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Installation

MinIO is a high performance distributed object storage server, designed for large-scale private cloud infrastructure. MinIO fully supports deployment onto bare-metal hardware with or without containerization for process management.

Distributed Installation

Distributed MinIO deployments consist of multiple minio servers with one or more disks each. Distributed deployments are best suited for staging and production environments.

MinIO requires using sequentially-numbered hostnames to represent each minio server in the deployment. For example, the following hostnames support a 4-node distributed deployment:

  • minio1.example.com

  • minio2.example.com

  • minio3.example.com

  • minio4.example.com

Create the necessary DNS hostname mappings prior to starting this procedure.

1) Install the minio Server

Install the minio server onto each host machine in the deployment. Select the tab that corresponds to the host machine operating system or environment:

Linux

macOS

Windows

Source

The following commands add a temporary extension to your system PATH for running the minio utility. Defer to your operating system instructions for making permanent modifications to your system PATH.

Alternatively, execute minio by navigating to the download folder and running ./minio --help

64-bit Intel

curl https://dl.min.io/server/minio/release/linux-amd64/minio \
  --create-dirs \
  -o $HOME/minio-binaries/minio

chmod +x $HOME/minio-binaries/minio
export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/minio-binaries/

minio --help

64-bit PPC

curl https://dl.min.io/server/minio/release/linux-ppc64le/minio \
  --create-dirs \
  -o $HOME/minio-binaries/minio

chmod +x $HOME/minio-binaries/minio
export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/minio-binaries/

minio --help

Homebrew

brew install minio/stable/minio
minio --help

Binary Download

curl https://dl.min.io/server/minio/release/darwin-amd64/minio \
  --create-dirs \
  -o $HOME/minio-binaries/minio

chmod +x $HOME/minio-binaries/minio
export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/minio-binaries/

Open the following file in a browser:

https://dl.min.io/server/minio/release/windows-amd64/minio.exe

Execute the file by double clicking on it, or by running the following in the command prompt or powershell:

\path\to\mc.exe --help

Installation from source is intended for developers and advanced users and requires a working Golang environment. See How to install Golang.

Run the following commands in a terminal environment to install minio from source:

go get -d github.com/minio/minio
cd ${GOPATH}/src/github.com/minio/minio
make

To update a source-based installation, use go get -u. mc admin update does not support source-based installations.

2) Add TLS/SSL Certificates (Optional)

Enable TLS/SSL connectivity to the MinIO server by specifying a private key (.key) and public certificate (.crt) to the MinIO certs directory:

  • For Linux/MacOS: ${HOME}/.minio/certs

  • For Windows: %%USERPROFILE%%\.minio\certs

The MinIO server automatically enables TLS/SSL connectivity if it detects the required certificates in the certs directory.

Note

The MinIO documentation makes a best-effort to provide generally applicable and accurate information on TLS/SSL connectivity in the context of MinIO products and services, and is not intended as a complete guide to the larger topic of TLS/SSL certificate creation and management.

3) Run the minio Server

Issue the following command on each host machine in the deployment. The following example assumes that:

  • The deployment has four host machines with sequential hostnames (i.e. minio1.example.com, minio2.example.com).

  • Each host machine has at least four disks mounted at /data. 4 disks is the minimum required for erasure coding.

export MINIO_ACCESS_KEY=minio-admin
export MINIO_SECRET_KEY=minio-secret-key-CHANGE-ME
minio server https://minio{1...4}.example.com/mnt/disk{1...4}/data

The example command breaks down as follows:

MINIO_ACCESS_KEY

The access key for the root user.

Replace this value with a unique, random, and long string.

MINIO_SECRET_KEY

The corresponding secret key to use for the root user.

Replace this value with a unique, random, and long string.

https://minio{1...4}.example.com/

The DNS hostname of each server in the distributed deployment.

/mnt/disk{1...4}/data

The path to each disk on the host machine.

/data is an optional folder in which the minio server stores all information related to the deployment.

