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Deploy Vitess on your favorite platform

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Choose the right installation method for your use case. Each option serves different needs, from local development to production deployments.

Installation Options #

Vitess Operator for Kubernetes #

The Vitess Operator automates deploying and managing Vitess on Kubernetes, handling scaling, failover, and upgrades through declarative configuration.

Prerequisites: Kubernetes cluster (Minikube for testing, or GKE/EKS/AKS for production), kubectl, and Docker.

Local Install (Linux) #

The Local Install guide runs Vitess directly on Linux using pre-compiled binaries. Use the local install to get hands-on experience without container orchestration.

Prerequisites: 4GB+ RAM, 20GB disk, MySQL 8.0, etcd, Node.js.

Local Install via Source (macOS) #

The Local Install via source for Mac builds Vitess from source on macOS. This is the recommended path since pre-compiled binaries only fully support Ubuntu.

Prerequisites: Homebrew, Go, MySQL, etcd, Node.js.

Vttestserver Docker Image #

The Vttestserver Docker Image runs all Vitess components in a single container. This option is ideal for integration testing and CI/CD pipelines.

Prerequisites: Docker.

Production Deployment Alternatives #

The Vitess Operator on Kubernetes is the most common production method, but Vitess also runs on bare-metal or VMs. See the Planning guide for multi-datacenter deployments without Kubernetes.

For non-Kubernetes production:

  • Deploy Vitess binaries on Linux servers
  • Use systemd for process management
  • Configure etcd, ZooKeeper, or Consul as your topology service
  • Implement your own monitoring, backup, and failover

Supported Operating Systems #

Pre-compiled binaries: Ubuntu only.

Build from source: Ubuntu 19.10+, Debian 10+, CentOS 7+, macOS (via Homebrew).

Docker and Kubernetes: Platform-independent.

For other operating systems, build from source or use Docker images.

Building from Source #