Important: This documentation is about an older version. It's relevant only to the release noted, many of the features and functions have been updated or replaced. Please view the current version.

Set up

Install Grafana

Debian or Ubuntu

Enterprise Open source

Install Grafana on Debian or Ubuntu

This topic explains how to install Grafana dependencies, install Grafana on Linux Debian or Ubuntu, and start the Grafana server on your Debian or Ubuntu system.

There are multiple ways to install Grafana: using the Grafana Labs APT repository, by downloading a .deb package, or by downloading a binary .tar.gz file. Choose only one of the methods below that best suits your needs.

Note: If you install via the .deb package or .tar.gz file, then you must manually update Grafana for each new version.

Install from APT repository

If you install from the APT repository, Grafana automatically updates when you run apt-get update.

Grafana Version	Package	Repository
Grafana Enterprise	grafana-enterprise	`https://apt.grafana.com stable main`
Grafana Enterprise (Beta)	grafana-enterprise	`https://apt.grafana.com beta main`
Grafana OSS	grafana	`https://apt.grafana.com stable main`
Grafana OSS (Beta)	grafana	`https://apt.grafana.com beta main`

Note: Grafana Enterprise is the recommended and default edition. It is available for free and includes all the features of the OSS edition. You can also upgrade to the full Enterprise feature set, which has support for Enterprise plugins.

Complete the following steps to install Grafana from the APT repository:

To install required packages and download the Grafana repository signing key, run the following commands:

sudo apt-get install -y apt-transport-https
sudo apt-get install -y software-properties-common wget
sudo wget -q -O /usr/share/keyrings/grafana.key https://apt.grafana.com/gpg.key

To add a repository for stable releases, run the following command:

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/grafana.key] https://apt.grafana.com stable main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/grafana.list

To add a repository for beta releases, run the following command:

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/grafana.key] https://apt.grafana.com beta main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/grafana.list

Run the following command to update the list of available packages:
bash
```
# Updates the list of available packages
sudo apt-get update
```

To install Grafana OSS, run the following command:

# Installs the latest OSS release:
sudo apt-get install grafana

To install Grafana Enterprise, run the following command:

# Installs the latest Enterprise release:
sudo apt-get install grafana-enterprise

Install Grafana using a deb package or as a standalone binary

If you choose not to install Grafana using APT, you can download and install Grafana using the deb package or as a standalone binary.

Complete the following steps to install Grafana using DEB or the standalone binaries:

Navigate to the Grafana download page.
Select the Grafana version you want to install.
- The most recent Grafana version is selected by default.
- The Version field displays only tagged releases. If you want to install a nightly build, click Nightly Builds and then select a version.
Select an Edition.
- Enterprise: This is the recommended version. It is functionally identical to the open source version, but includes features you can unlock with a license, if you so choose.
- Open Source: This version is functionally identical to the Enterprise version, but you will need to download the Enterprise version if you want Enterprise features.
Depending on which system you are running, click the Linux or ARM tab on the download page.
Copy and paste the code from the download page into your command line and run.

2. Start the server

The following sections provide instructions for starting the grafana-server process as the grafana user, which was created during the package installation.

If you installed with the APT repository or .deb package, then you can start the server using systemd or init.d. If you installed a binary .tar.gz file, then you need to execute the binary.

Note: The following subsections describe three methods of starting the Grafana server: with systemd, initd, or by directly running the binary. You should follow only one set of instructions, depending on how your machine is configured.

Start the Grafana server with systemd

Complete the following steps to start the Grafana server with systemd and verify that it is running:

To start the service, run the following commands:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl start grafana-server
sudo systemctl status grafana-server

To verify that the service is running, run the following command:
```
sudo systemctl status grafana-server
```
To configure the Grafana server to start at boot, run the following command:
bash
```
sudo systemctl enable grafana-server.service
```

Serve Grafana on a port < 1024

If you are using systemd and want to start Grafana on a port that is lower than 1024, you must add a systemd unit override.

Run the following command to create an override file in your configured editor.

# Alternatively, create a file in /etc/systemd/system/grafana-server.service.d/override.conf
systemctl edit grafana-server.service

Add the following additional settings to grant the CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE capability.

To learn more about capabilities, refer to capabilities(7) — Linux manual page.

[Service]
# Give the CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE capability
CapabilityBoundingSet=CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE
AmbientCapabilities=CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE

# A private user cannot have process capabilities on the host's user
# namespace and thus CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE has no effect.
PrivateUsers=false

Start the server with init.d

Complete the following steps to start the Grafana service and verify that it is running:

To start the Grafana server, run the following commands:

sudo service grafana-server start
sudo service grafana-server status

To verify that the service is running, run the following command:
```
sudo service grafana-server status
```
To configure the Grafana server to start at boot, run the following command:
bash
```
sudo update-rc.d grafana-server defaults
```

Start the server using the binary

The grafana-server binary .tar.gz needs the working directory to be the root install directory where the binary and the public folder are located.

To start the Grafana server, run the following command:

./bin/grafana-server

Upgrade Grafana

While the process for upgrading Grafana is similar to installing Grafana, there are important backup tasks you should perform. Refer to Upgrade Grafana for guidance on updating an existing installation.