Deploy InfluxDB Time-Series Database on RamNode VPS

Why InfluxDB?

InfluxDB is purpose-built for time-series data, offering high-performance writes, efficient storage with compression, and powerful query capabilities through Flux. Ideal for DevOps monitoring, IoT, and real-time analytics.

High-performance time-series storage

Flux query language for analytics

Built-in retention policies

Native Telegraf integration

Prerequisites

Minimum Requirements

• 2 CPU cores
• 2 GB RAM
• 20 GB SSD storage
• Ubuntu 20.04+ / Debian 11+

Recommended for Production

• 4+ CPU cores
• 8+ GB RAM
• 100+ GB NVMe SSD
• Dedicated data disk

Installation

Add InfluxDB Repository

Add the official InfluxData repository:

Add Repository

# Install prerequisites
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y curl gnupg2

# Add InfluxData GPG key
curl -s https://repos.influxdata.com/influxdata-archive.key | \
  gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/influxdb-archive-keyring.gpg > /dev/null

# Add repository (Ubuntu/Debian)
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/influxdb-archive-keyring.gpg] \
  https://repos.influxdata.com/debian stable main" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/influxdb.list

Install InfluxDB 2.x

Install the latest InfluxDB 2.x version:

Install InfluxDB

# Update package list
sudo apt update

# Install InfluxDB
sudo apt install -y influxdb2

# Start and enable service
sudo systemctl start influxdb
sudo systemctl enable influxdb

# Verify installation
influx version

Expected Output

InfluxDB v2.7.x

Initial Setup

Configure InfluxDB with initial user, organization, and bucket:

Setup InfluxDB

# Run initial setup (interactive)
influx setup

# Or use non-interactive setup
influx setup \
  --username admin \
  --password YourSecurePassword123! \
  --org my-organization \
  --bucket my-bucket \
  --retention 30d \
  --force

Important: Save the generated API token - you will need it for authentication.

Docker Installation

Deploy with Docker

Run InfluxDB in a Docker container:

Docker Run

# Create data directory
mkdir -p ~/influxdb2/{data,config}

# Run InfluxDB container
docker run -d \
  --name influxdb \
  -p 8086:8086 \
  -v ~/influxdb2/data:/var/lib/influxdb2 \
  -v ~/influxdb2/config:/etc/influxdb2 \
  -e DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_MODE=setup \
  -e DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_USERNAME=admin \
  -e DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_PASSWORD=YourSecurePassword123! \
  -e DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_ORG=my-organization \
  -e DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_BUCKET=my-bucket \
  -e DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_RETENTION=30d \
  -e DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_ADMIN_TOKEN=my-super-secret-token \
  influxdb:2.7

Configuration

Main Configuration

Edit the main configuration file:

/etc/influxdb/config.toml

# InfluxDB 2.x Configuration

# Bolt path for metadata storage
bolt-path = "/var/lib/influxdb/influxd.bolt"

# Engine path for time-series data
engine-path = "/var/lib/influxdb/engine"

# HTTP configuration
[http]
  bind-address = ":8086"
  flux-enabled = true
  
# Logging configuration
[logging]
  level = "info"
  format = "auto"

# Storage configuration
[storage-cache]
  max-memory-size = "1g"
  snapshot-memory-size = "25m"
  
# Query configuration
[query]
  concurrency = 10
  queue-size = 10

Performance Tuning

Optimize for production workloads:

Performance Settings

# Increase memory limits for high-throughput
[storage-cache]
  max-memory-size = "4g"
  snapshot-memory-size = "100m"

# WAL configuration
[storage-wal]
  max-concurrent-writes = 256
  max-write-delay = "10m"

# Query limits
[query]
  concurrency = 20
  queue-size = 20

Retention Policies

Configure data retention for buckets:

Bucket Management

# Create bucket with retention
influx bucket create \
  --name metrics \
  --org my-organization \
  --retention 7d

# Create bucket for long-term storage
influx bucket create \
  --name metrics-archive \
  --org my-organization \
  --retention 365d

# List buckets
influx bucket list

# Update retention policy
influx bucket update \
  --id <bucket-id> \
  --retention 90d

Security Hardening

API Token Management

Create tokens with appropriate permissions:

Token Management

# Create read-only token
influx auth create \
  --org my-organization \
  --read-bucket my-bucket \
  --description "Read-only access"

# Create write-only token
influx auth create \
  --org my-organization \
  --write-bucket my-bucket \
  --description "Write-only access"

# List tokens
influx auth list

# Delete token
influx auth delete --id <token-id>

Enable TLS/SSL

Configure HTTPS for secure communication:

Generate Certificate

# Generate self-signed certificate
sudo mkdir -p /etc/influxdb/ssl
sudo openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:2048 \
  -keyout /etc/influxdb/ssl/influxdb.key \
  -out /etc/influxdb/ssl/influxdb.crt \
  -subj "/CN=influxdb.example.com"

# Set permissions
sudo chown influxdb:influxdb /etc/influxdb/ssl/*
sudo chmod 600 /etc/influxdb/ssl/*

TLS Configuration

[http]
  bind-address = ":8086"
  tls-cert = "/etc/influxdb/ssl/influxdb.crt"
  tls-key = "/etc/influxdb/ssl/influxdb.key"
  tls-min-version = "1.2"