See minio server DIRECTORIES for more information on configuring the backing storage for the minio server process.

The command uses MinIO expansion notation {x...y} to denote a sequential series. Specifically:

  • The hostname https://minio{1...4}.example.com expands to:

    • https://minio1.example.com

    • https://minio2.example.com

    • https://minio3.example.com

    • https://minio4.example.com

  • /mnt/disk{1...4}/data expands to

    • /mnt/disk1/data

    • /mnt/disk2/data

    • /mnt/disk3/data

    • /mnt/disk4/data

4) Connect to the Server

Use the mc alias set command from a machine with connectivity to any hostname running the minio server. See Quickstart for documentation on installing mc.

mc alias set mylocalminio minio1.example.net minioadmin minio-secret-key-CHANGE-ME

See Command Quick Reference for a list of commands you can run on the MinIO server.

Docker Installation

Stable MinIO

The following docker command creates a container running the latest stable version of the minio server process:

docker run -p 9000:9000 \
-e "MINIO_ACCESS_KEY=ROOT_ACCESS_KEY" \
-e "MINIO_SECRET_KEY=SECRET_ACCESS_KEY_CHANGE_ME" \
-v /mnt/disk1:/disk1 \
-v /mnt/disk2:/disk2 \
-v /mnt/disk3:/disk3 \
-v /mnt/disk4:/disk4 \
minio/minio server /disk{1...4}

The command uses the following options:

  • -e MINIO_ACCESS_KEY and -e MINIO_SECRET_KEY for configuring the

    root user credentials.

  • -v /mnt/disk<int>:/disk<int> for configuring each disk the minio

    server uses.

Bleeding Edge MinIO

Do not use bleeding-edge deployments of MinIO in production environments

The following docker command creates a container running the latest bleeding-edge version of the minio server process:

docker run -p 9000:9000 \
-e "MINIO_ACCESS_KEY=ROOT_ACCESS_KEY" \
-e "MINIO_SECRET_KEY=SECRET_ACCESS_KEY_CHANGE_ME" \
-v /mnt/disk1:/disk1 \
-v /mnt/disk2:/disk2 \
-v /mnt/disk3:/disk3 \
-v /mnt/disk4:/disk4 \
minio/minio:edge server /disk{1...4}

The command uses the following options:

  • MINIO_ACCESS_KEY and MINIO_SECRET_KEY for configuring the

    root user credentials.

  • -v /mnt/disk<int>:/disk<int> for configuring each disk the minio

    server uses.

Standalone Installation

Standalone MinIO deployments consist of a single minio server process with one or more disks. Standalone deployments are best suited for local development environments.

1) Install the minio Server

Install the minio server onto the host machine. Select the tab that corresponds to the host machine operating system or environment:

Linux

macOS

Windows

Source

The following commands add a temporary extension to your system PATH for running the minio utility. Defer to your operating system instructions for making permanent modifications to your system PATH.

Alternatively, execute minio by navigating to the download folder and running ./minio --help

64-bit Intel

curl https://dl.min.io/server/minio/release/linux-amd64/minio \
  --create-dirs \
  -o $HOME/minio-binaries/minio

chmod +x $HOME/minio-binaries/minio
export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/minio-binaries/

minio --help

64-bit PPC

curl https://dl.min.io/server/minio/release/linux-ppc64le/minio \
  --create-dirs \
  -o $HOME/minio-binaries/minio

chmod +x $HOME/minio-binaries/minio
export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/minio-binaries/

minio --help

Homebrew

brew install minio/stable/minio
minio --help

Binary Download

curl https://dl.min.io/server/minio/release/darwin-amd64/minio \
  --create-dirs \
  -o $HOME/minio-binaries/minio

chmod +x $HOME/minio-binaries/minio
export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/minio-binaries/

Open the following file in a browser:

https://dl.min.io/server/minio/release/windows-amd64/minio.exe

Execute the file by double clicking on it, or by running the following in the command prompt or powershell:

\path\to\mc.exe --help

Installation from source is intended for developers and advanced users and requires a working Golang environment. See How to install Golang.

