Introduction
This tutorial teaches you how to install a NATS server directly on Debian-based linux (not via Docker).
Overview
The installation consists of multiple steps each of which will be explained in detail. Those steps are as follows:
- Create a user with name
nats
who belongs to the groupnats
. - Download the latest NATS release build.
- Unzip the folder and copy it to
/usr/bin
. - Add NATS to
systemd
. - Run the NATS server and confirm it is working.
- Enable it, so it can run at startup.
Step 1: Create the user nats
In order to add a user, we will use the useradd
command, like so.
sudo useradd -s /bin/bash -d /home/nats/ -m -G sudo nats
To add a password for the user (not really needed, just a standard practice):
sudo passwd nats
Step 2: Download NATS
As per the documentation, one can download NATS by using the following shell command.
curl -sf https://binaries.nats.dev/nats-io/nats-server/v2@v2.10.22 | sh
Note that you may want to change the version of NATS if there are newer releases.
Step 3: Add NATS to /usr/bin
This step is straightforward. First, open the file explorer and unzip NATS.
Now copy the unzipped folder to /usr/bin
sudo cp nats-server/nats-server-v2.10.22-linux-amd64/nats-server /usr/bin
Step 4: Add NATS to systemd
This one is a little tricky, but this guide simplifies it for you.
Create
/etc/nats-server.conf
. No need to add content to it, since it is only there for customization and overriding the default behavior.Create
/etc/systemd/system/nats.service
and add the following content to it.
[Unit]
Description=NATS Server
After=network-online.target ntp.service
[Service]
PrivateTmp=true
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/bin/nats-server -c /etc/nats-server.conf
ExecReload=/bin/kill -s HUP $MAINPID
ExecStop=/bin/kill -s SIGINT $MAINPID
User=nats
Group=nats
# The nats-server uses SIGUSR2 to trigger using Lame Duck Mode (LDM) shutdown
KillSignal=SIGUSR2
# You might want to adjust TimeoutStopSec too.
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
- Save and exit.
Step 5: Run the NATS server
This one is easy. We reload the daemon and then run NATS.
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl start nats
To confirm that it is running, run systemctl status nats
, and you should get that it is active.
Step 6: Enable NATS
To enable NATS which would run it at startup, simply run the command below:
sudo systemctl enable nats
Conclusion
This simple tutorial ensures that the installation of NATS on Debian-based linux is smooth and easy. Let me know below if you have any questions or inquiries about it.
Happy building!
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