Firewall Configuration

Restrict network access:

UFW Rules

# Allow InfluxDB port from specific IPs only
sudo ufw allow from 10.0.0.0/8 to any port 8086

# Or from specific hosts
sudo ufw allow from 192.168.1.100 to any port 8086

# Deny public access
sudo ufw deny 8086

# Enable firewall
sudo ufw enable

Basic Operations

Writing Data

Write time-series data using various methods:

Write Data

# Write using CLI (Line Protocol)
influx write \
  --bucket my-bucket \
  --org my-organization \
  'cpu,host=server1,region=us-west usage=45.2 1625000000000000000'

# Write from file
influx write \
  --bucket my-bucket \
  --org my-organization \
  --file data.lp

# Write using API
curl -XPOST "http://localhost:8086/api/v2/write?org=my-organization&bucket=my-bucket" \
  --header "Authorization: Token $INFLUX_TOKEN" \
  --header "Content-Type: text/plain" \
  --data-binary 'cpu,host=server1 usage=45.2'

Querying Data (Flux)

Query data using Flux query language:

Flux Queries

# Basic query
influx query 'from(bucket: "my-bucket")
  |> range(start: -1h)
  |> filter(fn: (r) => r._measurement == "cpu")'

# Query with aggregation
influx query 'from(bucket: "my-bucket")
  |> range(start: -24h)
  |> filter(fn: (r) => r._measurement == "cpu")
  |> aggregateWindow(every: 1h, fn: mean)
  |> yield(name: "hourly_avg")'

Managing Resources

Manage buckets and organizations:

Resource Management

# List organizations
influx org list

# Create organization
influx org create --name production

# List buckets
influx bucket list

# Delete bucket
influx bucket delete --id <bucket-id>

# Create user
influx user create --name grafana --org my-organization

# Set user password
influx user password --name grafana

Backup & Recovery

Full Backup

Create a complete backup:

Backup Commands

# Create backup directory
mkdir -p /backup/influxdb

# Full backup
influx backup /backup/influxdb/$(date +%Y%m%d) \
  --host http://localhost:8086 \
  --token $INFLUX_TOKEN

# Backup specific bucket
influx backup /backup/influxdb/metrics-$(date +%Y%m%d) \
  --bucket metrics \
  --host http://localhost:8086 \
  --token $INFLUX_TOKEN

Restore from Backup

Restore data from backup:

Restore Commands

# Full restore (new instance)
influx restore /backup/influxdb/20240101 \
  --host http://localhost:8086 \
  --token $INFLUX_TOKEN \
  --full

# Restore specific bucket
influx restore /backup/influxdb/20240101 \
  --bucket metrics \
  --new-bucket metrics-restored \
  --host http://localhost:8086 \
  --token $INFLUX_TOKEN

Monitoring

Health Checks

Monitor InfluxDB health:

Health Endpoints

# Check health endpoint
curl http://localhost:8086/health

# Check readiness
curl http://localhost:8086/ready

# Get server status
influx ping

Health Response

{
  "name": "influxdb",
  "message": "ready for queries and writes",
  "status": "pass",
  "version": "2.7.1"
}

Telegraf Integration

Use Telegraf to collect system metrics:

Telegraf Configuration

# Output to InfluxDB 2.x
[[outputs.influxdb_v2]]
  urls = ["http://localhost:8086"]
  token = "$INFLUX_TOKEN"
  organization = "my-organization"
  bucket = "telegraf"

# Collect CPU metrics
[[inputs.cpu]]
  percpu = true
  totalcpu = true

# Collect memory metrics
[[inputs.mem]]

# Collect disk metrics
[[inputs.disk]]
  ignore_fs = ["tmpfs", "devtmpfs"]

Troubleshooting

High Memory Usage

Memory Troubleshooting

# Check current memory usage
influx query 'from(bucket: "_monitoring")
  |> range(start: -1h)
  |> filter(fn: (r) => r._measurement == "go_memstats")'

# Reduce cache size in config and restart
sudo systemctl restart influxdb

Write Failures

Debug Writes

# Check logs for errors
sudo journalctl -u influxdb -f

# Verify token permissions
influx auth list

# Check disk space
df -h /var/lib/influxdb

# Test write
influx write --bucket my-bucket 'test value=1'

Service Issues

Service Troubleshooting

# Check service status
sudo systemctl status influxdb

# View detailed logs
sudo journalctl -u influxdb --no-pager -n 100

# Check config syntax
influxd print-config

# Check file permissions
ls -la /var/lib/influxdb/
sudo chown -R influxdb:influxdb /var/lib/influxdb/

Quick Reference

Default Ports

• HTTP API: 8086

Important Paths

• Config: /etc/influxdb/config.toml
• Data: /var/lib/influxdb/
• Logs: journalctl -u influxdb

Common Commands

• influx bucket list
• influx write
• influx query
• influx backup/restore

Key Concepts

• Organization → Workspace
• Bucket → Database with retention
• Measurement → Table
• Tags → Indexed metadata

Self-Hosted InfluxDB Time-Series Database

📋 Guide Contents