Run the following commands in a terminal environment to install minio from source:

go get -d github.com/minio/minio
cd ${GOPATH}/src/github.com/minio/minio
make

To update a source-based installation, use go get -u. mc admin update does not support source-based installations.

2) Add TLS/SSL Certificates (Optional)

Enable TLS/SSL connectivity to the MinIO server by specifying a private key (.key) and public certificate (.crt) to the MinIO certs directory:

  • For Linux/MacOS: ${HOME}/.minio/certs

  • For Windows: %%USERPROFILE%%\.minio\certs

The MinIO server automatically enables TLS/SSL connectivity if it detects the required certificates in the certs directory.

Note

The MinIO documentation makes a best-effort to provide generally applicable and accurate information on TLS/SSL connectivity in the context of MinIO products and services, and is not intended as a complete guide to the larger topic of TLS/SSL certificate creation and management.

3) Run the minio Server

Issue the following command to start the minio server. The following example assumes the host machine has at least four disks, which is the minimum required number of disks to enable erasure coding:

export MINIO_ACCESS_KEY=minio-admin
export MINIO_SECRET_KEY=minio-secret-key-CHANGE-ME
minio server /mnt/disk{1...4}/data

The example command breaks down as follows:

MINIO_ACCESS_KEY

The access key for the root user.

Replace this value with a unique, random, and long string.

MINIO_SECRET_KEY

The corresponding secret key to use for the root user.

Replace this value with a unique, random, and long string.

/mnt/disk{1...4}/data

The path to each disk on the host machine.

/data is an optional folder in which the minio server stores all information related to the deployment.

See minio server DIRECTORIES for more information on configuring the backing storage for the minio server process.

The command uses MinIO expansion notation {x...y} to denote a sequential series. Specifically, /mnt/disk{1...4}/data expands to:

  • /mnt/disk1/data

  • /mnt/disk2/data

  • /mnt/disk3/data

  • /mnt/disk4/data

4) Connect to the Server

Use the mc alias set command from a machine with connectivity to the host running the minio server. See Quickstart for documentation on installing mc.

mc alias set mylocalminio 192.0.2.10:9000 minioadmin minio-secret-key-CHANGE-ME

Replace the IP address and port with one of the minio servers endpoints.

See Command Quick Reference for a list of commands you can run on the MinIO server.

Deployment Recommendations

Minimum Nodes per Deployment

For all production deployments, MinIO recommends a minimum of 4 nodes per cluster. MinIO deployments with at least 4 nodes can tolerate the loss of up to half the nodes or half the disks in the deployment while maintaining read and write availability.

For example, assuming a 4-node deployment with 4 drives per node, the cluster can tolerate the loss of:

  • Any two nodes, or

  • Any 8 drives.

The minimum recommendation reflects MinIO’s experience with assisting enterprise customers in deploying on a variety of IT infrastructures while maintaining the desired SLA/SLO. While MinIO may run on less than the minimum recommended topology, any potential cost savings come at the risk of decreased reliability.

Bare Metal Infrastructure

A distributed MinIO deployment can only provide as much availability as the bare metal infrastructure on which it is deployed. In particular, consider the following potential failure points which could result in cluster downtime when configuring your bare metal infrastructure:

  • Shared networking resources (switches, routers, ISP).

  • Shared power resources.

  • Shared physical location (rack, datacenter, region).

MinIO deployments using virtual machines or containerized environments should also consider the following:

  • Shared physical hardware (CPU, Memory, Storage)

  • Shared orchestration management layer (Kubernetes, Docker Swarm)

FreeBSD

MinIO does not provide an official FreeBSD binary. FreeBSD maintains an upstream release you can install using pkg:

pkg install minio
sysrc minio_enable=yes
sysrc minio_disks=/path/to/disks
service minio start
©2020, MinIO