process. This chapter installs the TCP server from a source checkout. The supported service layout is a verified release bundle under /opt/radixdb; copying one executable without its configuration, lifecycle scripts and provenance record is not the same installation.

Verified platform

The 1.2 procedure was executed on Fedora Linux 44, x86-64, with the GNU ABI and Rust 1.97.0 selected by rust-toolchain.toml. The resulting binaries target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu and dynamically use glibc, libm and libgcc_s.

The source is portable Rust, but that does not make every operating system or processor a verified server platform. Another target needs its own build, filesystem, signal, recovery and service-manager checks. The supplied installer and unit are specifically for a systemd-based Linux host.

Install these build and packaging prerequisites:

Purpose	Required tool
Compile	Rust 1.97.0 with Cargo, a C compiler and linker
Resolve dependencies	Network access to the Cargo registry, or a populated cache
Split and inspect symbols	GNU objcopy and readelf
Verify the bundle	sha256sum
Install the service	install, sed, getent, groupadd, useradd and systemd

Build the release programs

Run the build at the source revision selected for deployment. --locked prevents Cargo from silently changing dependency resolution.

cargo build --locked --release \
  --bin radixdb-server \
  --bin radixdb-password \
  --bin radixdb-cli \
  --bin radixdb-smoke-client \
  --features cli

Inspect all four identities before packaging:

./target/release/radixdb-server --version
./target/release/radixdb-password --version
./target/release/radixdb-cli --version
./target/release/radixdb-smoke-client --version

The Git revision, profile, target and Cargo lock digest must agree. The source baseline used for this 1.2 manual currently prints package version 1.1.0; the full revision and protocol identify the exact checked artifact.

radixdb-server 1.1.0 git=<40-hex-revision> protocol=17 profile=release target=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu lock=<64-hex-sha256>

Do not deploy an identity ending in -dirty unless that uncommitted source state is intentional and independently archived.

Create and verify a bundle

The output directory must not already exist. The packager installs compact executables, preserves separate debug files with matching ELF Build IDs, writes PROVENANCE.env, and covers every file with SHA256SUMS.

test ! -e dist
release/package-artifacts.sh dist \
  target/release/radixdb-server \
  target/release/radixdb-cli \
  target/release/radixdb-smoke-client
(cd dist && sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS)

Keep the whole output together:

dist/
  bin/
  debug/
  PROVENANCE.env
  SHA256SUMS
  server.toml
  radixdb.service
  install-systemd.sh
  uninstall-systemd.sh
  start.sh
  status.sh
  stop.sh
  smoke-client.sh

The bundle also contains the license, notices, backup/restore tools and the scripts shared by the lifecycle commands. Transfer it as one artifact and run the checksum verification on the target host before installation.

Install under /opt/radixdb

The tracked installer must run as root for a system installation. It creates the system account radixdb, copies the binaries, installs the unit, reloads systemd and enables the service. Enabling does not start it.

cd dist
sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS
sudo ./install-systemd.sh
sudo systemctl start radixdb
sudo systemctl status radixdb --no-pager

The resulting layout is:

/opt/radixdb/
  bin/
    radixdb-server
    radixdb-password
    radixdb-cli
    radixdb-smoke-client
  data/
  logs/
  run/
  server.toml

The service runs as radixdb:radixdb. Binaries remain owned by root. The installer creates server.toml as mode 0640, owned by root:radixdb, and the data, log and run directories as mode 0750. Never put a plaintext password in the configuration. An optional root password verifier is still credential material and relies on these restricted permissions.

To use another absolute prefix, pass it to both the installer and later administrative commands. The path must not be / and must not contain . or .. components.

sudo RADIXDB_INSTALL_PREFIX=/srv/radixdb ./install-systemd.sh

The generated unit sets its working directory to the chosen prefix. Therefore the packaged relative data_dir = "data" resolves below that prefix.

Install native extension packages

Native extensions are separate immutable packages and are not embedded in the server release bundle. Build them with cargo radixdb-plugin package, copy each complete package directory to an operator-owned location such as /opt/radixdb/plugins/, then list the exact directory under [plugins] in server.toml. Restart admits every package before the listener opens.

Do not copy a bare .so into bin/ or the data root. The package manifest, codec vectors, compatibility report and provenance are part of admission and backup. Follow Installing and operating extensions before adding trusted native code to the service.

Verify the installation

The default endpoint is loopback-only at 127.0.0.1:15441. First check process and protocol readiness:

sudo systemctl status radixdb --no-pager
./smoke-client.sh
journalctl -u radixdb -n 100 --no-pager

With the unmodified release template, the smoke client checks the handshake, passwordless loopback root authentication, server status and build identity. It does not accept a configured root password, open every database or prove application-level readiness. Configure routine root access with the installed bin/radixdb-password utility and verify it with a normal client as described in authentication. The server operation chapter explains database selection and readiness. Review the complete server configuration before changing the release template.

Reinstall and remove binaries

An ordinary reinstall preserves an existing server.toml. Set RADIXDB_INSTALL_REPLACE_CONFIG=1 only when replacing it deliberately, after retaining the previous file and reviewing the new values.

The ordinary uninstall disables the unit and removes the four executables, but retains configuration and data:

cd dist
sudo ./uninstall-systemd.sh

RADIXDB_UNINSTALL_PURGE=1 removes the complete installation prefix, including the data. Do not use it as a routine upgrade command. Backup, restore and upgrade procedures are documented separately from installation.

The release gate verifies a dry systemd installation in an isolated directory; it does not replace an acceptance test on the target host’s actual systemd, filesystem and backup destination.